Congress has left DC for a week-long recess and the IAVA DC team is continuing to press forward on our #SheWhoBorneTheBattle campaign for women vets and fighting to #DefendTheGIBill. Our successful campaign to stop a proposed tax on new servicemembers to gain Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility has been impactful and our online petition combined with a petition from A Better America has totaled nearly 25,000 signatures. One thing’s for sure, Congress received the message that IAVA members oppose this proposed GI Bill tax. Here are some policy highlights for this week:

• IAVA Political & Intergovernmental Affairs Director Melissa Bryant and Legislative Director Tom Porter represented IAVA members at meetings of The Military Coalition (TMC), working with our friends to move the ball forward for vets in Washington.
• Continued Capitol Hill meetings and discussions regarding support of the Deborah Sampson Act for women vets and Rep. Martha McSally’s (R-AZ) PRIVATE Act to strengthen the Defense Department’s hand in prosecuting those who illegally share images of others. IAVA strongly supports both bills.
• Tom Porter attended a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on new legislation to reform the veterans appeals process. All parties seem to be moving forward on this and we hope the backlog gets fixed and key reforms are in place soon.

Now check out these amazing #SheWhoBorneTheBattle and #DefendTheGIBill tweets!