THE SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE ACT- debating in House now

[LSK]

The Support Our Troops and Veterans’ Health Care Act:
:bluebox: Ensures that U.S. forces in the field have all of the resources they require;
:bluebox: Directs more resources to the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan;
:bluebox: Improves healthcare for returning service members and veterans; and,
:bluebox: Sets a timeline for ending U.S. participation in Iraq’s civil war.

Afghanistan: Adds $1 billion to the Defense Department request to address the rising conflict in
Afghanistan and $226.5 million to the request for State and USAID programs.

Defense Health Care: Includes $2.8 billion for Defense Health Care, which is $1.7 billion above
the President’s request. Additional funds support new initiatives to enhance medical services for
active duty forces, mobilized personnel, and their family members. These include:
:bluebox:$450 million for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Counseling;
:bluebox:$450 million for Traumatic Brain Injury care and research;
:bluebox:$730 million to prevent health care fee increases for our troops;
:bluebox:$20 million to address the problems at Walter Reed; and,
:bluebox:$14.8 million for burn care.
As amended in Committee, the proposal prevents any funds from being used to close Walter Reed.

Veterans’ Health Care: Adds $1.7 billion to the request for veterans health care, including:
:bluebox:$550 million to address the maintenance backlog at VA health care facilities to prevent
situations similar to those at Walter Reed;
:bluebox:$250 million for medical administration to ensure sufficient personnel to address the rising
number of veterans and to maintain a high level of service;
:bluebox:$229 million for treating the growing number of veterans;
:bluebox:$100 million to allow the VA to contract with private mental healthcare providers to offer
veterans, including Guard and reserve members, quality and timely care; and,
:bluebox:$62 million to speed claims processing for returning veterans.

Base Realignment and Closure: Includes $3.1 billion to fully fund FY 2007 needs.
Basic Allowance for Housing: Increases the request by $1.4 billion to eliminate the military
housing shortfall.
Readiness: Provides $2.5 billion in additional funding for the Strategic Reserve Readiness fund to
ensure that our troops are properly equipped and trained.
Increasing the Size of the Military: Includes $2.3 billion for the full cost of fielding an additional
36,000 Army troops and 9,000 Marines, and $720 million for related military construction costs.
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles: Includes $1.4 billion, $311 million above
the request.
Family Advocacy Program: Provides an additional $17 million for domestic violence programs.
Protection for Aircraft: Adds $198 million for air survivability equipment for the Marine Corps
and $706 million for infrared countermeasures for the Air Force ($222 million above the request).
Equals the request for Iraq Security Forces ($3.8 billion), Afghan Security Forces ($5.9 billion),
Joint IED Defeat Fund ($2.4 billion), Working Capitol Funds ($1.3 billion) and coalition partner
support ($650 million).
Does not fund two Joint Strike Fighters and five of six EA-18G electronic attack airplanes requested
because they are unrelated to battle losses and considered not to be urgent. In addition,
development programs that duplicate work at the Joint IED office are not funded.

Supporting and Protecting Our Troops. In order to minimize the burdens on our troops and
maximize their security, the proposal would direct the President to adhere to military guidelines for:
:bluebox:Unit Readiness. Requires the Defense Department to abide by its current policy, requiring the
chief of the military department concerned to determine that a unit is “fully mission capable”
before it is deployed to Iraq. The President may waive this provision by submitting a report to
Congress detailing why the unit’s deployment is in the interests of national security despite the
assessment that the unit is not fully mission capable.
:bluebox:Length of Deployment. Requires the Defense Department to abide by its current policy and
avoid extending the deployment of units in Iraq in excess of 365 days for the Army and 210
days for the Marines. The President may waive this provision by submitting a report to
Congress detailing the particular reason or reasons why the unit’s extended deployment is in the
interests of national security.
:bluebox:Time Between Deployments. Requires the Defense Department to abide by its current policy
and avoid sending units back into Iraq before troops get the required “time out of the combat
zone” and training time (365 days for the Army and 210 days for the Marines). The President
may waive this provision by submitting a report to Congress detailing why the unit’s early
redeployment to Iraq is in the interests of national security.

Meeting Benchmarks and Ending our Involvement in Iraq’s Civil War. The proposal would
pressure the Iraqi leaders to improve their performance by establishing a timeline for ending U.S.
participation in Iraq’s civil war.
:bluebox:Progressing Toward Political and Military Benchmarks. By July 1, 2007, the President
must certify that Iraq is making meaningful and substantial progress in meeting political and
military benchmarks, including a militia disarmament program and a plan that equitably shares
oil revenues among all Iraqis. If the President does not provide this certification then U.S.
forces must begin an immediate redeployment to be completed no later than December 2007
(180 days).
:bluebox:Achieving Political and Military Benchmarks. By October 1, 2007, the President must
certify that Iraqis have achieved the political and military benchmarks. If he does not provide
this certification then U.S. forces must begin an immediate redeployment to be completed by
March 2008 (180 days).
:bluebox:Ending U.S. Participation in the War. Should both certifications be provided, the
Administration must begin redeploying U.S. forces from Iraq by March 1, 2008 and complete
the redeployment by August 2008 (180 days).

No Permanent Bases: Prohibits the establishment of any permanent military installation or base of
U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq.
Prohibiting Torture: Prohibits the use of funds for activities that contradict the United Nations
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Security Forces: Limits the availability of funds in the “Iraq Security Forces Fund” and “Afghan
Security Forces Fund” until the Secretary of Defense submits to Congress readiness assessments of
Iraq and Afghan security forces and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget submits
a report detailing the total cost of training and equipping these forces.

more

http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/08suppsummary.pdf

http://appropriations.house.gov/

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