Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 07.23.09
Posted by Michelle McCarthy on July 23

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.  Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking?  Follow us on Twitter @iavapressroom.

MUST READS

(1) House panel passes new GI Bill changes

Ahead of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill’s August 1^st implementation, the House Education and Labor Committee approved by voice vote on Wednesday to increase the bill’s benefits for veterans in states that heavily subsidize tuition at public colleges as well as to expand student loan forgiveness for National Guard and reserve members when they’re mobilized.  The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), comes less than two weeks before the new veterans education benefits program will launch, and is unlikely to become law in time to influence benefits payments, which are set to begin as early as August 3^rd.  Mckeon’s amendment would help students attending institutions of higher learning in California, Massachusetts and other states where the tuition cap on benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill will be low because of how “tuition” is defined by public education institutions in those states.  However, the fate of the McKeon grant is tied to the fate of the bill to which it is attached, HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, a measure that changes private lending for college loans to nonveterans. Because it could lead to the loss of up to 35,000 jobs for private lenders, the measure is controversial and no sure thing. To learn more about Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, sign up to receive a sneak peak at IAVA’s soon-to-be launched website NewGIBill.org at www.iava.org/firsttoknow.

(2) Obama, Maliki Meet on Future of U.S. Involvement in Iraq

At a White House meeting on Wednesday, President Obama urged Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to press ahead with national reconciliation efforts and pledged to meet a commitment to withdraw all U.S. troops from the country by the end of 2011.  During the hour-long meeting, Obama Obama played down new Iraqi limits on U.S. military operations as "differences in strategy.”  In a joint press conference, Obama said the United States would "continue to provide training and support for Iraqi security forces that are capable and nonsectarian. We'll move forward with our strategy to responsibly remove all American combat brigades from Iraq by the end of next August and to fulfill our commitment to remove all American troops from Iraq by the end of 2011."  He also promised the U.S. would help Iraq to end its obligation to pay $25 billion in reparations to neighboring Kuwait for the 1990 invasion of that country by the forces of Saddam Hussein.  Queried by reporters, Obama also said he was pleased by Maliki's plan to visit Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery to pay his respects to more than 600 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans buried there.

(3) Meeting with IAVA Vet, service dog inspired Franken's bill

Minneapolis Star-Tribune has a feature today on IAVA Member Veteran Luis Carlos Montalvan, an Iraq veteran, who inspired new Senator Al Franken (D-MN) to introduce a bill this week that would create a pilot program to provide service dogs for injured veterans.  Montalvan, now a journalism student in New York City, suggested the idea to Franken months ago during a chance encounter at the presidential inaugural ball in Washington with his service dog Tuesday.  He is an advocate for East Coast Assistance Dogs, which trained Tuesday and other dogs to provide mental and physical support to veterans suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other injuries.  "It was really like a dream come true," said Montalvan.  "[Franken] was very genuinely interested and concerned.”  Tuesday helps Montalvan cope with several fractured vertebrae and a serious head injury he suffered during an attack near the Iraq-Syrian border in 2007.  Click here to read more about Montavalan and Tuesday in this recent Wall Street Journal feature.

(4) Circumstances of soldier's disappearance examined

According to CNN, U.S. forces in Afghanistan have opened a fact-finding investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, the Idaho soldier missing since June 30^th and believed captured in Afghanistan by Taliban militants.  The investigation, informally called an AR 15-6, was confirmed by three military officials speaking on condition of anonymity.  So far, the Defense Department has announced Bergdahl disappeared from his combat outpost sometime after he finished his guard duty shift on the night of June 29^th leaving behind his weapon.  Military officials indicated he appeared to have left voluntarily.  Overseen by military legal personnel attached to the 82^nd Airborne Division, the investigation is being conducted separate from the ongoing search efforts and intelligence-gathering operations aimed at locating Bergdahl. Officials want to determine what happened, and if there are any systemic failures that need to be addressed.  Meanwhile, more than 500 people attended a vigil on Wednesday night for Bergdahl in his hometown of Hailey, Idaho.

AFGHANISTAN

Three U.S. service members and one British soldier were killed Wednesday in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, increasing an already record high monthly death toll for U.S. forces since the start of the war.  Meanwhile, on a speaking during a tour of Ukraine and Georgia, Vice President Joe Biden told the BBC on Thursday that the lawless region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is “a place that, if it doesn’t get straightened out, will continue to wreak havoc on Europe and the United States.”  In addition, he cautioned that more coalition troops will die in Afghanistan but the war is “worth the effort.”

After days of uncertainty, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's campaign announced Wednesday that he is pulling out 24 hours before the first national presidential debate is due to begin, claiming that his policies are not ready. A spokesman for Karzai said that the president could take part in a debate only if it was broadcast on all of Afghanistan's television channels, and said Tolo TV, the hugely popular network on which it would air, is biased against him.  Organizers had hoped the debate, modeled on the set pieces of U.S. presidential politics, would see Karzai square off against his two main rivals – his former finance minister, Ashraf Ghani, and his former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah.

Stateside, court documents unsealed Wednesday reveal that a New York man named Bryant Neal Vinas pleaded guilty this past January to charges of aiding al Qaeda and helping attack a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.  FBI officials accused Vinas of firing rockets at the U.S. military base along with others in September 2008, according to the indictment, filed under seal in January. In addition, authorities said he provided al Qaeda with information about the New York transit system and the Long Island Railroad. Vinas, 26, is from Long Island, and is an American citizen. He was arrested in Pakistan.  Click here to read a more extensive profile on Vinas from the New York Times.

IRAQ

Early voting has started in Iraq’s Kurdish region ahead of weekend election that will determine provincial leadership.  About 2.5 million eligible voters in the region's three northern provinces — Irbil, Dahuk and Sulaimaniyah — are expected to vote Saturday to elect their 111-seat parliament and next president.  Prison inmates, sick people in hospitals and members of the Kurdish security forces known as "peshmerga" are among those allowed to vote early.  The Kurds hoped to simultaneously hold on Saturday a referendum on a proposed constitution, but national authorities scuttled that plan as the draft constitution lays claim to disputed areas outside the three Kurdish provinces.  Iraqi Arabs view it as an unwelcome effort to expand Kurdish authority.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

The San Antonio Express-News reports today VA Secretary General Eric Shinseki indicated to Rio Grande Valley veterans on Wednesday they are unlikely to get a VA hospital in south Texas anytime soon.  The Valley veterans, the majority of who have to travel five-hours for medical care at the nearest VA hospital in San Antonio, have been running a multi-year campaign to advocate for their own VA facility along the rural U.S. border.  In March, IAVA Member Veteran Rey Leal – a native of Edinburg, TX – helped organize a 250 mile march to San Antonio to draw attention to the veterans plight.  But Secretary Shinseki said Wednesday said he wants to see how an expanded VA health clinic in Harlingen will serve the local veteran population. “I would say let's put it up and let's see what the response is, and then if there is more discussion — as I'm sure there will be — then let's take one on,” he said. “But let's at least provide them what they're asking for, and that is save them the five-hour drive for a shot or a blood test or an X-ray. That we can do.”  Shinseki said the clinic would serve all but about 5 percent of area veterans. Veterans would still have to travel to San Antonio for major procedures.

On the health front, a U.S. airman lost parts of both legs and was in critical condition Wednesday after routine gallbladder surgery at Travis Air Force Base went terribly wrong.  According to his family, Airman 1st Class Colton Read was supposed to get his gallbladder removed laparoscopically — via a small incision — at Travis’ David Grant Medical Center on July 9.  During the procedure, however, surgeons nicked or punctured his aorta which in turn disrupted blood supply to his legs.  Travis officials would not comment on specifics, only saying a “serious medical incident” occurred at the hospital. The case is under investigation by the base, a national hospital accrediting commission and the U.S. surgeon general.

A federal jury concluded on Wednesday that West Point officials who ordered anti-war demonstrators out of an Army-Navy basketball game in 2004 did not violate their First Amendment rights, finding that the protesters' message —T-shirts spelling out "U.S. out of Iraq" — was not the main reason for their expulsion.  The eight protesters were escorted from the premise in 2004 by military police, held for three hours and charged with disorderly conduct during the National Anthem ceremony before the game.  West Point dropped the charges a month later, but the protesters were barred from West Point for five years. The protesters, all from nearby Westchester County, sued West Point officials, accusing them of violating their freedom of speech.  Each sought $50,000 in damages.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

The House Appropriations Committee approved Wednesday a $636 billion defense spending bill that contains $128 billion for Pentagon operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The measure currently contains $369 million for the beleaguered F-22 program, which Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are intent on killing after 187 planes are built.  On Tuesday, the Senate voted by 58-40 to terminate the F-22 program.  If the passed, the $636 billion spending bill would increase the total cost of the U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to more than $1 trillion.  On Wednesday, Rep. John Murtha (D-P), the House's top defense budget writer, said more funding will be needed next spring.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE 

The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m.

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS  of  INTEREST

• July 29, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing entitled, "Review of Veterans' Disability Compensation: Forging a Path Forward."  9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell (Smith)
• August 2, 2009 - SVAC will conduct a field hearing on VA’s outreach to returning Guardsmen.  10:00 a.m.; Oahu Veterans Center (Vasquez)
• August 28, 2009 - SVAC will conduct a field hearing on the state of VA’s services on Maui, to include an OIG report of the same.  10:00 a.m.; Maui Cultural Center (Vasquez)

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES       

The House will convene at 9:30 a.m.

Roll call votes expected.

S 1390 — Defense authorization

FUTURE  HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST

• July 23, 2009  - Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Hearing: Examining Quality of Life and Ancillary Benefits Issues  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
• July 29, 2009 -  Full Committee Hearing:  Meeting the Needs of Injured Veterans in the Military Paralympic Program  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
• July 30, 2009 - Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing:  The Implications of VA’s Limited Scope of Gulf War Illness Research  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
  

IAVA IN THE NEWS

Outlet: Daily News

Title: Should Colbert Be an Honorary Veteran?

Date: Wednesday, July 22nd

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

Outlet: Navy Times

Title: Veterans Organization Wants to Recognize Colbert

Date: Wednesday, July 22^nd

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

Outlet: Army Times

Title: Veterans Organization Wants to Recognize Colbert

Date: Wednesday, July 22^nd

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

Outlet: Minneapolis Star Tribune

Title: Meeting with IAVA Vet, service dog inspired Franken's bill

Date: Wednesday, July 22^nd

Representative: IAVA Member Vet Luis Carlos Montalvan

Outlet: OhMyNews!

Title: The Hurt Locker: Iraq War Film Shows Chilling Desperation

Date: Wednesday, July 22^nd

Representative: Paul Rieckhoff

WHAT THE BLOGS ARE SAYING

Blog: Comedy Central Insider

Title: Before They Get Stale: Seth Rogen, Jon Stewart and Fred Armisen

Date: Wednesday, July 22nd

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

Blog: NoFactZone.com

Title: Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist

Date: Tuesday, July 21st

Representative: Paul Rieckhoff

A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles.  These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA.

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