Marine Corps Times: Is VA budget increase enough to assist influx of new vets?

A recent Marine Corps Times piece, featuring IAVA founder and executive director Paul Rieckhoff, questioning the proposed $4.9 billion increase in President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget is enough to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs is adequately prepared for the post-Iraq surge of veteran who will expect help over the next to years. Rieckhoff said the budget increase clearly helps but there is much left to do.

MARINE CORPS TIMES

Is VA budget increase enough to assist influx of new vets?

By: Rick Maze

March 16, 2009

Despite a proposed $4.9 billion increase in the 2010 budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs may not be prepared for the post-Iraq surge of veterans and survivors who will expect help over the next two years, the head of a major veterans group says.

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, praised the coming boost in VA spending, but said the extra money isn't enough to fully prepare for the expected surge of veterans.

With President Barack Obama promising to end major combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, Rieckhoff warned in a statement released Feb. 27 that veterans and their families will be expecting help. "What no one is talking about is how our country will support these tens of thousands of troops when they do come home," he said.

The $4.9 billion budget increase clearly helps, he said, but there is much left to do. "The new GI Bill must be properly implemented, mental health resources must be expanded, and we must account for the toll the economic crisis will have on new veterans and their families," he said. "No veteran's 'welcome home' should come in the form of an unemployment check."

Rieckhoff said IAVA is crafting a community outreach program to help returning veterans with education, employment and mental health issues.

Rieckhoff is not the only one worried about post-Iraq needs of veterans.

Patrick Boulay, who heads a unit at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel that investigates violations of employment and re-employment rights for reservists, testified March 4 before the House Veterans' Affairs economic opportunity panel that a weak economy will create more problems for war vets returning home to their civilian jobs.

"The government must be prepared to efficiently and effectively handle such claims," he said. The OSC is involved in complaints involving employment rights for federal workers.

The Labor Department handles other cases.

At the same hearing, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Tex., sought support for a bill that would prevent employers from discriminating against disabled veterans who require medical care for service-connected injuries.

Complications from amputation or other treatment of war-related disease or injury can be time-consuming, especially for someone who does not live close to a veterans hospital, Doggett said.

He is sponsoring a bill, HR 466, which would bar employers from terminating someone whose treatment for a service-connected disability requires more time away from work than can be accommodated by using earned vacation or sick leave.

The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans endorse his bill.