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American Legion - American Legion News Clips 3.1.21

Marine Corps League Yankee Detachment #255  March 05, 2021    No comments


Good morning, Legionnaires and veterans’ advocates, today is Monday, March 1, 2021, which is the first day of The American Legion’s virtual Washington Conference, as well as National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, National Pig Day, Self-Injury Awareness Day, and World Compliment Day. 
Today in American Legion history: 
  • March 1, 1915: Announcements appear in newspapers coast-to-coast recruiting members for American Legion, Inc. Former U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, along with former Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, are among the vocal proponents of this “American Legion” of military-trained, educated citizens who pledge their skills, time and assets – including automobiles, tools, boats, weapons and motorcycles if needed – to serve as a U.S. reserve fighting force in the event the United States is drawn into the war in Europe.  
  • March 1, 2018: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th District refuses to reconsider an October 2017 decision and rules 8-6 that the Bladensburg Peace Cross honoring 49 men of Prince George’s County, Md., must either be removed or altered. The memorial was built in 1925 by The American Legion, which is represented by First Liberty, whose deputy chief counsel, Hiram Sasser, promises to fight the appeals court decision. “If this decision stands, other memorials – including those in nearby Arlington Cemetery – will be targeted for destruction as well,” Sasser explains.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 
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Leo Shane III | 9 hours ago 
March is typically the time when scores of veterans advocates flood Capitol Hill hearing rooms in their annual advocacy meetings with members of Congress. This year, due to the ongoing pandemic, all of that work is going virtual. 
Starting on Wednesday, the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees will receive updates from veterans service organizations for the first time in a fully virtual setting. Gone are the packed hearing rooms full of members sporting attire with group logos and binders full of talking points. Instead, all of the groups will testify over the internet, safely socially distanced. 
Lawmakers will still have a full slate of testimony to comb through, however. 
Fourteen different groups are set to outline their policy goals and priorities this week, including Disabled American Veterans, The American Legion, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Vietnam Veterans of America and Student Veterans of America. Six more are scheduled to meet in a similar virtual setting on March 18. 
Tuesday, March 2

Senate Armed Services — 9:30 a.m. — G-50 Dirksen
Global security challenges
Outside experts will testify on global security challenges and strategies to respond to them.

House Appropriations — 10:30 a.m. — online hearing
Military service academies
The heads of the three service academies will testify on challenges facing their institutions.

House Foreign Affairs — 11 a.m. — online hearing
Africa
Outside experts will testify on election freedom in African countries.

Wednesday, March 3

House Foreign Affairs — 10 a.m. — online hearing
Venezuela
Outside experts will testify on security challenges presented by instability in Venezuela.

House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs — 10 a.m. — online hearing.
Veterans groups
Officials from Disabled American Veterans, Student Veterans of America and other veterans advocacy groups will present their priorities to lawmakers during the joint hearing.

Thursday, March 4

Senate Armed Services — 9:30 a.m. — 106 Dirksen
Nomination
The committee will consider the nomination of Colin Kahl to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs — 10 a.m. — online hearing
Veterans groups
Officials from The American Legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America and other veterans advocacy groups will present their priorities to lawmakers during the joint hearing.

Friday, March 5

House Appropriations — 10:30 a.m. — online hearing
VA infrastructure
VA officials will testify on the status of VA facilities and plans for future construction and consolidation. 
 
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES | Published: February 26, 2021 
WASHINGTON — The leaders of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee urged the Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday to add hypertension to the list of conditions presumed to be caused by Agent Orange — a move that would grant eligibility for VA benefits to about 160,000 veterans. 
Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., wrote to new VA Secretary Denis McDonough asking him to exercise his authority on the issue. Vietnam War veterans have been waiting years for the VA to recognize a link between hypertension and exposure to chemical herbicides during the war. 
“More than fifty years have passed since Vietnam veterans served and sacrificed for this nation, many of whom continue to suffer the damaging effects of their exposure to Agent Orange,” the senators wrote. “There is no time for further delay, our veterans deserve transparent communication and decisive action.” 
During McDonough’s first news briefing with reporters this week, he said he felt the urgency to act on the issue. He vowed to look at the scientific evidence, rather than the cost. The VA previously estimated that the addition of hypertension to the presumptive list would cost more than $11 billion over the next 10 years. 
“Inevitably, people focus first on cost,” McDonough said. “I want to focus first on the facts and on the data and what we know.” 
Researchers with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found for the first time in 2018 that “sufficient” evidence exists to link hypertension to Agent Orange exposure. Since then, advocates have pushed the VA to add the condition to the list of presumptive conditions, which would lower the amount of proof veterans must provide in order to receive VA benefits. 
The VA secretary has the power to add conditions to the presumptive list. After the National Academies released their finding in 2018, former VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said that he wouldn’t make a decision about the condition until the end of 2020, when the results of two more scientific studies on the issue were expected to be published. The VA later said that the coronavirus pandemic had delayed the studies until mid-2021. 
Tester and Moran asked McDonough on Friday to determine whether the additional studies were necessary. They also asked that he work with the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to create fair, transparent process for illness to be added to the list of presumptive conditions in the future. 
“Veterans deserve an enduring framework, supported by science, that utilizes a fair and transparent process set up to serve them for generations to come,” the senators wrote. “We welcome your collaboration with our committee to establish that framework.” 
At the end of last year, Congress passed a measure approving benefits for Vietnam War veterans suffering from bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson’s-like symptoms — all conditions linked to Agent Orange exposure. The change effects about 34,000 veterans suffering from the conditions. 
The measure now falls to McDonough to implement. He said this week he was building a timeline for implementation. 
“I feel some urgency because it’s statute, and one of the things I committed to was implementing the statutory changes consistent with the intent of Congress,” McDonough said. “We’re continuing to be under the gun on that, and I think that’s a good thing.” 
 
Todd South | 2 days ago 
Recent Army-funded research shows that troops exposed to military explosive shockwaves are at a higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease – even if they didn’t receive a traumatic brain injury from the blast. 
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, the Army Research Lab, National Institutes of Health and researchers at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke have uncovered the link, according to an Army statement. 
“This finding may explain those many blast-exposed individuals returning from war zones with no detectable brain injury, but who still suffer from persistent neurological symptoms, including depression, headaches, irritability and memory problems,” said Dr. Gen Bahr, the William C. Friday distinguished professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at UNC-Pembroke. 
The neurological complications from blast incidents without a TBI symptom or diagnosis may be “rooted in distinct alterations to the tiny connections between neurons in the hippocampus,” according to the statement. 
The hippocampus is a part of the brain particularly involved in social behavior and encoding memories. 
The research was published recently in “Brain Pathology,” the medical journal of the International Society of Neuropathology. 
“Blasts can lead to debilitating neurological and psychological damage, but the underlying injury mechanisms are not well understood,” said Dr. Frederick Gregory, program manager, Army Research Office. “Understanding the molecular pathophysiology of blast-induced brain injury and potential impacts on long-term brain health is extremely important to understand in order to protect the lifelong health and well-being of our service members.” 
Researchers took slices of hippocampus from a rat’s brain and exposed the living tissue to controlled blast waves. The exposure led to selective reductions in parts of the brain necessary for memory, and electrical activity from those neuronal connections was sharply diminished, according to the statement. 
Those findings indicated Alzheimer’s-type effects in the brain without the recognizable brain damage that is present with TBI. 
While blast exposure is not a guarantee of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the new research indicates that such exposure does present an “increased risk” of developing the condition. 
“Early detection of this measurable deterioration could improve diagnoses and treatment of recurring neuropsychiatric impediments and reduce the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later in life,” Bahr said. 
 
Meghann Myers | 2 days ago 
Every option is on the table when it comes to confronting sexual assault in the military, the chair of the Pentagon’s new sexual assault independent review committee told reporters Friday. 
Lynn Rosenthal, a noted gender violence expert, has been tapped to head up a group of current and former military leaders, as well as outside experts, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby announced. 
“This effort, this commission, is dedicated to those service members who have suffered with sexual assault,” Rosenthal said. “Both those who have come forward and shared their stories at great personal cost, and those who’ve suffered in silence and continue to suffer in silence alone, and also at great cost.” 
Details about who else will sit on the committee and how they will conduct their work were not available, but Rosenthal said that travel to installations will likely be part of the plan, as well as an online resource where service members can share their stories and insights. 
“This commission says to that service member, you do belong in this military...and it’s our job to make this climate safe for you to be here,” she said. 
The committee’s top priority is accountability for sexual assault, she said, but the team will also be looking at climate, culture and prevention. 
“One of the hardest things to hear when you listen to survivors talk is how hostility was conveyed by their attacks, this hostility to them as part of the sexual assault,” Rosenthal said. “And that approach was to the victim, ‘You don’t belong here, you don’t belong in this military. No one will believe you if you talk about what happened, and you will be blamed.’ " 
Rosenthal acknowledged past suggestions for responding to sexual assaults, including ideas that would take the responsibility out of the chain-of-command, including an independent civilian office for reporting and removal of commanders from the decision to investigate and prosecute a report. 
She would not say whether she personally supported those ideas, but acknowledged past pushes by lawmakers to require, for example, that professional sexual assault prosecutors decide whether to charge a suspect. 
“The president and the secretary have said that all options should be on the table,” she said. 
 
Leo Shane III | 1 day ago 
Montana Democrat Jon Tester has been a key figure in veterans policy decisions for years. But in the new Democratic-controlled Senate, he’s now at the center of all of the chamber’s defense spending and veterans policy moves. 
That’s because Tester, 64, has now taken over as chairman of both the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the defense panel of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The combination makes him arguably one of the top lawmakers for all military and veterans decisions for the coming session, at a time when the new administration has promised reforms in both. 
“I do think there’s going to be an opportunity to get some good things done here,” he said in a recent interview with Military Times. “It does put us into a position where I can apply pressure to leadership to get some of these important things done for our VA and for the Defense Department.” 
Despite the connection between the active-duty and veterans communities, only a few lawmakers in either chamber sit on both the veterans committees and either the armed services or defense appropriations panels. Tester said his unusual role as a leader for both gives him a chance to better highlight those shared challenges and policy priorities. 
The chairman spoke about his committee priorities and challenges during a recent interview with Military Times. Portions of the transcript have been edited for length and clarity 
MT: How do you see your two chairman roles working together? 
Tester: I think where they can have the greatest synergy is the movement from warrior to civilian life. And I think that’s always a big issue. 
We do a great job making civilians into warriors. But we don’t do as good a job making warriors into civilians. And I think that with my positions, we should be able to get some things done that can hopefully help that transition, be more effective. 
MT: So is there anything that you see right from the get-go that’s gonna get into that? I know there has been a lot of concerns with the medical records issue, with VA switching to a system that will work with DOD. 
Tester: I think that the medical records are still not where we need to be. The VA is depending upon the Defense Department a lot in these medical records, and making sure that there’s good communication … making sure that the information is transferred. The nuts and bolts of the [electronic records] to the VA is going to be really important. 
[Another issue] is making sure that our military people understand the benefits that are available to them, the resources that are available when they leave the service to help them get back into a civilian life. Whether that’s with health care benefits, or educational benefits, or housing benefits, all that is really important. 
I’m not saying that there hasn’t been a good job done on that in the past. But it’s something that I’ve heard from being on this [Veterans Affairs] committee. 
MT: Well, I’ll say it for you. It has been a point of frustration for years. Are there things that you see in the short term that you think you’re going to be able to dig into to help with those transition issues? 
Tester: I don’t want to make this sound easier than it is, but it’s making sure that we’re letting the veterans know when they get ready to get out. 
I’ve been told many, many times that when somebody is getting out of the service, they don’t want to sit around in meetings, they want to get out and get back to their life and their future outside the military. 
The challenge we have is to make sure that whether they like it or not, we’re giving them the information they need, because I think it’ll make the transition to civilian life much, much easier. 
Not to oversimplify, but I think it’s more about good communication, making sure that the Defense Department is doing what they need to prepare these guys for civilian life, and making sure that VA is there when they get out of the military. 
MT: On the appropriation side, should we expect a Defense Department budget cut this year? Do you have an idea for a top line at this point? 
Tester: Not at this point. And I will tell you that the top line may not be as important as how the money is spent. I think that’s what’s really important here is making sure that needs are met and making sure that people are held accountable on how the money is spent. 
If [the budget total] needs to be plussed up, I wouldn’t be opposed to that. And if we have programs that have outlived their usefulness, I’m not opposed to cutting either. So I think it’s about how the money is spent, and making sure this country is secure. 
MT: What about the personnel side of the budget? Do you have any ideas about priorities you’re going to be looking at with personnel in mind? 
Tester: Look, I’m going to be listening to [Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin and [Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark] Milley and others about where the military needs to be from a right size standpoint. They’re the folks who really know this, so we’ll ask them the tough questions. 
We’ll make them justify what they need. But then we’ll give them the tools they need to be able to recruit the people they need. 
In addition to that, we’re making sure the Guard and reserve components are dealt with in a fair way. Look at what we’ve got here in Washington, D.C., with the Guardsmen out here, protecting us and the Capitol grounds. That’s important work. 
And we have used the Guards and Reserve over the last 20 years in kind of a different way than we’ve used them in the past. Making sure that they’re taken care of through this defense budget is also very important. 
MT: Are you thinking of specific hearings just on Guard and reserve issues? 
Tester: I think so. I think it’s going to be necessary to make sure we get their leadership in and talk about their challenges, and about what they’re seeing in the future, and how we can help support them. 
MT: With that group, there has been a long-standing issue with which mobilizations qualify for education benefits and medical benefits. You’ve been a proponent of trying to expand that. Do you think that now you’ll be able to move those ideas along? 
Tester: I certainly hope so. I mean, they’re incredibly valuable to this country. They’re incredibly valuable to their states, and I think they’re just an important part of our military. Like I said, they’re used differently than they used to be, and we need to take that into account. 
MT: Give me your first impressions of new VA Secretary Denis McDonough. 
Tester: First of all, I think Denis McDonough is the person that we need right now in the VA, because he is a manager. With the electronic health records and issues around implementing the John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Care Act, the Deborah Sampson Act and others, I think he’s the right person to get that done. 
I had a number of constructive conversations with Secretary McDonough through the confirmation process. I knew him when he was Chief of Staff for President [Barack] Obama. He’s certainly a smart guy. He certainly is somebody that works his tail off, and certainly somebody who is committed to veterans. So I think he’s going to be good. 
I will also tell you, I’m going to hold him accountable, just as I have other secretaries of the VA. 
MT: You mentioned mental health, dealing with suicide and suicide prevention. Where do you see Congress going on this now? 
Tester: I also think what compounds the mental health problems is the pandemic, because isolation increases mental health problems. 
Congress has done a good job of passing [bills]. Now it’s up to make sure that the VA implements them. Passing it is only half of it, maybe less than half. Getting it implemented is really where the rubber meets the road. We’ll be working in a bipartisan way to make sure that VA implements that bill and gets those resources out there to veterans. 
I think that’s what we’re looking for, and then we’re going to be continuing to talk to our veteran service organizations and veterans out there that are advocating, and mental health groups about what further we can do to address this issue of mental health amongst our military and our veterans. 
MT: I know one of the struggle points for VA in the pandemic so far has been rural veterans and getting vaccines out to them. Obviously, Montana is your state. How do you feel VA has done not just on the pandemic, but as a whole is addressing the issue of rural vets? 
Tester: I think the challenge with rural veterans, especially if you consider that Alaska and Montana are one and two per capita in veterans that live in our state, and those are both very rural states, I think it makes that challenge very, very real. 
I think that the VA has done some pretty good work, honestly, I mean, we’ve put a lot of community based outpatient clinics out there. In Montana, they’ve got a pilot project on delivering vaccines with airplanes to hard to reach areas. And that project has been very successful ... 
Part of this is making sure we’ve got good broadband out there, get into these people’s homes that are a long ways away from the clinics. That is going to be very essential. And I know there’s a lot of talk here in the United States Senate about putting some money into laying down some broadband, I think we’re probably going to get some people opened up so that they can get their health care [remotely]. 
When people get in a crisis, they can’t drive an hour, an hour and a half or two hours to see a professional. But if they can get a hold of that mental health professional on their computer in their office or in their basement, then that can really solve a lot of problems, save a lot of lives. 
 
     

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