Veterans
Our retired service members have earned the benefits and care our nation promised them and deserve the steadfast support that should not end when they leave active duty. Throughout their time in uniform, the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces have never given up when defending American freedoms and ideals. For this reason, now, more than ever, our veterans have earned the right to demand the same treatment from their country.
I continue to build upon my commitment to increase the number of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities that are available to serve veterans in southeastern NC. The Robeson Community-Based Outpatient Clinic is now fully operational and the Brunswick CBOC is open and providing assistance 3 days a week. I also helped oversee the Wilmington CBOC in 2009 and worked to ensure the construction of a new 100,000 square foot VA Super Clinic which is scheduled to open in New Hanover County in 2013.
As a strong supporter of our veterans, I support a robust veterans budget that does not increase TRICARE premiums, supports adequate health care and education benefits for our veterans, and provides cost-of-living adjustments for veterans who are homeless. I have continuously supported efforts to restore full concurrent receipt for our disabled military retirees. It is time that we put an end to the veterans' concurrent receipt tax which forces disabled military retirees to give up one dollar of their retirement pensions for every dollar of disability they receive. Furthermore, I have consistently fought against another injustice that is suffered by the dependents of a deceased serviceman or woman. I will continue to support efforts that allow military surviving spouses to receive both Survivor Benefits Plan payments and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation in full.
Improving the mental health care of our veterans, both who have recently returned from active duty, as well as those who have served in past conflicts, continues to be one of my top veterans’ priorities. Major progress has been made to address the problems posed by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and I continue to bring more attention to this important issue. I am also working to encourage the VA to provide more veterans centers for readjustment counseling services.
State and local government budgets continue to be trimmed to cope with growing deficits, so it is essential that our local veterans outreach organizations, such as our nation’s county veterans’ service offices, remain funded to continue the critical outreach they provide to veterans who need help accessing their benefits. That is why I authored the Veterans Outreach Improvement Act which would allow the VA to partner with state and local governments, through grant opportunities, and to reach out to veterans and their families to ensure they receive the benefits for which they are eligible and assist them in completing their benefits claims. The Secretary of the VA would direct grants to states with large and growing populations of veterans in order to increase outreach where it is most needed. In addition, grants could be used for education and training of state and county officials to gain accreditation and for continuing education.
I also support the Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act which would establish a Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund within the U.S. Department of the Treasury to provide a monthly benefit to those individuals who served between December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946, as a documented member of the U.S. Merchant Marine. This bill applies strictly to Merchant Marines who have been verified by the Coast Guard as having served.
Finally, I am the sponsor of a bill to name one city each year as an American World War II City with Wilmington, NC being the first to be named. The bill was included in a larger package that has now passed out of the VA Committee and should be considered by the full U.S. House in the near future.
Improving the mental health care of our veterans, both who have recently returned from active duty, as well as those who have served in past conflicts, continues to be one of my top veterans’ priorities. Major progress was made during the 110th Congress that addressed the problems posed by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). For example, I supported authorization for the construction of five new polytrauma centers and three Centers of Excellence in Mental Health. I was also an original co-sponsor of the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, which was passed by the U.S. House and provides outreach, education, and training to VA staff to ensure that our veterans are receiving adequate mental health care. Please rest assured that I will continue to support measures that enhance existing programs and create new ones to address the ever changing mental health care needs for all veterans.
I remain committed to improving and expanding the veterans’ health services available in southeastern NC. I have secured final plans and confirmed a location for a new VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Robeson County and have also secured final approval and a location for a 100,000 square foot VA Super Clinic to be built and opened in New Hanover County. I will continue to fight for the Brunswick County Community-Based Outpatient Clinic that was promised by the VA and will continue to look at ways to get this facility approved and delivered as soon as possible. I also support increasing the mental health outreach services to veterans living in our area by adding additional Vet Centers and locations where veterans and their family members can receive peer-to-peer to counseling and other types of mental health therapy.
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