Troubling new data show there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department.

Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those who don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months.

The numbers, which come at a time when VA is strengthening its suicide prevention programs, show about 18 veteran suicides a day, about five by veterans who are receiving VA care.

Access to care appears to be a key factor, officials said, noting that once a veteran is inside the VA care program, screening programs are in place to identify those with problems, and special efforts are made to track those considered at high risk, such as monitoring whether they are keeping appointments.

Read Full Article Here

By Kimberly Hefling – The Associated Press–

WASHINGTON — Looking decades ahead, the Institute of Medicine is urging the Veterans Affairs Department to begin planning now for the long-term health care needs of the estimated 1.9 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Specifically, the institute says in a report released Wednesday, not enough is known about what works best in the long term to treat veterans with traumatic brain injuries, often caused by roadside bombs.

While a multitude of public and private programs is available to help the men and women who have served in the recent conflicts, there is little coordination and sparse information about which ones are effective, the report said.

A 16-member panel coordinated by the Institute of Medicine instigated the review of the readjustment needs of troops, veterans and their families at the request of Congress. The institute is part of the National Academies, an independent organization chartered by Congress to advise the government on scientific matters.

Dr. Victoria Cassano, the VA’s liaison to the institute, said many of the report’s recommendations are “right on.” Cassano said it covers important issues the VA is either already working on or will consider.

The report urged Congress to direct the VA to produce more detailed annual projections of the needs of veterans and their families, so more thorough planning can be done to prepare for an uptick in disability claims and health needs in the decades ahead as the veterans age.

Based on a review of disability claims from past wars, the report says the number of disability claims from recent veterans should peak around 2040.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets any better,” said Ryan Edwards, an economics professor from the City University of New York, who served on the panel. “We’re going to see a larger burden … and it will continue to expand.”

The report praised the VA’s work to establish rehabilitation services for those with traumatic brain injury, which is often called the signature wound of the Iraq war. But it said the VA should sponsor research into protocols for long-term care for those with traumatic brain injury because little research is available.

“It’s an evolving area, and it’s going to need to evolve more to keep up with the patient population,” said Dr. George Rutherford, the panel chairman, who is a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.

Overall, the report said, the VA and Defense Department should better coordinate services available to veterans. It held up as a successful model Military OneSource, a one-stop online and telephone information source for military personnel and their families.

The study said the Defense Department needs to better address troops’ reluctance to report mental health problems and should review how it handles confidentiality when a service member seeks help. It also encouraged the Defense Department and VA to hire more mental health professionals.

It could be helpful for service members returning home from war if there’s an interim place they can go following time in combat to rest and prepare for the adjustment back to the U.S., the report said.

Navy Capt. Edward Simmer said the Defense Department is already looking for ways to address some of the problems discussed in the report. “The things we need to work on, we’ll definitely get started with,” Simmer said.

Simmer is the senior executive for psychological health at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury in Rosslyn, Va.

Next month, the panel starts a second, two-year examination of veterans’ health issues.

Hope you’re having a great afternoon. I wanted to get in touch today to remind you of the benefits of The Post-9/11 GI Bill, and invite you to help spread the word to your readers.

As a military veteran, it’s imperative that you play a proactive role to ensure the educational benefits you, your friends or family have earned are in fact received. The Post-9/11 GI Bill offers terrific benefits, but they are not automatic. The actions taken today will simplify the process and help the VA expedite benefit payments.
I’m contacting you today on behalf of The United States Department of Veterans Affairs to stress the importance of completing all of the necessary steps to ensure the benefits deserved will be paid in a timely fashion! Here’s what needs to be done:

Check your eligibility online at www.gibill.va.gov Submit your application VA Form 22-1990 or 22-1990E.
After you have enrolled in school, check with your School Certifying Official (SCO) to confirm that your VA enrollment certification has been sent to the VA on your behalf. This form certifies your actual enrollment period and triggers your payment. *Here’s a little hint:
the school’s designated SCO will be found in the Financial Aid Department, Admissions and Records Department, or Registrar’s
Office.)
And last but not least, enjoy the education benefits you earned!

If you or a loved one is planning to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill to attend school anytime this year, action must be taken today. Please let me know if you would be interested in working together to ensure your readers are securing the benefits they are eligible for. For more information please visit: http://www.gibill.va.gov or text GIBill to 99702. And thank you for your service to our country.

All the very best,
Diana

The latest flurry of attention toward gays in the military shows that the question of who gets to be a soldier, and why, is sometimes unavoidably moral. So let’s ask that question about another group of soldiers who haven’t attracted as much talk but should: mothers, many of them single, in combat boots — and combat zones.

By Mary Eberstadt–Washington Post–

The nation’s largest organization of combat veterans is demanding changes in the $15 billion jobs bill that passed the Senate on Wednesday because veterans were left out of a package of tax credits and highway projects aimed at increasing employment.

“Despite having more than 1.1 million unemployed veterans, the 60-page package failed to mention ‘veteran’ or ‘veterans’ even once,” said Justin Brown, a legislative associate with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Brown was referring to HR 2847, the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment Act, or HIRE Act, that passed the Senate on Wednesday by a 70-28 vote and is pending before the House.

Speaking before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s economic opportunity panel, which is considering legislation that would expand vocational training for veterans, Brown said the VFW “finds it unconscionable that American’s veterans, who have left their families, risked their lives and limbs and left civilian career pursuits behind to answer the nation’s call, do not have the attention of Congress for this important matter.”

The unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans is almost 15.8 percent, higher than the average 10.6 percent overall unemployment rate, as well as the 11.8 percent rate for foreign-born U.S. citizens — a sore point among veterans groups such as the VFW.

Read Full Article Here

Wayne’s Daily Veteran Update–

Greetings good folks.  

Hoping you and your loved ones are well.  Lets keep up with those Prayers and Blessings for our Troops and their loved ones everywhere. 

Best………………….Wayne

VA News for Tuesday, February 23, 2010

1.      Shinseki “Fighting To Reduce” Red Tape For Vets Seeking Benefits. In continuing coverage, KITV-TV Honolulu, HI (2/22, 10:31 p.m. HT) broadcast, “Kauai-born” Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “is fighting to reduce the red tape…veterans” encounter when seeking benefits. Shinseki “has already made it easier for veterans exposed to Agent Orange in the Vietnam War to get benefits” for numerous diseases “associated with the toxic chemical.”
     Shinseki Urged To Take On Bureaucracy While Attempting To Reduce Claims Backlog. In a related editorial, the Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer (2/23, 19K) notes Shinseki recently “told the Associated Press he will make it a priority this year to reduce backlogs in processing veterans’ disability claims.” The Intelligencer urges Shinseki not to “shirk from the bureaucratic battles he will have to wage to keep that promise. Our veterans are worth it.”

2.      Lawmakers Urge VA Support For New Fisher House In Colorado. The Aurora (CO) Sentinel (2/23, Goldstein, 8K) reports, “Congressional representatives are seeking federal support for a $10-million, 20-bed residential center that would serve patients at the new, $800-million standalone veterans hospital” in Aurora. In a letter sent to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, “Aurora Reps. Mike Coffman and Ed Perlmutter, and Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall,” along “with other members of the Colorado congressional” delegation, “urged support for a new Fischer House facility to be built next to the new VA hospital.” The Sentinel notes that according to Leslie Oliver, a spokeswoman for Perlmutter’s office, the VA needs to give its approval if the Fischer House is to be completed by the time the VA hospital opens its doors in 2013.

3.      White House Calls For Health IT “Task Force.” Government Health IT (2/23, Mosquera) reports, “The White House Friday called for a government-wide health IT ‘task force’ to strengthen coordination of health IT among federal agencies that hold key roles in carrying out the administration’s plans for a digital healthcare system. The plan, issued in a memo” from Office of Management & Budget Director Peter Orzsag and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “sets up a way for agencies with heavy healthcare agendas to participate formally in planning health IT adoption projects set in motion by passage of the HITECH Act last year.” The memo, which was addressed to several Cabinet secretaries, including Veterans Affairs’ Eric Shinseki, “asked the secretaries to choose a senior leader from their agencies to represent them on the task force and to send HHS their choices within five days.”

4.      Homeless Vets Facility In Texas Could Soon Begin Accepting Residents. The Fort Worth (TX) Business Press (2/22, Dillard) reported, “The finishing touches are all in place at Liberty House: the walls are painted, the carpet is in, the beds are turned down and the staff is ready to welcome home the first residents in a new transitional housing program for homeless veterans in Tarrant County. Liberty House, a partnership between Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County (MHMRTC)” and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, “could begin accepting residents by March 1, once final approval is received from the government.” The Business Press added, “Construction on the two-story, 7,500-square-foot veterans’ facility began in August 2009 after MHMRTC’s Addiction Services Division received” a $600,000 VA grant.

5.      Stimulus Funds To Pay For Upgrades At Several VA Facilities. The Newport News (VA) Daly Press (2/23) reports, “The Hampton VA Medical Center will receive funds to replace fire alarm and nurse call systems through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the US Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday. The $1.5 million project to upgrade the two systems was awarded to Adira Construction Inc., a small, veteran-owned business” in Chesapeake, Virginia. After noting that the hospital will also “complete an electrical upgrade project estimated at $6.2 million,” the Daily Press adds, “Rep. Robert C. ‘Bobby’ Scott, D- Newport News, said the stimulus-funded work ‘will go a long way toward enhancing and improving the benefits our veterans have earned.’” The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot (2/23) also covers this story, as does the “Hampton Road Recon”, a blog for the Newport News (VA) Daily Press (2/23, Lessig, 76K), and the AP (2/23).
     A separate AP (2/23) story reports, “Federal stimulus funding will pay for $5.4 million in construction upgrades at the Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System. A White House news release says the upgrades include replacement elevators and dumbwaiters, a replacement roof and an updated exterior finish to several buildings at the…facility,” which is located in Biloxi, Mississippi. Thomas Wisniesk, the facility’s director, “says the improved infrastructure will benefit the veterans who rely on the center’s services.” The Biloxi (MS) Sun Herald (2/23, Newsom) publishes a similar story.
     The KTVN-TV Reno, NV (2/22) website reported, “Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid says more than $5 million in economic recovery dollars are headed” to Reno’s VA medical center. According to KTVN, the “money will help renovate the community living center and urgent care center,” as well as “help upgrade elevators and refurbish heating and air conditioning units and the hospital floors. Reid says not only is this money important for our vets, but it will help put Nevadans back to work as well.”

     The Salisbury (NC) Post (2/23, 21K) notes that on Monday, US Sen. Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) “announced that the Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury has received $5.7 million” in stimulus funds for building renovations. After pointing out that Hagan called the funds a “crucial investment”, the Post notes Carolyn Adams, the hospital’s director, said the money “allows the facility to complete many energy saving initiatives.”

6.      Turnaround At VHA Praised. While being interviewed on CNN’s No Bias, No Bull (2/22, 8:35 p.m. ET), David Osborne, co-author of a book called “Reinventing Government”, praised the turnaround at the Veterans Health Administration, which, according to Osborne, ended up having the “best electronic medical records system in the world, and by any measure they had better performance in terms of healthcare outcomes, quality, and customer satisfaction than the private sector in healthcare.”

7.      Following Efforts At VA, USDA, Army Explores Telemedicine At Some Europe Bases. After noting that the US Army is “testing telemedicine as a way to give patients at remote posts in Europe better access to American specialists,” Stars And Stripes (2/23, Robson) says telemedicine “has already gained a foothold” in the US healthcare system, at the US Department of Agriculture, which recently “announced $34.9 million in grants for 35 states to increase health care services in rural areas.” Stars And Stripes adds, “Additionally, the Veterans Affairs Department is already a step ahead of the rest of the federal government in promoting telemedicine, according to a Feb. 17 article in Federal Computer Week.”

8.      Ad Campaign Part Of VA Plan To Attract “Best And Brightest.” In its “Federal Eye” blog, the Washington Post (2/23, O’Keefe, 684K) says, “If you’ve watched the Olympics or other big events on television in recent weeks, then you’ve likely seen ads with doctors and nurses talking about careers with the Department of Veterans Affairs,” which “plans to hire a mix of medical professionals and clerical staffers to fill roughly 105,000 positions by the end of 2011.” During “an interview on Monday,” VA Deputy Secretary W. Scott Gould said, “It’s a big number and a great opportunity for us to try to attract our fair share of the best and brightest.” The Post adds, “Virtually unanimous political support for the department’s planned growth should calm the nerves of weary applicants, Gould said.” The Washington Post (2/23, 684K) also publishes some of Gould’s interview responses.

9.      Veterans Affairs Secretary Pledges No Cuts In Services. A letter from Louisiana Veterans Affairs Secretary Lane Carson to the editor of the Shreveport (LA) Times (2/23).

10.    Home For Mentally Ill Vets Opens In Alabama. In a front page story, the Tuscaloosa (AL) News (2/20, A1, Avant) noted that last week, the Moundville City Council “approved opening a group home for mentally ill veterans, most of them senior citizens,” in a vacant assisted-living facility. After pointing out that back in 2006, “some residents in the city of Moundville and the City Council protested a group home for the mentally ill that had been planned” at the same facility, the News said that according to Rebecca Meyer, associate chief nurse for mental health at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the new home is one of 144 private group homes in West Alabama that partner with Meyer’s hospital. The News noted positive feedback from residents of the new home, and then said there is a need for such facilities “because of an increasing population of aging veterans.”

11.    New Orleans Commission To Consider VA Hospital Construction Road Closures. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (2/23, Barrow, 169K) reports, “The New Orleans City Planning Commission is scheduled Tuesday to consider street closures within the Mid-City footprint of the planned” US Department of Veterans Affairs teaching hospital, which is “slated for ground-breaking this fall. Any vote would mark the first regulatory action the body has taken in a public meeting on either the federal hospital or the state teaching hospital proposed next door. Neighborhood residents, along with dozens of planning groups, historical preservationists and other advocacy groups, are poised to use the meeting as a platform to criticize the two projects.”

12.    Some Massachusetts Vets Concerned About Defoliant Exposure At Canadian Base. The Dedham (MA) Daily News Transcript (2/23, Studley) reports, “Some sick Massachusetts veterans are wondering if their medical conditions are linked to time spent at a training camp in New Brunswick, after reading a Daily News report last week about toxic defoliants used at the Canadian base” from 1956 to 1984. George Cameron, department service officer for the Massachusetts American Legion, “said in the past week…he has received about 15 phone calls from Massachusetts National Guard and Army Reserve veterans who served in Gagetown in the 1980s. He said some were sick and others voiced concern they may have been exposed to the herbicides.”

13.    Tuscaloosa VAMC Attempting To Help Homeless Women Vets. On its website, WIAT-TV Birmingham, AL (2/22, Wyatt) noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs “says there are thousands of homeless women vets, and the number is on the rise.” But as “more and more women return home from war, the VA says they try to expand their programs to help them better transition into civilian life.” After stating that the “near future will…see more help for homeless vets in the region” from the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, which is looking to help set up transitional housing for homeless vets, WIAT said “female vets will…have a new place to find improved medical care, as the Tuscaloosa VA unveils their new women’s health clinic next month.”

14.    Former VA Psychiatrist Pleads Guilty To Unlawfully Prescribing Controlled Substances. The AP (2/23) reports, “A former psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration hospital in Topeka has pleaded guilty to unlawfully prescribing controlled substances” while working at the hospital in 2006. US Attorney Lanny Welch “says 58-year-old Ethan Bickelhaupt entered the plea” on Monday. KSNW-TV Wichita, KS (2/22, 11:20 p.m. CT) broadcast a similar story.

15.    Memorial Honors Japanese-American Internees, Veterans. The AP (2/23) reports, “A new memorial now stands” in California’s “Merced County to remember the thousands of Japanese-Americans who were forced to relocate there during World War II. More than 150 former internees and their families gathered over the weekend to dedicate the plaza with the statue of a little girl sitting atop a pile of suitcases.” The AP adds, “Saturday’s ceremony also honored Japanese-American veterans who had enlisted as a way to prove their patriotism even as their families lived behind barbed wire.”
     The Merced (CA) Sun-Star (2/23, Gaines, 16K) reports, “During Saturday’s ceremony, Japanese-American veterans who served in the military intelligence service as Japanese interpreters and the Asian American 442nd Combat Infantry Regiment were honored. ‘While their families were behind barbed wire, more than 33,000 young Japanese-American men enlisted or were drafted in the US military. They joined the military effort to demonstrate their loyalty and service to the United States,’” the ceremony’s emcee “told the crowd.”

16.    Flag-Raising To Commemorate Battle Of Iwo Jima Anniversary. The Marine Corps Times (2/23, 32K) reports, “A flag-raising ceremony to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima will take place 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at the Marine Corps War memorial, located north of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.” The ceremony “will honor all Marines who fought during the pivotal World War II battle, as well as all the Marines killed in all wars, to whom the memorial is dedicated. Veterans of Iwo Jima will be on hand for the event.”

17.    WWII Female Pilots To Be Honored. The Air Force Times (2/23, Spoth) reports, “As World War II raged,” the Army Air Forces allowed hundreds of women “to take domestic military flying jobs that freed up male pilots to serve overseas, but their service was unappreciated and was kept secret for decades. Now, after years of lobbying, the Women Airforce Service Pilots will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on March 10.” The Times adds, “Nearly 300 of the original 1,102 woman pilots are still alive, and about 130 are expected to attend the March 10 medal ceremony, according to Marilla Cushman of the women’s memorial foundation.”

18.    “Most Heavily Decorated” Vietnam Vet Buried At Arlington. NBC Nightly News (2/23, story 9, 1:00, Williams, 8.37M) broadcast that on Monday, Medal of Honor recipient Robert Howard “was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.” Howard was the “most heavily decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.” The San Antonio Express-News (2/23, Martin, 210K) says the 70-year-old Howard, “an Army veteran from San Antonio,” died “of pancreatic cancer on Dec. 23 in a Waco hospice.”

19.    Wounded Warrior Program Advocate Added To Lebanon VAMC Staff. The second item in “Local Briefs” for the Lebanon (PA) Daily News (2/23, 19K) reports the Lebanon Veterans Affairs Medical Center “has welcomed Wounded Warrior Program Advocate John Boylan IV to its staff. Advocates for AW2, as the program is known, are located throughout the country where there are large concentrations of AW2 soldiers, veterans at VA facilities, military treatment facilities and most military installations, according to a news release.” The Daily News adds, “The medical center’s Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom team has been in place since 2003 and is composed of a program manager, social-work case manager, two nurse case managers and one program support assistant.”

20.    Couple Hopes To Improve Care For Returning Vets. On its website, KGTV-TV San Diego, CA (2/22) reported, “A Rancho Bernardo couple has begun a campaign for federal legislation regarding health care for military veterans. While they have no complaints about the care and treatment afforded” by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Iraq veteran Aaron Dial, who is suffering from acute lymphocytic leukemia, and his fiancée Heidi Christ think there should be more screenings and warnings” from exposure to depleted uranium in ammunition. The couple is “working to get ‘Aaron’s Law’ passed by Congress, extending the health care window for returning veterans from two to five years and more proactively alerting them to the risk of carcinogens.”

21.    Hefner VAMC To Host Creative Arts Festival Next Month. The Salisbury (NC) Post (2/23, 21K) reports the Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center “will host a March Creative Arts Festival for veterans.” The festival, scheduled to “be held March 13 in the social room” of building No. 6, “will allow participants to qualify for competition at the regional level for the national festival.”

22.    Why Did Sgt. Thomas Die? The Lexington (NE) Clipper-Herald (2/22) published a story that originally appeared in the Omaha (NE) World-Herald (2/22, Hansen).

23.    DAV Chapter Distributes Christmas Bags To VA Hospital. In a reader-submitted story, the Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle (2/22, 19K) reported, “Local Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, Hardy-Shelby Chapter 45, Clarksville,” Tennessee, “distributed Christmas bags to disabled veterans” at a Veterans Affairs hospital on December 15, 2009.

24.    Cuellar Talks About Van For Local Veterans. The Seguin (TX) Gazette-Enterprise (2/22, Maloney, 5K).

25.    Author Helps First Black Female POW Tell Tale. The AP (2/23, Fox) reports, “In helping” Iraq vet Shoshana Johnson write “I’m Still Standing”, her autobiography, “Fort Meade Media Relations Chief Mary L. Doyle not only exposed the world to the plight of the country’s first black female prisoner of war,” she “furthered her own budding literary career.” Doyle “said she hopes eventually to be able to write books and novels full time.”

26.    When Johnny (Or Jane) Marches Home. The Albany (NY) Times Union (2/23, Fitzgerald).

27.    Joseph Stack’s Daughter Calls Him A Hero, Then Retracts Statement. In continuing coverage, the KXXV-TV Waco, TX (2/22) website reported, “There is controversy brewing over the two people who died from the suicide flight that slammed into an Austin IRS office building on Thursday, February 18th.” The two men who died were Vietnam vet Vernon Hunter and the flight’s pilot, Joseph Stack, whose “daughter, Samantha Bell, told ABC News Monday morning” that her father was a hero. Bell later “called ABC News and retracted that comment, saying the only hero in the attack was Hunter, and we should all mourn his death.”

28.    Half-Scale Replica Of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Coming To Tuscaloosa. The Columbus (MS) Commercial Dispatch (2/22, 13K).

29.    Brothers Asked To Guard Tombs. In continuing coverage, the KRIV-TV Houston, TX (2/22, Keith) website reported, “A couple of brothers from the Houston area” have “achieved a military first. Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Brisiel, 27, is tomb guard number 560,” and on Friday, his little brother was named “tomb guard number 578.” This is the “first time ever two brothers have been selected to serve on this elite squad.”

30.    On the Hill for February 23, 2010:

The House votes on a number of commemorative resolutions as well as a bill to allow Native Hawaiian government reorganization.

The Senate continues to consider a package of infrastructure funding and tax breaks intended to create jobs.

Hearings continue in both chambers on the fiscal 2011 budget and appropriations.

House:  Convenes at noon for legislative business.

            Under suspension of the rules:

H Res 1066 , H Res 1059 , H Res 1048 — Haiti earthquake responders

H Res 1074 — Miep Gies

H Res 944 — Religious minorities in Iraq

HR 3695 — Missing persons database

H Con Res 227 — Urban crimes awareness

H Res 274 — National Nutrition Month

Draft — African-American contributions

            Subject to a rule:

HR 2314 — Native Hawaiian government reorganization

            Postponed suspensions:

H Res 1039 — American Heart Month

H Res 1046 — Black History Month

Senate:  Convenes 10 a.m.

Weekly caucus lunches: 12:30-2:15 p.m.

            Roll call votes possible.

HR 2847 — Job creation package

            Markup

House Rules considers rules for floor debate of a draft bill to repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies. 3 p.m., H-313 Capitol

            Hearing Highlights

Senate Armed Services hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the Army, with Army Secretary John M. McHugh . 9:30 a.m., G-50 Dirksen

House Armed Services hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the Air Force. 10 a.m., 2118 Rayburn

Senate Budget hearing on war costs and the proposed Pentagon budget. 10 a.m., 608 Dirksen

Senate Environment and Public Works hearing on the proposed fiscal 2011 budget for the EPA, with EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson . 10 a.m., 406 Dirksen

House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing on stimulus spending projects. 10 a.m., 2167 Rayburn

Joint Economic hearing on job creation and economic growth, with Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf. 11:30 a.m., 2325 Rayburn

House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on proposed fiscal 2011 spending, with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan . 1 p.m., 2359 Rayburn

31.    Today in History:  

• 1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type.



• 1739 – Richard Palmer is identified at York Castle by his former schoolteacher, as the outlaw Dick Turpin.



• 1778 – American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.  



• 1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.



• 1836 – The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.



• 1847 – Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.



• 1854 – The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.



• 1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.



• 1870 – In the United States, post-Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.



• 1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.



• 1900 – In South Africa, the Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart’s Hill.



• 1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”.



• 1905 – Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world’s first service club.



• 1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.



• 1918 – First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser’s German troops near Narva and Pskov. In honor of this victory, the date is celebrated from 1923 onward as “Red Army Day”; it is renamed Defender of the Fatherland Day after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and is colloquially known as “Men’s Day”.



• 1919 – Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in Italy.



• 1927 – The Federal Radio Commission (later renamed the Federal Communications Commission) begins to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States.



• 1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.



• 1944 – The Soviet Union begins forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.



• 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo would later win a Pulitzer Prize and become the model for the national USMC War Memorial.



• 1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, freed the captives of the Los Baños internment camp.



• 1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.



• 1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.



• 1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379 British bombers.  



• 1945 – World War II: The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is bombed by Allied forces. It would later be re-opened in 1975.



• 1947 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.



• 1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.



• 1955 – First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).



• 1958 – Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio.



• 1966 – In Syria, Baath party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin Hafiz, also a Baathist.



• 1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.



• 1980 – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran’s parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.



• 1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d’état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.



• 1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.



• 1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.



• 1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus starting the ground phase of the war.



• 1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d’état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.



• 1992 – The Socialist Labour Party is founded in the nation of Georgia.



• 1997 – A small fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.



• 1998 – Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and “Crusaders“; the latter term is commonly interpreted to refer to the people of Europe and the United States.



• 1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.



• 1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.



• 2005 – In Slovakia, a two-day meeting dubbed “Slovakia Summit 2005” takes place between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. This occasion marks the first visit of a sitting American President to the Slovak Republic since its establishment in 1993.



• 2005 – The controversial French law on colonialism is passed, requiring teachers to teach the “positive values of colonialism”. After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006.



• 2006 – Dubai Ports World agrees to postpone its plans to take over management of six U.S. ports after the proposal ignited harsh bipartisan criticism.



• 2008 – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit crashes on Guam. It is the first operational loss of a B-2.

Washington, DC – Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) is asking the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ease the burden on local veterans.

Last week, the VA announced that it will ask veterans who received $3,000 emergency payments under the Post 9/11 GI Bill to begin repaying the money – at a rate of up to $750 per month. The emergency payments were issued last year to veterans whose tuition benefits from the Post 9/11 GI Bill were delayed due to processing backlogs at the VA.

On Monday, Nye sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, asking the VA to reduce the repayment rate from $750 per month to a rate of no more than 20% of each veteran’s monthly living stipend. For veterans receiving the lowest living stipend, this would mean a repayment amount of $132 per month.

“Asking our veterans to repay $750 a month is too much, too fast, especially when many veterans are struggling to get back on their feet after their benefit payments were delayed last fall,” said Congressman Glenn Nye. “The idea of this program is to help our veterans get ahead, not to bury them in debt and paperwork. The VA should implement a realistic repayment plan that eases the burden on our veterans so they can focus on getting a college education.”

When the Post 9/11 GI Bill program went into effect last fall, many veterans found that their tuition and living benefits were delayed for weeks or months due to extended processing backlogs. After students were forced to take out personal loans or run up credit card debt in order to pay bills while waiting for their benefit checks, the VA issued one-time, emergency payments of $3,000 to help veterans make ends meet.

These emergency payments were an advance against future benefits – not an additional bonus – and they must eventually be recouped by the VA. In mid-February, the VA announced on its web site that it would begin deducting $750 from veterans’ monthly benefit payments.

Download a Copy of Congressman Nye’s Letter to Secretary Shinseki