President Trump gave his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 30. A day ahead of the speech, IAVA polled our members to find out what veterans priorities they would like the President to bring up in his address. The more than 1,000 respondents said their top issues were veteran suicide and VA reform, followed by employment, education benefits, women veterans, marijuana research and burn pits. More details on our poll can be found here.     

On Thursday, IAVA’s Chief Policy Officer, Melissa Bryant, hosted a Q&A via Facebook Live with the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) Office of Connected Care Chief Officer, Dr. Neil Evans. The Office of Connected Care aims to expand veterans’ access to care using technology. Evans focused on VA’s connected healthcare tools for veterans such as mobile apps for better health, video appointments, and more. If you missed the discussion, don’t fret! You can watch it here.

The IAVA DC team continued its advocacy on Capitol Hill, including at a House hearing on disability appeals reform, and with our fellow Veterans Service Organizations for our top policy priorities: women veterans, defending the GI Bill, VA reform, and preventing military/veteran suicide.

Check out these videos from the week in DC by Melissa, Research Director Stephanie Mullin, Legislative Director Tom Porter, and intern Danielle Provost.

That’s all for now. Make sure to come back here for updates!