War Supplemental Spending Bill Passes
7/28/10 – With a 308-114 vote, the House passed the $58.8 billion version of HR 4899, which the Senate had passed a week earlier, after dropping nearly $23 billion of House add-ons in domestic, non-defense spending. NAUS had pressed lawmakers to work out differences and pass the bill so funding of our troops in the field would continue. In addition to the $37 billion in supplemental war funding for Afghanistan and Iraq, the bill includes $13.3 billion for Agent Orange benefits for Vietnam War veterans and about $3 billion for the military’s earthquake relief efforts in Haiti earlier this year.

House Passes FY2011 NDAA
6/2/10 - the House passed H.R. 5136, the FY 2011 National Defense Authorization Act.  Included in the bill:

• Across the board 1.9% pay raise, a half-percentage point higher than the President’s request.
• President’s budget request for full funding of TRICARE, and written protections against fee increases through Sep. 30, 2011.
• TRICARE-26, Extends health care to adult dependent children, requires premium for their coverage.
• Clarifies that the Secretary of Defense has sole jurisdiction over the administration of military health care/TRICARE — no other department or agency involved.
• Mental Health, TBI, PTSD - 25% increase in mental healthcare providers.
• Authorizes combat benefits for service members and their survivors of those killed or wounded at Fort Hood shooting.
• Directs DoD to pay retired annuities on the first day of the month, thus eliminating delayed payments when paydays fall on weekends.

Unfortunately the bill does not contain expansion of Chapter 61 concurrent receipt as called for in President Obama’s Budget request or repeal of the SBP/DIC Offset eliminations despite 330 House cosponsors and a discharge petition which, if succesful, would bring the measure before the full House for consideration.

The bill also contains a provision repealing the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law prohibiting openly gay persons from serving in uniform after DoD completes its implementation review on Dec 1, and the President, SecDef and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify to Congress that implementation will "be consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces."

NAUS Asks for Action Following Ft Hood Shootings
2/18/10–NAUS sent a letter to the Chairmen of the both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees urging action on procedural changes to hopefully prevent similar terrorist acts in the future. 

President’s 2011 Budget Raises Defense, VA Spending
The President’s Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) budget proposal released this week would raise Defense Department base budget spending by 3.4%, plus add money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ total budget would remain near 2010 levels, with a 7% increase in discretionary spending (offset by expected lower disability compensation and pension costs) and an expected 8% increase in VA health care spending – an overall increase in the VA budget of 20% since 2009. Department of Homeland Security budget would go up 4%, but the Coast Guard active duty end strength would be reduced by about 2.6% (1,100 people). See excerpts (pdf) from the President’s FY2011 Budget affecting the uniformed services below:

Defense
Veterans Affairs
Homeland Security
Health & Human Services (USPHS)
Commerce (NOAA)

Recent NAUS News Releases

4.13.10
Congress Passes TRICARE Affirmation Act

3.22.10
NAUS Acts to Protect TRICARE Benefit

10.28.09
National Defense Authorization Act for 2010 Signed

10.22.09
Advance Funding Bill for Veterans Health Care Signed

10.01.09
NAUS Condemns TRICARE Fee Increase Announced by Defense Department

More NAUS News Releases

Congress Passes Another Short-term Fix for Medicare Reimbursement Rate
6/25/10 - The House leadership reversed an earlier decision and approved the Senate-passed "doc fix" bill (HR 3962). The bill avoids the 21.2% cut in Medicare and TRICARE reimbursement payments to doctors required by the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for 6 months - through November 30th - and actually increases such payments by 2.2% retroactive to June 1, the date the rate cut went into effect.

Case for the New START Treaty
5/12/10 – Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the new strategic nuclear arms treaty with Russia has the unanimous support of America's military leadership — including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all of the Service Chiefs, and the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, the organization responsible for our strategic nuclear deterrent. Gates, writing in the Wall Street Journal, says, “For nearly 40 years, treaties to limit or reduce nuclear weapons have been approved by the U.S. Senate by strong bipartisan majorities. This treaty deserves a similar reception and result — on account of the dangerous weapons it reduces, the critical defense capabilities it preserves, the strategic stability it maintains, and, above all, the security it provides to the American people.”

Virginia is For Heroes Conference
5/7/10 - the 2010 Virginia is For Heroes Conference Report was released.

2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Released
The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review's defense objectives for the United States are to prevail in today's wars, prevent or deter conflict, prepare to defeat adversaries and succeed in a wide range of contingencies and preserve and enhance the all-volunteer force.

The document outlines six key missions:

• Defending the United States and supporting
  civil authorities at home
• Succeeding in counterinsurgency, stability and counter-terrorism operations
• Building the security capacity of partner states
• Deterring and defeating aggression in anti-access environments
• Preventing the proliferation of and countering weapons of mass destruction
• Operating effectively in cyberspace

DOD will support the Department of Homeland Security and civil authorities in domestic operations, the QDR states.

Final Draft Gulf War Task Force Report Released
4/1/10 - VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced that the Department’s Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task Force completed the final draft of a comprehensive report that will redefine how VA addresses the concerns of veterans who deployed during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91. See below for more info on presumptive conditions linked to the Gulf War, and read the Task Force report here.

Action Urged on Former Spouse Protection Act
12/3/09 - NAUS, along with the other 30 member organizations of the National Military and Veterans Alliance, signed off on a letter to Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA), Chair of the House Military Personnel Subcommittee, urging her to convene a hearing concerning problems with the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA). Read letter here.