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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 or subscribe to receive the brief in your inbox each morning at www.iava.org/dailynewsbrief.

STORM THE HILL 2010 UPDATE

Vets face complex and frustrating enemy: red tape

Combat veterans returning to the U.S. often find themselves facing a new, complex and frustrating enemy: red tape. That is the assessment of IAVA’s new report “Red Tape: Veterans Fight New Battles for Care and Benefits” released Friday. The full report can be read here. Modernizing the outdated, paper-based disability claims system is Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s top legislative priority for 2010, and the key focus of the Storm the Hill campaign.

Click here to follow the latest news from this week’s Storm the Hill campaign.

MUST READS

1) Inspector general: Vets wrongly charged for free care

Veterans seeking treatment for sexual trauma suffered in the military may have been improperly charged co-payments by the VA. A new report from the VA inspector general has resulted in a change in billing practices and a promise that anyone charged for mental health counseling or treatment for physical health conditions could get his or her money back.

2) With 17,000 deployed to Haiti, U.S. military considers options

With 17,000 U.S. troops now on the ground in Haiti, the battle-stretched US military considers how long it can keep a large contingent of troops in Haiti while wars in Afghanistan and Iraq rage on.

3) Marines in Afghanistan adapting to new rules of engagement

With new and more stringent rules of engagement imposed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal in an effort to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan and to win over the population, some firing cannons say they are finding it harder and harder to get their shot at the enemy.

AFGHANISTAN

The United States military on Friday issued a long-awaited report on how insurgents managed to overrun an American Army combat outpost and kill eight soldiers last October. The reportfaulted leadership for a series of missteps.

The top US diplomat in Afghanistan is optimistic that a new Taliban reintegration programme, soon to be unveiled by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, will entice greater numbers of Taliban fighters to lay down their arms and join mainstream politics.

Afghan border police mistook a group of villagers gathering wood near the Pakistan border as insurgents and opened fire, killing seven civilians, a police official said Saturday.

IRAQ

An Iraqi appeals panel that angered Shi'ite leaders by suspending a ban on candidates accused of links to Saddam Hussein's Baath party until after an election reinstated the ban on Sunday, politicians said.

A double bombing Friday in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 140 others as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims commemorated a major Shiite Muslim holy day.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

The Theatre of War, a new project that has received funding from the Department of Defense, aims to use acting to help unlock the inner grief and suffering that some troops bring back from the war zone.

A wife’s three-page letter to her husband deploying to Afghanistan and the challenges his absence posed has circulated widely, among other units in Afghanistan and in Family Readiness groups.

Guardian Angels for Soldiers’ Pet, a volunteer organization that helps men and women in any branch of the armed forces find temporary homes for pets, is one of several pet foster programs that offer free help to military personnel.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye (D-VA) said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which administers the Post 9/11 GI Bill, must work harder to expedite payments and overcome other hurdles, such as outdated technology.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate is not in session

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

The Senate will convene at 2 p.m.

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues today

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

February 10, 2010 Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on VA’s FY 2011 Budget 9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell

February 16 - 17, 2010 SVAC will conduct field hearings in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, on benefits and health care issues, to be conducted by Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK)

THE HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES



The House is not in session

HOUSE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST



No issues today

FUTURE HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST



February 10, 2009 House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health Hearing: The Veterans Health Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget 2:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon HOB

February 11, 2010 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies hearing: VA’s budget requests for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012. Time and Location: TBD.

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.