In This Week's Edition of E-News…

Murphy Amendment Blocks Pentagon Attempts at Back-Door Base Closures

House Moves Forward With Reauthorizing Federal Programs to Stop Domestic Violence

Murphy Puts Focus on Military Mental Health

Murphy Amendment Blocks Pentagon Attempts at Back-Door Base Closures

The Pentagon could no longer unilaterally close bases like the 911th Airlift Wing under legislation approved today by the House of Representatives. The prohibition, drafted by Reps. Murphy, Doyle, Jason Altmire, Mark Critz was adopted as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.

“Our amendment stops the Pentagon from using a loophole to close military bases without first undergoing a thorough review by Congress to ensure the decision makes both financial and strategic sense for taxpayers and our military,” said Rep. Murphy.

Under current law, the Pentagon can only close a base after receiving approval from Congress, and after a thorough cost-benefit and strategic analysis has been completed. However, installations with fewer than 300 authorized civilian personnel can be closed without congressional review. The Air Force claims the 911th falls below the 300-person threshold even though there are more 318 civilian positions at the base.

With the Murphy amendment, the Pentagon’s base closure plans affecting more than 1,000 service members at a base must include a thorough evaluation of the long-term costs and benefits and the local economic, environmental, strategic, and operational consequences of current and future proposed reductions. Congress would then have an opportunity to approve or reject the closure.

The 911th would fall under this new category because it has more than 1,100 reservists according to the Air Force’s own data.

“Had the Pentagon been required to perform a base-by-base cost comparison of the 911th against other reserve and guard stations, the Defense Department would have learned what thousands of military families in Southwestern Pennsylvania already know:  the 911th is one of the most strategically-unique and cost-effective facilities in the country.”

The Defense Authorization Act included additional legislative language that would prevent the Air Force from transferring or retiring any aircraft in Fiscal Year 2013, including the seven C-130s at the 911th. The legislation must still be reconciled with the Senate Defense bill, which has not yet been introduced.

To read or watch Rep. Murphy’s floor speech on the amendment click here.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on the 911th, please click here.

House Moves Forward With Reauthorizing Federal Programs to Stop Domestic Violence

On Wednesday, the House approved the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) of 2012 to reauthorize funding for VAWA grant programs for five years. The VAWA programs will get $660 million in funding per year to local groups like the Washington Women’s Shelter and Blackburn Center of Westmoreland County that help prevent domestic violence and protect victims of abuse, and law enforcement agencies that prosecute violent criminals.

In addition, the bill made important improvements to streamline and consolidate grant programs, combat fraud, and ensure taxpayer dollars go to help victims and not expand bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.

This legislation consolidated duplicative programs and prioritized funding to clear a 400,000 case backlog of rape investigations. Since 1989, law enforcement has had the science to match the DNA of victims to perpetrators. But over the years, a backlog has built up in part because it costs $1,500 to process each rape kit.

The bill also strengthens penalties for sexual assault and abuse – including a mandatory ten-year penalty for aggravated sexual abuse and higher maximum penalties for stalking a victim or violating a protection order.

The bill now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on the Violence Against Women Act, please click here.

Murphy Puts Focus on Military Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. As part of the mission of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus to inform, educate, and advocate to Members of Congress and the public on a variety of mental health issues, Co-Chairman Tim Murphy organized a congressional briefing this week focused on the challenges facing veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. The event was held as the Pentagon announced  that mental health conditions are the leading cause of military hospitalization for the second consecutive year.

Rep. Murphy, Co-Chairman of the Mental Health Caucus, discusses mental health issues confronting veterans at Congressional briefing

Many high-level officials in the military mental health community  provided expert information on how soldiers with PTSD and TBI can recover and thrive, provided they receive proper treatment. Murphy, who serves as a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve Medical Service Corps working with wounded warriors with TBI and PTSD at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, discussed his own legislative work to address a staffing shortage of qualified mental health professionals in the military.

In related news, Congress approved legislation to strengthen consumer-protection laws for service members. On Friday, the House adopted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that will prohibit banks from foreclosing on the home of any service member deployed overseas. The amendment, which passed with Rep. Murphy’s support, also protects surviving spouses of service members killed in action and veterans who are disabled at the time of discharge.

Murphy also joined Rep. John Larson (D-CT) in introducing the Victory for Veterans Stamp Act, which authorizes the Post Office to sell a special stamp in support of veterans’ education and training programs. Supporters hope the program will mirror the success of the Victory Stamps initiative launched during World War II, which supported the purchase of more than 90,000 jeep transport vehicles.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on mental health, please click here.