Agent Orange/Dioxin Committee BY HERB WORTHINGTON, CHAIR

AO-1 Research on AgentOrange/Dioxin Effects: Thisresolution should stay thesame as written. We havebeen pushing for nationallegislation and are waitingfor new numbers to be as-

signed to the bills that will further researchand treatment for both our progeny andthose of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

AO-2 Agent Orange/Dioxin Chil-dren’s Registry; Recognizing the Con-nection Between Dioxin & LearningDisabled Children: This resolution shouldstay as written. We have worked closelywith this registry in getting more Vietnamveterans’ children registered and in gainingevidence of conditions due to veteran ex-posure to toxins.

AO-4 VVA Agent Orange/Dioxin Guide:This resolution should stay as written. Thisbooklet is one of our best methods for reach-ing veterans and their families.

AO-5 Assure Proper Implementationof the Agent Orange Act of 1991: Thisresolution must be reworded by the com-mittee. Although this law expired before re-instatement, we need to contact all senatorsand congressmen to reinstate it as it is thefoundation for all other Agent Orange andtoxic substances programs and research.

AO-6 Dioxin Disposal Methods: Thisresolution can stay as it is written. Althoughwe continue to push for better disposalmethods of dioxin, this is a problem thatwill haunt us for years to come. The EPAhas standards for doing this, but even theirguidelines fall short of complete and safedisposal.

AO-7 Children’s Health Care: Thisresolution can remain as written. We havebeen pushing this issue with our legislators,and it looks as though we will soon be get-ting treatment services if we can musterenough votes for the two bills before Con-gress.

AO-8 Agent Orange/Dioxin Network:This resolution can stay the same. We havebeen working very diligently on thisthrough town hall meetings around thecountry and symposia with national vet-eran and non-veteran groups.

AO-9 Papermaking ManufacturingProcess: This resolution remains the same.We have been actively working to havenon-chlorine methods used in making

paper. Chlorine eventually winds up in ourwaterways and pollutes them. But it is ex-pensive and slow to have manufacturerschange methods.

AO-10 Ban the Manufacturing/Saleand Use of 2,4-D: This resolution remainsthe same. This chemical should not be al-lowed on any market, and we are workingto have it taken off the market.

AO-12 National Institute of Environ-mental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Fund-ing for Research in Vietnam: Thisresolution can stay the same. This is an on-going project and we have made someheadway: Our government has startedreclamation of the Da Nang Airport.

AO-13 Agent Orange/Dioxin Aware-ness Month: This resolution can stay thesame. Although October is used for othercauses, it most certainly should be used forAgent Orange awareness.

AO-14 Hearing Loss Added to theList of Birth Defects Due to Exposure toAgent Orange: This resolution can staythe same. This is a resolution that needs tobe pushed more as there are Vietnam vet-erans who had jobs that did not involve di-rect acoustic shock but still came homewith hearing problems.

AO-15 Government’s Responsibilityfor Veterans’ Right To Know: This reso-lution can stay the same. We continue topush this resolution in hopes of gaining theright to know about so many things that thegovernment considers secret or just cannotfind.

AO-16 Blue Water Veterans’ Expo-sure During the Vietnam War: This res-olution can stay the same as written. It hasbeen formulated into a bill, and we hope itwill be voted on soon.

AO-17 U.S. Air Force Reserve C123KAircrews’ Exposure Post Vietnam: Thisresolution can be retired due to the fact thatthe Institute of Medicine confirmed crews’exposure to Agent Orange. Nonetheless,the VA is still reluctant to grant service con-nection and is considering each case indi-vidually.

The Agent Orange and Other Toxic Sub-stances Committee: Herb Worthington,Chair; Dennis Andras, Bill Dumsick, GeorgeNewell, and Tom Owen, Vice Chairs. Mem-bers: Joseph Armstrong, Elizabeth Bates,Stephen Bowers, Wayne Cartier, GeorgeClaxton, Billee Culin, Mike Demske, TomHall, Steve House, Maynard Kaderlik, Dar-rel Martin, Marc McCabe, Luther Newberry,Francis Rowan, Nate Washington, JohnWeiss, and William Whaley. Special Advi-sors: Paul Bucha, Bruce Dobson, Jim Doyle,

Jack McManus, Sandie Morgan, BobbieMorris, and Paul Sutton. AVVA Advisors:Kathy Andras, Elayne Mackey, and NancySwitzer. Staff Support: Tom Berger, BernieEdelman, and Mokie Porter.

Economic OpportunitiesCommitteeBY FRANK BARRY, CHAIR

The Economic Opportuni-ties Committee is pleasedto provide this annual re-port on its progress in im-plementing its Conventionresolutions.

E-1 Jobs in the PublicSector calls on VVA to favor federal legis-lation that will provide for an effective andclear redress mechanism for veterans whobelieve that their earned rights to veterans’preference have been violated. In the leg-islative agenda for the 114th Congress, theEOC supports cleaning up the Center forVerification and Evaluation (CVE) and set-ting a single standard for statutory, regula-tory, and interpretive policy that is fair andnot overly burdensome. We call for a cul-ture of inclusion, rather than exclusion, thatuses applicable case law to ensure that vet-erans are accorded veterans’ preference insecuring jobs. Committee members willmeet with CVE staff to provide guidanceon how to better serve veterans.

E-2 Job Training and Other Servicescalls on VVA to hold accountable programsfunded through the Departments of Labor,Housing and Urban Development, Healthand Human Services, and Veterans Affairsto meet the special needs of veterans in theirprograms. Job training is an option for vet-erans before they leave the military. TheEOC is advocating for skills training in sci-ence, technology, engineering, and math—areas needed by companies that can provideveterans with successful employment.

E-3 Veterans in Business calls on VVAto support legislation that mandates the fullimplementation of legislation that enhancesthe possibilities and opportunities for veter-ans to succeed in business. The EOC rec-ommended a letter of support for SenateBill 2834, The Protect VETS Act of 2014,sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).This legislation is designed to correct someDOL guidelines. For example, currently theSecretary of Labor may not impose addi-tional restrictions on the services provided

by Local Veterans’ Employment Represen-tatives (LVERs) or those who may be as-sisted by Disabled Veterans OutreachProgram Specialists (DVOPs). LVERs mayprovide individual casework for veterans;DVOPs may conduct initial assessments ofindividuals to ensure they are not misclas-sified. Now the state, subject to approval bythe Secretary, will employ such full- or part-time DVOPS as it determines appropriateand efficient to carry out intensive servicesand facilitate placements. Committee mem-bers are a part of the SBA Veterans BusinessAdvisory Committee and the InteragencyTask Force on Veterans Small Business De-velopment.

E-18 A Comprehensive EmploymentResource Development Program: VVAactively advocates for increases in federalfunding for mental health services and pro-grams at all Vet Centers and VHA facilitiesin order to assist veterans and their fami-lies with mental illnesses caused by theirmilitary service. This will better ensure vet-erans’ successful integration into the work-place and community. The EOC supportedthe Workforce Innovation and OpportunityAct signed into law on July 22, 2014. It re-places the Workforce Investment Act of1998 and retains and amends the Adult Ed-ucation and Family Literacy Act, the Wag-ner-Peyser Act, and the Rehabilitation Actof 1973. It will be effective July 1, 2015.

The law’s highlights include: requiringthe states to strategically align workforce de-velopment programs; promoting accounta-bility and transparency; fostering regionalcollaboration; improving the American JobCenter (AJC) system; improving services toemployers and promoting work-based train-ing; enhancing workforce services for theunemployed and other job seekers; and im-proving services to individuals with disabil-ities.

E-19 A Meaningful Job at a LivingWage: All federal and state agencies shouldfully implement the Hire a Vet program andthe Jobs for Veterans Act. Agencies andtheir managers must be held accountablefor the implementation by written policyand GAO oversight. The EOC supports theDepartment of Labor training program incell tower installation and maintenance. Itis expected to create five thousand jobs in2015.

The U.S. Department of Transportationis also creating thousands of new small busi-ness jobs by updating Moving Ahead forProgress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). Itis a federal construction program imple-mented by the states to supply materials,

VVA Annual Committee Reports

Progress In Advancing Convention Resolutions

Current Convention Resolutions are posted at www.vva.org/OrgDocs/VVA-Resolutions.pdf

continued on next page

machines, and labor to build and maintainthe nation’s highways, bridges, airports, andtransit system. We are urging Congress tolevel the playing field for the unemployed,underemployed, and small businesses by up-dating the Disadvantaged Business Enter-prise (DBE) definition in MAP-21 to includeService-Disabled Veteran-Owned SmallBusinesses (SDVOSBs) and HUBZonecompanies to create thousands of new jobsfor the citizens who need them the most:service-disabled veterans and the unem-ployed and underemployed living in the na-tion’s poorest and rural communities.

The Economic Opportunities Committee:Frank Barry, Chair; Ted Daywalt, ViceChair. Members: Dennis Andras, LarryCarter, Ric Davidge, Marc Goldschmitt,Dave Johnston, and Harold Nash. SpecialAdvisors: Paul Ignosh, Joe Wynn, and CarlTuvin. AVVA Advisor: Sharon Hobbs andNancy Rekowski. Staff Support: Rick Wei-dman.

Finance Committee BY NED FOOTE, CHAIR

The Finance Committee’sjob is to help VVA costcenters achieve their goalswith proper funding withinexpected revenue. In Marchof each year, each commit-tee, department, officer,

and director must submit a budget requestto us with narratives about how and whythey need funds. Usually they ask for morethan what our projected revenue will be.

Last year we had to cut more than onemillion dollars in proposed expenses. Wedid this in a very long budget meeting, andwe recommended a balanced budget to theBoard of Directors in April 2014, whichthey accepted. We had some moaningabout these budget cuts, but over the yearwe did not see anyone unable to accom-plish his or her goals, and we expect to seethat some have not used what was allottedthem. That is good stuff, and all are com-mended on holding down expenses. We tryto work with cost centers throughout theyear on funding shortfalls, and they are re-minded when it looks like they will go overtheir budgets.

This time around (FY2016) we are com-ing into the budget process with an ex-pected excess of proposed expenses versusexpected revenue. As our organization con-tinues to get older, some revenue goesdown. We are no longer the new kids on theblock, and some of the funds we were get-ting are now going to the newest veterans.

So we have to be more creative in thebudget process, and we need to know whatour priorities are. Lesser priorities usually

are where expenses are reduced. This is thenutshell version of what we do.

The Finance Committee: Ned Foote, Chair;Sara McVicker, Vice Chair/Chair, BudgetOversight Subcommittee; and Tom Burke,Chair, Investment Subcommittee. Members:Dottie Barickman, Allen Manuel, Jim Pace,and Barry Rice. Special Advisor: WayneReynolds, VVA National Treasurer. StaffSupport: Joe Sternburg, VVA Chief Finan-cial Officer, and Deborah Williams, Direc-tor of Finance.

Homeless VeteransCommitteeBY SANDY MILLER, CHAIR

The Homeless Veterans Com-mittee continues to monitorlegislation relative to theConvention resolutions listedbelow.

HV-1 Homeless Veter-ans as a “Special Needs

Population”: The Homeless Veterans Com-mittee, in concert with the Government Af-fairs Department, continues to work on thisresolution. The VA has increased funding forhomeless veterans and homeless veteranprograms in keeping with the VA plan to endveteran homelessness in five years.

HV-6 VA Homeless Grant and PerDiem Funding: Homeless Grant and PerDiem Funding methodology remains at thetop of the committee’s priority list. Thiswill require legislative initiatives, which thecommittee is prepared to go forward with.Progress on this issue has been slow; how-ever, the committee remains hopeful thatthis will happen.

HV-7 Homeless Veterans Reintegra-tion Program To Remain at the U.S. De-partment of Labor and Be Fully Fundedat $50M: With the addition of a “fourtharm” of the VA, the committee looks for-ward to working to ensure that HVRP dol-lars are not lost, regardless of where theauthority for the program is seated.

HV-8 Support for Continued Fundingand Oversight of the U.S. Department ofHousing and Urban Development/U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs Sup-portive Services (HUD/VASH) Program:We continue to work toward a full account-ability of all dollars allocated to this pro-gram as well as toward placement numberswith positive outcomes. The committee hasworked for many years to have the HUD/VASH Voucher program funded and uti-lized to the greatest possible level.

HV-10 Continued Funding for “Spe-cial Needs” Grants Under the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs HomelessGrants & Per Diem Program: Recent

legislation has extended this date to Sep-tember 30, 2015.

HV-11 The Department of VeteransAffairs To Identify Best Practices ModelAddressing Homeless Women VeteranTransitional Residential Treatment Pro-grams Through VA Homeless Grants &Per Diem: The VA should identify and im-plement these practices in programs forhomeless women veterans nationwide.

HV-12 Extend the Department ofLabor Homeless Veterans ReintegrationProgram Criteria for Veterans Placed in“Housing First” Model: Veterans enteringinto “housing first” should be able to gainaccess to training for up to twelve monthsafter placement in housing. The committeecontinues to support this resolution andviews it as key to ending veteran homeless-ness.

HV-13 Support for the Missing InAmerica Project: VVA supports the mis-sion of the Missing In America Project inlocating and identifying the unclaimed cre-mains of veterans and securing a final rest-ing place for these forgotten veterans.

HV-14 Support, Oversight, and Ac-countability of VA Supportive Servicesfor Veteran Families: VVA supports thecontinuation of the SSVF grant program.To ensure full compliance, VVA urges theVA Secretary to monitor and hold ac-countable those receiving and distributingthese funds to the most vulnerable veteranfamilies.

The Homeless Veterans Committee: SandyMiller, Chair; Tom Hall, Vice Chair. Mem-bers: Pat Bessigano, Linda Blankenship,Terry Hubert, Tom Johnson, Dave Johnston,Joe McIntyre, Kate O’Hare-Palmer, andJerry Yamamoto. AVVA Advisors: JoannaHenshaw, Cathy Keister, and Nancy Switzer.Staff Support: Tom Berger and SharonHodge.

Membership AffairsCommittee BY CHARLIE HOBBS, CHAIR

The Membership AffairsCommittee, as required byPublic Affairs ResolutionP-7, provides this yearly re-port to the membership.

M-1 Verification andSecurity of DD Form 214.

VVA requires that all applicants for indi-vidual membership provide a copy of theirDD Form 214 or other acceptable docu-mentation establishing eligibility for mem-bership. These documents are kept at thelocal level in a confidential and securemanner in accordance with the provisionsof the Constitution. Verification to the na-tional organization shall be done by the

local chapter secretary or, in the absence ofthe secretary, a designated chapter official.

M-2 Communication Among VVA’sOrganizational Levels. The national of-fice must reply to all communications fromstate councils and chapters within fiveworking days, and state councils and chap-ters must reply to all communications fromthe national office within ten working days.

M-1 and M-2 remain viable and wereoverwhelmingly endorsed at the 2013 Na-tional Convention. The Membership De-partment makes every effort to address allquestions and enquiries in a timely man-ner. The Membership Committee is work-ing hard to improve your VVA experienceand to increase our membership numbers.Your comments or suggestions are alwayswelcome.

The Membership Affairs Committee: Char-lie Hobbs, Chair; Steve Mackey, ViceChair. Members: Dick Southern, RichardDeLong, Ben Humphries, Leonard Igna-towski, Joseph Kristek, Richard W. Lind-beck, Charlie Montgomery, Jim Pace, JerryPounds, Barry Rice, Carol Schetrompf, andRex Moody. Special Advisor: National Sec-retary Bill Meeks. AVVA Advisors: CathyKeister and Penny Meinhardt. Staff Sup-port: Alyson Alt.

Minority AffairsCommittee BY JERRY YAMAMOTO, CHAIR

The VVA Minority AffairsCommittee is required byConvention resolution toprovide this yearly report onactions taken to further theimplementation of currentConvention resolutions.

MA-1 Language-Translated DVABenefits Materials. The committee con-tinues to monitor the VA benefits materialsto ensure that they are translated in the rel-evant languages for veterans and their fam-ilies because the VA is not doing it.

MA-2 Minority Affairs Coverage inThe VVA Veteran. The committee is con-tinually looking for articles to publish inThe VVA Veteran about ethnic minority vet-eran activities. We continue to run a col-umn in The Veteran.

MA-3 Asian American/Pacific Is-lander Veterans. The committee chair willcontinue to monitor activities of the WhiteHouse Initiative on Asian American/PacificIslanders so as to participate when possi-ble. The chair will continue to attempt torecruit more of these veterans through per-sonal, media, and booth contacts.

VVA Annual Committee Reports

continued on next page

MA-5 Foreign National Vietnam Vet-erans Immigration. The committee con-tinues to actively support foreign nationalVietnam veterans who seek medical serv-ices in the United States.

MA-6 Involvement by Minority Vet-erans Welcomed in VVA. The committeeannually has health information and re-cruitment booths at the NAACP NationalConvention and other ethnic minority vet-eran conferences, and monitors the confer-ences and other events of the CongressionalHispanic Caucus Institute, the Congres-sional Black Caucus Foundation, the Na-tional Association For Black Veterans, theAsian/Pacific American Institute for Con-gressional Studies, and American Indianveteran conferences. The committee will at-tend local ethnic veteran community pro-grams. It also interfaces with the VA Centerfor Minority Veterans staff and the VA Of-fice of Tribal Government Relations.

MA-7 Puerto Rican Veterans andU.S. Virgin Islanders. A Minority AffairsCommittee vice chair has been appointedfor Hispanic Affairs. The committee con-tinues to monitor the level of VA servicesprovided to these veterans.

MA-8 Recognition of the Service andSacrifices Made by the Veterans of theTerritory of Guam and U.S. Pacific Is-landers. The committee continues to sup-port the improvement of health services forthe Vietnam veterans of Guam and all U.S.Pacific Islanders. The Region 9 Directormaintains contacts with veterans in Guamand the Philippines. The chair will try tocontact representatives of these veteransduring the current year.

MA-9 Awareness and Sensitivity toRacial, Cultural, and Gender-RelatedEquity Issues. The committee questions thetraining of VA staff in cultural competencyand the staff’s ability to display those skills.The VA needs to have staff available to as-sist non-English-speaking family membersof patients by providing staff who can speakto those families in their native languages.

MA-10 Self-Determination for PuertoRico. The committee continues to monitorthe effects of the plebiscite vote in PuertoRico for statehood. The congressional rep-resentative for Puerto Rico is not taking anyaction. VVA needs to ask Congress, basedon this plebiscite vote, to grant statehood toPuerto Rico. This resolution will be rewrit-ten to include that requested action.

MA-11 U.S. Montagnard Veterans.The committee will make contacts togather relevant information on the status ofMontagnard veterans to provide the man-dated report to the National Board of Di-rectors that was not completed, as required,by spring 2004. The word “Hmong” is re-dundant and should be deleted.

MA-12 American Indian VeteransMemorial Initiative. This resolution willbe retired as the memorial legislation wasenacted and the memorial will be placed

inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Vis-itors Center.

MA-13 American Indian, AlaskanNatives, and Native Hawaiians. Thecommittee continues to support these vet-erans and the resolution as written.

The Minority Affairs Committee: Jerry Ya-mamoto, Chair; Dave Simmons, Vice Chair;Stephen Bowers, Vice Chair for NativeAmericans; Gumersindo Gomez, Vice Chairfor Hispanic Affairs; Joanna Henshaw, Sec-retary. Members: Horace Brown, Pete Pe-terson, Lou Nunez, Francisco Ivarra, JoeJennings, Allen Manuel, Gerald Ney, CecilioBesares, Connie Steers, James Maddox,Paul Washington, Ric Davidge, Ron Speight,Jorge Pedroza, Tony Molina, Virgie Hibbler,Manuel Pedraza, Henry Urioste, Tom Wil-son, and Joe McIntyre. Staff Support: BernieEdelman.

PTSD & Substance Abuse Committee BY THOMAS C. HALL, Ph.D., CHAIR

A new legislative year hasarrived, and with it a newcrop of disturbing statisticstelling us how many of ourservicemen and women, bothactive and veteran, have diedby their own hands, have

lost family or jobs through self-medication,or have become homeless due to PTSD,traumatic brain injury (TBI), and militarysexual trauma (MST)—the invisible woundsof war. Most disturbing, often these invisi-ble wounds result in wrongful diagnosesby the Department of Defense, leaving thewounded without the benefits they earnedand need.

These are not just statistics; they are ourbrothers and sisters in arms. Each trauma isexperienced by a living, breathing personwho took an oath to serve and defend us.Each person has earned our immediate at-tention and action. The PTSD and SubstanceAbuse Committee has spent the last yearworking on the following policy initiatives,and we invite you to join us as we advocatefor the resources and expertise necessary totreat the invisible wounds of war.

Only by talking about these policy ini-tiatives with everyone you know, especiallyyour senators and congressman, will theneeds of our fighting men and women bemet with the highest-quality care. Make thecall right now. Help get the following leg-islative priorities for the 114th Congresssigned into law.

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIESVVA shall work with Congress to ensure

that DOD corrects all wrongful “personal-

ity disorder,” “adjustment disorder,” and“readjustment disorder” discharges so thatall veterans found to have been inappropri-ately diagnosed and discharged are cor-rectly diagnosed and accorded access to thebenefits and care to which they are entitled.

VVA shall work with Congress to takewhatever measures necessary to ensure ac-countability for the organizational capacityand funding for the accurate diagnoses andevidence-based treatments of the neu-ropsychiatric wounds of war, particularlyfor PTSD, TBI, substance abuse, and sui-cide risk.

VVA shall work with Congress to ensurethat DOD and the VA develop, fund, andimplement evidence-based, integrated psy-chosocial mental health programs, sub-stance abuse recovery treatment programs,and suicide-risk assessment programs for allveterans and their families, for active-dutytroops and their families, and for Reservistsand members of the National Guard.

The PTSD and Substance Abuse Commit-tee: Thomas C. Hall, Chair; Fr. Phil Salois,Vice Chair. Members: Ray Autenrich, Dot-tie Barickman, Bob Barry, Pat Bessigano,Linda Blankenship, Dennis Cohoon, Ken-neth Hafford, Sandy Miller, Allan Perkal,Ed Ryan, Kate O’Hare-Palmer, CharlieStapleton, Dan Stenvold, John Wallace,and Jerry Yamamoto. AVVA Advisor:Frances Cartier. Staff Support: Tom Berger.

Public Affairs Committee BY TOM BURKE, CHAIR

In compliance with PublicAffairs Resolution P-7 thefollowing update is pro-vided on the committee’sefforts to advance the 2013Convention Resolutions.

P-1 Community Serv-ice: Encourages community service as apositive expression of Vietnam veterans’participation in their communities. I ampleased that VVA state councils and chap-ters continue to be extremely active attend-ing to the needs of their communities. Oneneeds only to view the achievements ofchapter and state councils that meet withtheir federal, state, and local government of-ficials in a continuing effort to bring VVA’smessage to them. If you look at Member-ship Notes in The VVA Veteran or click“Events” on VVA’s Facebook page, youwill see the many achievements of ourmembers. Facebook and Twitter providefree coverage of local events.

P-2 Children’s Welfare: Encourages ef-forts to safeguard children and infants. VVAmembers, chapters, and state councils haveinitiated and maintained many programsthat benefit America’s children, ranging

from support of food pantries to soapboxderbies, hurricane relief, and scholarships.These efforts, often recounted in The VVAVeteran, honor the achievements of ourchapters and inspire others. Finally, VVAadvocates for research on the multigenera-tional effects of Agent Orange exposure.

P-3 Chapter Involvement with Edu-cational Institutions on Teaching theVietnam War to the Generations thatFollow: VVA remains committed to theconcept that those who participated in theVietnam War are best suited to educate ourchildren about the war. The committee’sEducation Subcommittee, chaired byFlorida’s Tom Hall, has revised VVA’s Ed-ucation Guidebook. It is available online.

P-4 Regulation of Certain Activitiesat the Vietnam Veterans Memorial: VVAhas called on the National Park Service toprohibit press conferences and politicallymotivated actions on the grounds of theVietnam Veterans Memorial. NPS is urgedto control vendors and maintain an atmos-phere of reverence and respect for thosehonored there. VVA continues to supportregulation of activities at The Wall.

P-5 Endorsement for Participation inLocal Environmental Efforts: VVA en-courages chapters and state councils to par-ticipate in programs and political effortsthat minimize environmental impact. Thecommittee is reviewing this resolution andmay recommend changes at the Conven-tion in Springfield.

P-7 Requirement To Report Progresson All Currently Approved ConventionResolutions at Least Annually: This re-port fulfills the requirement of the PublicAffairs Committee. To encourage generalcompliance, the process has been formal-ized: While any committee may report inany issue of The Veteran, every committeewith resolutions must report on theprogress in advancing those resolutions ineach March/April issue.

P-8 The Vietnam Veterans MemorialWall: We reaffirm VVA’s commitment tothe conservation and legacy of The Wall.VVA encourages the active participation ofVVA members in the care and mainte-nance of The Wall. One striking exampleis the monthly Wall Washing by SilverSpring, Maryland, Chapter 641 and guests.(see article in the September/October 2012issue at www.vvaveteran.org).

P-12 Public Awareness for VeteranBenefits Campaign: There are continuingdiscussions in the Public Affairs Commit-tee on the best ways to promote VVA’s con-cerns about federal veterans benefits.

P-13 Gold Star Mothers NationalMonument: Supports the establishment ofa national memorial in Washington, D.C.,to honor the singular sacrifices of Amer-ica’s Gold Star Mothers.

VVA Annual Committee Reports

continued on next page

The Public Affairs Committee: Tom Burke,Chair; Herb Worthington, Vice Chair; DanStenvold, Chair, Awards Subcommittee;Tom Hall, Chair, Education Subcommittee;and Tom Owen, Chair, Real Estate Sub-committee. Members: Bob Barry, GrantCoates, Richard DeLong, Ken Holybee,Ronald Morgan, John Riling, BeverlyStewart, Charles Stapleton, Dick Southern,and Ron Zink. AVVA Advisors: SherryWright-Anderson and Beverly Pounds.Staff Support: Wes Guidry, Michael Keat-ing, Marc Leepson, and Mokie Porter.

Veterans BenefitsCommitteeBY JOHN L. MARGOWSKI, CHAIR

VB-1 Judicial Review: Vet-erans are able to hire a pri-vate attorney or claims agentat any point during theirclaims process. However, acontingency fee agreementis allowed only after the fil-

ing of a Notice of Disagreement (NOD), andthe fee agreement needs to be reasonable.However, once a post-NOD agreement is en-tered into the record, it can be difficult to re-move. VVA continues to seek changes inapplicable law to protect the right of veter-ans to control all aspects of their representa-tion before the VA.

VB-3 Less-Than-Honorable Admin-istrative Discharges: In September 2014former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagelsigned a directive ordering the Army, Navy,and Air Force to implement supplementalguidance involving discharge upgrade ap-plications relating to PTSD. The directivemay affect up to eighty thousand Vietnamveterans with PTSD who have other-than-honorable discharges. Outreach to veteransfrom all wars still needs to be accom-plished on this issue. Most veterans are un-aware that they can still apply to the Boardof Corrections of Military Records for up-grades. VVA continues to seek the repealof Public Law 99-126 regarding the Carteradministration’s special discharge upgradeprogram and is working toward having theother-than-fully-honorable discharge re-placed with a certificate of service.

VB-5 Civil Liberties of Active-DutyMilitary Personnel: Ongoing until re-solved.

VB-6 Just Compensation for InjuriesSustained by Active-Duty Military Per-sonnel: Active-duty military personnel areoften unable to recover adequate compen-sation for injuries due to negligence of gov-ernment personnel. VVA continues to seeklegislation or other appropriate action to se-cure a more equitable compensation forpersonnel injured on active duty due to thenegligence of government personnel.

VB-7 Class Actions at U.S. Court ofAppeals for Veterans Claims: VVA con-tinues to petition the U.S. Court of Appealsfor Veterans Claims to adopt a class-actionrule applicable to claims before the court.This would allow veterans with identicalissues to petition for relief within the courtwith jurisdiction over their benefits claims.

VB-9 DVA Implementation of U.S.Court of Appeals for Veterans ClaimsDecisions: VVA joined in an amicus briefon a lawsuit with Veterans for CommonSense that sought to use the federal courtsto improve the speed and quality of VAbenefits decisions. Unfortunately, this law-suit was not successful, so veterans stillhave to pursue individual VA claims. Thecommittee continues to work with VVAGovernment Affairs staff to urge Congressto provide for class actions to address vet-erans’ concerns and enact systemic changeinstead of making each veteran fight his orher own battle.

VB-10 Veterans Benefits & Services:VVA, along with other veterans service or-ganizations, continues to ask Congress tointercede and make the VA implementprocesses to improve its claims processingand delivery of VA services to veterans. Formore information on this topic, please re-view Veterans Benefits Director Jim Vale’sJanuary 22 written testimony before Con-gress at https://veterans.house.gov/wit-ness-testimony/james-r-vale-esquire

VB-11 Veterans Benefits System: TheVA claims process is nearly fully digitized.Although there still are paper claims files,most have been scanned or archived forscanning and nearly all claims are processedwithout the use of paper. The transition frompaper files to digitized claims processing,however, is not foolproof. VVA VeteransBenefits staff continue to work with VVAGovernment Affairs to improve the VAcompensation system through legislative ac-tion, administrative advocacy, and meetingswith VA executive staff. We have been in-volved in addressing several issues related tothe backlog, such as improving work credit,suggesting improvements to VA computersystems, and simplifying VA regulations.

VB-12 Department of Veterans AffairsService-Connected Disability Compensa-tion Payments & Military RetirementPay: Concurrent receipt of military retiredpay and VA disability has been phased inover the past several years. However, thisonly applies to those with 50 percent orhigher VA disability ratings. Combat-relatedspecial compensation is also a way veteranscan receive both military retired pay and VAdisability benefits (only those related tocombat). Veterans must choose between thetwo programs each year. The committeecontinues to work with VVA GovernmentAffairs staff to allow concurrent receipt forall veterans retired due to length of servicewith any VA disability rating. We also en-courage the full implementation of concur-

rent receipt for all levels of VA disabilitycompensation.

VB-13 Preservation of VVA ServiceRepresentation at the National Level: Atthe national level, VVA continues to main-tain high-quality attorneys for representa-tion of veterans’ claims. For our serviceofficers, the Veterans Benefits ProgramPolicies is being rewritten to more clearlydefine a service officer’s duties and re-sponsibilities. Service Officer training isnow available on the VVA website. TheVVA Service Officer Grant Program pro-cedures have been streamlined and now arein house. This remains a first priority ofVVA.

VB-16 Copy of Military Records uponDischarge: The committee has worked withGovernment Affairs staff to improve the in-tegration of Department of Defense and VAhealth records to create a virtual lifetimeelectronic record. Providing complete andworkable records has been a subject of tes-timony and meetings with VA staff. Thecommittee also works with VVA VeteransBenefits and Government Affairs staff tomonitor the records disposition schedules ofthe service departments to ensure that im-portant health and personnel records are pro-tected and not destroyed. Recent militarypersonnel being separated are given a CD orflash drive containing their records.

VB-18 The Department of VeteransAffairs’ Voluntary Service (VAVS) Pro-gram: Ongoing. VVA continues to en-courage its state councils and local chaptersto get involved with Voluntary Services attheir local VA hospitals.

VB-19 Veterans Environmental HealthEffects: Legislation that addresses VVA’sinitiative regarding the toxic exposure of allAmerica’s veterans is expected to be re-in-troduced in the 114th Congress.

VB-20 Participation in the Process ofAccrediting DVA Medical Centers: On-going until resolved. VVA encourages itsmembers to get involved at their local VAhospitals.

VB-27 Reduction of DIC SurvivorWaiting Period: Under Section 1318, evenif a cause of death is not service-connected,a survivor can obtain Death and IndemnityCompensation (DIC) benefits if the veteranhad been service connected for a conditionthat was totally disabling for ten years.VVA continues to seek to reduce the ten-year period to one year.

VB-28 Removal of 5 Percent AnnualDeductible for VA Pension Eligibility:The committee continues to work withVVA Government Affairs staff to urge thatall allowable medical expenses incurred bya low-income veteran eligible for VA pen-sion be subtracted from his or her house-hold’s income, not just those expenses thatexceed the 5 percent deductible. This willbe included in our work on reducing thebacklog, as the necessary calculationsmake this annual task more onerous on vet-erans and VA employees.

The Veterans Benefits Committee: JohnMargowski, Chair; Jim Pace, Vice Chair.Members: Richard Carman, Joe Kristek,Dick Southern, Joe Jennings, Ned Foote,Dennis Cahoon, Herb Worthington, Char-lie Montgomery, Ben Humphries, Pete Pe-terson, Jon Weiss, Perry Melvin, and GeneCrego. Staff Support: Jim Vale, NationalBenefits Director; Jamie Rupert, Deputy Di-rector; and Elaine Chaney, AdministrativeAssistant. AVVA Special Advisors: SharonHobbs and Nancy Switzer.

Women VeteransCommitteeBY KATE O’HARE-PALMER, CHAIR

WV-7 Women VeteranProgram Managers. VVAwill seek congressionaloversight and accountabil-ity on all VA Medical Cen-ters’ and VISN directors’compliance with measures

defined in the VA’s 2010 Handbook1330.01, “Health Care Services for WomenVeterans,” as it relates to the position ofwomen veteran program managers. Com-pliance must be made a performance meas-ure at all VISNs and VAMCs. This resolutionneeds to be updated to reflect more recentVA Handbook and performance measures.Measures that have not been met still needto be addressed.

WV-8 Military Sexual Trauma. Cur-rently, instances of sexual assault in the mil-itary must be reported through the chain ofcommand. The creation of a separate andindependent office to address such crimeswould remove barriers to reporting and pro-vide additional protection and safety for thevictims.

VVA will pursue legislation that reassignscomplaints of MST by a service member tosomeone outside her or his immediate chainof command. The Veterans Access, Choice,and Accountability Act of 2014, Section 403,directs the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint ExecutiveCommittee to report to Congress on the tran-sition of military sexual trauma treatmentfrom the DOD to the VA. Parts of the report-ing segments have been changed to provideanonymity for the victim. However, the basicpremise of removing the chain of commandfrom the reporting of the crime still stands.This legislation still needs work.

WV-9 Military Sexual Trauma Treat-ment for Guard and Reserve. Membersof the Reserves and National Guard whoexperience military sexual trauma duringweekend drills or battle assemblies and an-nual training are not eligible for treatmentfrom the VA. VVA calls for legislation to

continued on next page

VVA Annual Committee Reports

allow these members of the National Guardand Reserve forces to receive care from VAmedical facilities without cost.

Legislation has been enacted that changesthe criteria. This expansion occurred as partof the Veterans Access, Choice, and Ac-countability Act of 2014. The expansion is apart of the VA’s effort to provide “free carefor all physical and mental health conditionsdetermined by their VA provider to be relatedto experiences of MST.” Although not a spe-cific diagnosis, MST is instead defined as“any sexual activity where a servicememberis involved against his or her will.”

WV-10 Travel for VHA Treatment.The Beneficiary Travel Policy indicatesthat only selected categories of veterans areeligible for travel benefits, and that pay-ment is authorized only to the closest facil-ity providing comparable service. Thisdirective is not aligned with the military sex-ual trauma policy, which states that patientswith MST should be referred to programsthat are clinically indicated regardless of ge-ographic location.

VVA calls for the Under Secretary forHealth to review and reexamine the existingVHA policy pertaining to the authorizationof travel for veterans seeking MST-relatedspecialized inpatient or residential treat-ment programs outside the facilities wherethey are enrolled and to provide travelfunding for these veterans. This resolutionwill need further updating by the WomenVeterans Committee to align it with currentlegislation.

The Women Veterans Committee: KateO’Hare-Palmer, Chair; Sandy Miller, ViceChair. Members: Dottie Barickman, PatBessigano, Tom Hall, Linda Blankenship,Leslie DeLong, Tom Berger, Sara McVicker,Pattie Dumin, Lee Jackson, Gene Crego, EdRyan, John Wallace, Billie Culin, and TomDevlin. AVVA Advisor: Elayne Mackey.Staff Support: Sharon Hodge.

Government AffairsCommitteeBY PETE PETERSON, CHAIR

Members of the 114th Con-gress were sworn in on January 6. Rep Jeff Miller(R-Fla.) remains chair of theHouse Veterans’ Affairs Com-mittee; on the minority side,Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.),

a 22-year member of the committee, be-came ranking member, replacing MikeMichaud of Maine. In the Senate, JohnnyIsakson (R-Ga.) was named chair of the Sen-ate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, succeedingBernard Sanders (I-Vt.). Sen. Richard Blu-menthal (D-Conn.) is the new ranking mem-ber, replacing Richard Burr (R-N.C.).

VVA intends to work closely with the114th Congress to secure enactment of ourtop priorities. We will, of course, reach out toour members, to other veterans service or-ganizations, and to environmental supportgroups to press for enactment of relevantlegislation. That includes:

1. Addressing the legacy of toxic expo-sures, not limited to Agent Orange and otherdefoliants employed in South Vietnam;

2. Fixing the VA, so shaken by the pre-dictable waiting-list scandal of 2014 that achastened bureaucracy might be persuadedto accept some real and lasting change;

3. Organizational reform of the VA, in-cluding the creation of a Veterans Eco-nomic Opportunities Administration.

Make no mistake: Vietnam veterans stillhave unmet needs. We refuse to be passedby, dismissed, or forgotten. Enactment ofour top priorities, especially addressing thelegacy of toxic exposures and fixing the VA,can go a long way toward amelioratingsome of these needs—not just for Vietnamveterans, but for veterans of all eras.

G-7 Service Connection for HepatitisC: There has been no progress on this res-olution. Part of the inactivity is that we

have succeeded in getting direct serviceconnection via existing evidence, and thereis an effective hepatitis C standard of carein place at the VA.

G-9 Awarding of the Combat Mede-vac Badge (CMB): No activity.

G-10 Endorsement of Legislation ToCreate Minimum Private-Sector Health-Care Coverage for Uninsured and Un-derinsured Veterans and Their Families:The Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148,signed by the President on March 23, 2010,provides affordable and accessible healthcoverage for all Americans. The committeewill recommend retiring this resolution atthe 2015 National Convention.

G-13 Cessation and Prohibition of theUtilization of the U.S. Military Personnelas Non-Consensual Participants in theTesting by the U.S. Government of Vac-cines and Other Medical Treatments:VVA continues to press DOD on non-con-sensual inoculations that are not FDA ap-proved.

G-14 State Veterans Homes: VVA con-tinues to support this resolution by workingwith the Conference of State Council Presi-dents, the National Association of State Di-rectors of Veterans Affairs, the NationalAssociation of State Veterans Homes, andthe National Governors Association to en-sure that state veterans’ homes receive properfunding.

G-15 Vietnam War “In Memory”Memorial Plaque Project: The resolutionis now a program under the auspices of theAssociates of Vietnam Veterans of America.The committee will recommend retirementof this resolution.

G-16 Sexual Harassment: This reso-lution was achieved with the enactment ofP.L. 113-66, The Defense AuthorizationAct of 2014, XVII Sexual Prevention andResponse and Related Reform in Sections2-5. The committee will recommend re-tirement of this resolution at the 2015 Na-tional Convention.

G-17 Proper Use of Real Estate atWest Los Angeles VA Medical Center:VVA has consistently opposed the use of theundeveloped and unused property at theWest Los Angeles VA Medical Center forpurposes other than those consistent with theintentions of the original donor. In 2011VVA joined with the ACLU and sued theVA for wrongful misuse of this land. A vic-tory was achieved on January 24, 2015,when the VA signed an agreement dedicat-ing the West LA Medical Center campus toserve veterans in need as was the original in-tent when the land was donated to the fed-eral government in 1888. In light of thishistoric agreement, the committee will rec-ommend retirement of this resolution at the2015 National Convention, but will monitordevelopments and compliance with the in-tent of the law—and the purpose of the WestLA Campus.

The Government Affairs Committee: PetePeterson, Chair. Members: Herb Worthing-ton, Frank Barry, Sandy Miller, Leslie De-Long, Tom Corey, Jerry Yamamoto, RichardDeLong, Tom Hall, Tom Burke, Dave Sim-mons, John Margowski, Pat Bessigano, Do-minick Yezzo, Kate O’Hare-Palmer, SpenceDavis, Gene Crego, Wayne Reynolds, andDennis Cohoon. AVVA Advisors: SharonHobbs and Nancy Switzer. Special Advisors:Nancy Rekowski, Jon Birch, and Jeri Wal-lis. Staff Support: Sharon Hodge, Rick Wei-dman, Bernie Edelman, and Tom Berger.Ω

VVA Annual Committee Reports

RESOLVED, THAT:Vietnam Veterans of America requiresthat all national committees and task forces report at least annually in The VVA Veteran on actions taken thatfurther the implementation of currentlyactive Convention Resolutions.