Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 03.31.09
Posted by Daniel on March 31

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.

MUST READS
 
(1) Pakistani Taliban Threatens Washington
 
On Tuesday, the commander of the Pakistani Taliban - Baitullah Mehsud- claimed responsibility for the deadly assault Monday on a Pakistani police academy near Lahore and said his men are planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. capital.  The U.S. government has a $5 million bounty out on Mehsud, who said the police academy attack was in retaliation for U.S. missile strikes against Taliban militants along the Afghan border.
 
(2) Veterans Affairs Committee Advances Legislation

The House Veterans Affairs Committee advanced three bills on Monday that would improve benefits and services provided to veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The three bills would: 

• expand veteran eligibility for reimbursement by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for emergency treatment furnished in a non-Department facility.
• authorize an additional $10 million to provide dedicated services for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children and
•  direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the rates of basic compensation for disabled veterans and the rates of dependency. indemnity compensation to their survivors and dependents, along with other benefits, in order to keep pace with the rising cost-of-living.  

 (3) Gates Securing a Role Under Yet Another President
 
The New York Times reports today that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has gained more influence in the Obama White House than he had during the Bush Administration as evidenced by President Obama's concession to add 4,000 additional U.S. troops in the new Afghanistan strategy he unveiled last Friday.  According to Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, who first worked with Mr. Gates when both were in the Carter administration: "[Gates] has enormous influence because of his experience... he has the greatest continuity of experience in Afpak of any official. And he has seen the good, the bad and the ugly up close.”  The Times reports that as the No. 2 at the C.I.A. in the late 1980s, Gates helped funnel covert Reagan administration aid and weapons through Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, to the Islamic fundamentalists who ousted the Russians from Afghanistan- some of whom are now fighting against U.S. forces in the region.
 
AFGHANISTAN
 
Ahead of an 80-nation conference on Afghanistan at The Hague in the Netherlands Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said European troops need to avoid "Americanization" of the war and that international forces should not expect to withdraw from Afghanistan in the near future.  “This is not President Obama’s war,” Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Brussels.  “Allies need to do their part. I would not like to see a mission which is out of balance.”  He also said he would call Tuesday for extra funds from the international community to train Afghan security forces, which he estimated would cost $2 billion a year, a fraction of the roughly $42 billion NATO and its allies are spending per year on the Afghan war.
 
Meanwhile, on route to the conference at The Hague, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that billions of dollars in U.S. aid to the country over the past seven years have been wasted.  Clinton said the United States' ability to effectively administer aid programs has "very little credibility" among Afghans, citing problems of design, staffing, implementation and accountability.  Clinton said in the coming months the U.S. will commit $40 million to underwrite the cost of holding elections in Afghanistan this summer.  Her remarks also preceded reports that American authorities are now planning a broad new campaign against terrorist financing networks in Afghanistan, sending in dozens of federal drug enforcement agents to help stem the country's massive opium trade.  The effort will reportedly be modeled after the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's campaign against drug cartels in South America, with the goal of crippling the Afghan narcotics networks by driving up the costs of the opium trade.
 
In an interview Monday, Stephen Biddle, Senior Fellow for Defense Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, called President Obama's decision to add 4,000 U.S. troops to train Afghan troops "a reasonable first step." Biddle argues that the primary influence over what will happen in Pakistan remains preventing Afghanistan from collapsing and becoming a haven for destabilization.
 
IRAQ

Seven people were killed, including four police officers, and 17 were injured Tuesday when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck into the compound of a police station in Mosul.

U.S. military officials on the ground in Iraq are reporting that U.S. soldiers are finding it difficult to adjust to their new mission – to train Iraqi security forces- because it requires different skills and success is difficult to define.  Commanders are reporting that Iraqi forces lack an adequate supply network and enough skilled sergeants to operate successfully on their own.  As a result, U.S. soldiers are playing roles they never expected: part community leader, part diplomat and part soldier.

 
MILITARY AFFAIRS
 

General Peter Chiarelli, the U.S. Army’s vice chief of staff, will visit Fort Drum in upstate New York on Tuesday as part of a fact-finding tour looking for ways to reduce an increasing rate of soldier suicides.  Chiarelli toured Fort Campbell, Ky., and Fort Bragg, N.C., last week.

 
A U.S. soldier was convicted Monday of murder in the execution-style slayings of four bound and blindfolded Iraqi detainees in 2007 after pleading guilty to charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy.  The soldier, Joseph Mayo of Fort Bragg, N.C., was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to 35 years incarceration at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

 
INSIDE WASHINGTON

 
President Obama announced Monday that he will nominate Jose D. Riojas, a 30-year veteran of the military who has served in Asia and around the world, for assistant secretary for operations, security and preparedness at the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Read his biography here.  

On Tuesday, IAVA will co-host a special screening and panel discussion on Capitol Hill with House Veterans Affairs Committee Bob Filner and other distinguished members of Congress for the acclaimed documentary LIONESS about female combat veterans in Iraq and how the Department of Veterans Affairs can better prepare to take care of them.  Learn more about LIONESS here.  To check out IAVA’s commemoration of Women’s History Month and learn more about women’s history in the military, click here.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate convenes at 10:00 a.m.

FLOOR ACTIVITY of  INTEREST

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Resume consideration of S.Con.Res. 13, the concurrent Budget resolution.
  

FUTURE NOMINATIONS and  APPOINTMENTS of  INTEREST

• April 1, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing on the nominations of W. Scott Gould to be the Deputy Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Tammy Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.  10:00 a.m.; 418 Russell
  

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS  of  INTEREST

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->April 1, 2009 - Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Wounded Warrior issues.  Officials from VA and DoD will be invited to testify.  2:30 p.m.; Location: TBD (Prudhomme)
• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->April 22, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing on pending health legislation.  2:30 p.m.; 418 Russell (Ballenger)
• <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->May 6, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing on pending benefits legislation.  9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell  (Ballenger)
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->May 7, 2009 - Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, hearing on the VA Fiscal Year 2010 Budget.  Secretary Shinseki will be invited to testify.  2:30 p.m.; Location: TBD (Lukas)
• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->May 21, 2009 - SVAC will mark-up pending legislation.  9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell (Ballenger)

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES

The House convenes at 10:30 a.m.

FLOOR ACTIVITY of  INTEREST

• Senate Amendments to H.R. 1388 - Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act (Rep. McCarthy (NY) – Education and Labor) (Subject to a Rule) 
• H.Res. 279 - Providing for the expenses of certain committees of the House of Representatives in the One Hundred Eleventh Congress. (Rep. Brady (PA) – House Administration) (Subject to a Rule)
  

Suspensions (7 Bills)

1)H.Res. 290 - Honoring the lives and mourning the loss of Sergeant Mark Dunakin, Sergeant Ervin Romans, Sergeant Daniel Sakai, and Officer John Hege, Members of the Oakland Police Department in California who were brutally slain in the line of duty (Rep. Lee (CA) – Judiciary)

2)H.R. 985 - Free Flow of Information Act of 2009 (Rep. Boucher – Judiciary)

3)H.R. 1029 – Alien Smuggling and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2009 (Rep. Hill – Judiciary)

4)H.R. 838 - Miami Dade College Land Conveyance Act (Rep. Ros-Lehtinen – Judiciary)

5)H.Con.Res. 54 - Permitting the use of the Rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the days of remembrance of victims of the Holocaust (Rep. Waxman – House Administration)

6)H.R. 151 - Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2009 (Rep. Lofgren – House Administration)

7)H.R. 1299 - Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act of 2009 (Rep. Brady (PA) – House Administration)

Postponed Suspension Votes (4 Bills)

1)H.Res. 282 - Recognizing the 30th anniversary of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel (Rep. Fortenberry – Foreign Affairs)

2)H.R. 1253 - Health Insurance Restrictions and Limitations Clarification Act of 2009 (Rep. Burgess - Energy and Commerce)

3)H.R. 1259 - Dextromethorphan Distribution Act of 2009 (Rep. Upton – Energy and Commerce)

4)H.R. 577 - Vision Care for Kids Act of 2009 (Rep. Gene Green – Energy and Commerce)

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->April 2, 2009 - House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity hearing:  Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Programs  1:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->April 20, 2009 - Full House Veterans Affairs Committee Field Hearing on Building the Critical Health Infrastructure for Veterans in Jacksonville, Florida  Noon; Florida Community College, 501 West State Street, Jacksonville, Florida
• <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->April 21, 2009 - Full House Veterans Affairs Committee Field Hearing on Building the Critical Health Infrastructure for Veterans in Orlando, Florida  9:30 a.m.; Board of County Commission Chambers, 201 South Rosalind Avenue, Orlando, Florida
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->April 28, 2009 - House Appropriations, Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, will hold a hearing on the VA Fiscal Year 2010 Budget.  Secretary Shinseki will be invited to testify.  10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Location TBD (Lukas)
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->April 30, 2009 - House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing:  Charting the VA’s Progress on Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Our Veterans:  Discussion of Funding, Mental Health Strategies Plan, and the Uniform Mental Health Services Handbook   10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon
  

BRIEFINGS and VISITS of  INTEREST

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->March 30, 2009 - Congressman David P. Roe, M.D., Ranking Member, HVAC-O&I, will visit Walter Read Army Medical Center (WRAMC) to tour the base and meet with various officials.  VA Liaisons and Federal Recovery Care Coordinators stationed at WRAMC will brief the Member concerning their roles.  9:30 a.m.; WRAMC
  

COMMITTEE REPORTS and PRESS RELEASES of  INTEREST

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->House Report 111-54:  Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->House Report 111-56:  Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009House Subcommittee Reviews Combat PTSD:  VA Process Overly Burdensome, Adversarial to Prove War Zone Injuries and Illnesses

IAVA IN THE NEWS
 
Media Outlet: Veterans Today
Title: VA Process Overly Burdensome, Adversarial to Prove War Zone Injuries and Illnesses
Date: Monday, March 30th
Representative: IAVA Member Vet Carolyn Schapper
 
WHAT THE BLOGS ARE SAYING
 
Blog: Sua Sponte
Title: The Unintended Consequences of the GI Bill
Date: Monday, March 30th
Representative: IAVA
 
Blog: Chicken & Egg Pictures
Title: Lioness takes it to the hill!
Date: Monday, March 30th
Representative: IAVA

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