NEW YORK-Today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation’s first and largest non-partisan, nonprofit organization representing veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, applauded President Obama for signing the 2009 war supplemental bill into law, which includes two critical provisions for new veterans and their families.  The first guarantees retroactive payments for all troops stop-lossed since 9/11 and the second establishes transferability of the new GI Bill to children of servicemembers killed on active-duty since 9/11.

Washington, DC—Today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation’s first and largest non-partisan, nonprofit representing veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, applauded the House for passing retroactive stop-loss payments and a new education benefit for children of those killed on active-duty as part of the war supplemental bill (H.R.2346).  The stop-loss provision would provide up to $5,000 in back-pay to thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were held beyond their enlistment contract before October 2008 under the military’s stop-loss policy. The new education benefit would allow the new GI Bill to be transferred to all children of servicemembers who died while on active-duty since 9/11.

NEW YORK – Today, on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation’s first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff issued the following statement in response to the shooting of U.S. troops by a fellow U.S. service member at a clinic inside Camp Liberty near Baghdad, Iraq:

NEW YORK - Today, Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the country's first and largest nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, issued the following statement in response to a Department of Homeland Security report concerning rightwing extremism: