My ltte published today re:IAVA

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2010/08/27/opinion/doc4c77e08b16bc9716918743.txt

To the Editor,

As we enter the 10th year in Iraq and Afghanistan, let’s focus on the action of one veterans’ group here at home. The organization, of course, is The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The IAVA is actively organizing support of Congress in addressing three vital areas as they relate to veterans.

The first area is expansion of the post 9/11 GI Bill. There have been serious lapses in reimbursement, changes in rate of reimbursement and adjustment of housing rates for veteran students. The IAVA is calling upon the VA to publish a tuition and fee reimbursement chart, as there have been over 150,000 incidents of veterans being unaware of the degree of tuition reimbursement. The IAVA is also requesting that the VA announce the time frame for back payments for tuition and housing.

The second area is simplification of the VA disability process. There are multiple bills currently active in the House and Senate to ease this. H.R. 5549 will shorten the appeals process and allow other family members to apply for the veteran. S.3517 is a massive omnibus bill that will shorten the appeals process, make the appeals proceed directly to the board and allow for a temporary fast-tracked rating for a veteran with supporting evidence.

The third area is assisting veterans with employment assistance. Unemployment is a substantial problem for returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. S.3234 has several areas of focus ... support of veteran-owned small businesses, providing a subsistence allowance for veterans involved in a retraining program, vocational training and disabled veteran training.

Our duty as a grateful nation is to encourage House and Senate involvement in these bills. Encourage our representatives to support these bills in a bipartisan fashion. Because of their sacrifice, our troops have earned these unconditionally. You may get more detailed information at www.iava.org.