1. Lawmakers tell Panetta, Shinseki it's time for collaboration to yield results.
2. Country star Tim McGraw offers veteran new home, fresh start.
3. Report: State systems for overseas voters vulnerable.
4. Grieving widow gathers pieces of vet's WWII life.
5. East TN veteran community "disgusted" by couple accused of faking military.
6. Husband and Wife Indicted for Conspiracy to Steal Public Money.
7. Lawmakers Push to Ease U.S. Troops' Transition to Veterans.
8. Veterans with businesses can get state advice.
9. Obama again vows Veterans Affairs exempt from sequester.
10. Romney Ignores Other Budget Players.
11. At VFW Convention, Romney Accuses Obama Of Leaking Classified Information.
12. Romney Says VA Would Be Badly Hurt By Automatic Defense Cuts.
13. Veterans Affairs Funding Heads For A Hill Grilling.
14. DOD To Improve Voluntary Education Safeguards.
15. Revamped Program Aims To Help US Veterans Transition To Civilian Life.
16. Sgt. Shaft. House Bill Would Require VA Secretary To Provide Caskets Or Urns For Some Veterans.
17. Korean War Veterans Reunited At VA Home.
18. San Diego Council Approves VA Center To Treat PTSD.
19. VA Career Tool May Be Example For Other Agencies.
20. VA's Paperless Systems A Roadmap For Other Agencies.
21. Wide Variation In ICU Admits In VA System.
22. Severely Wounded Army Capt. Patrick Horan And Wife Move Into Home Renovated By Volunteers.
23. Las Vegas-Based Research Team Working On New PTSD Treatment.
24. Veterans With Businesses Can Get State Advice.
25. VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 26, 2012:
26. Today in History:
1. Lawmakers tell Panetta, Shinseki it's time for collaboration to yield results. Lawmakers frustrated at years of limited collaboration between defense and Veterans Affairs officials pressed the secretaries of those departments Wednesday to ensure that servicemembers’ lives aren’t lost to paperwork mistakes and red tape.
2. Country star Tim McGraw offers veteran new home, fresh start. The home is one of 25 that McGraw plans to give away this year during his Brothers of the Sun tour with Kenny Chesney. The program, which is also being organized by Operation Homefront and JPMorgan Chase & Co., aims to help wounded servicemembers.
3. Report: State systems for overseas voters vulnerable. States trying to make it easier for troops overseas to vote have set up voting systems that are vulnerable to hacking when they allow voters to return ballots online, via e-mail, or Internet fax, says a state-by-state report that was to be to be released Wednesday.
4. Grieving widow gathers pieces of vet's WWII life. Donovan Gabriel was 84 when he died a year ago. Avaline, 68, can hardly mention his name without tearing up. She thinks about what he went through during his war. She thinks about what two of her grandsons, now in the Navy themselves, must be going through.
5. East TN veteran community "disgusted" by couple accused of faking military. WBIR-TV
A federal grand jury indicted the Kaczmarczyks on eight counts including three counts of stealing public money from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and three counts of Social Security fraud for more than $1000. The indictment states that while ...
6. Husband and Wife Indicted for Conspiracy to Steal Public Money. 7thSpace Interactive This investigation was a joint effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General, and the United States Air ...
7. Lawmakers Push to Ease U.S. Troops' Transition to Veterans. Bloomberg Federal agencies need to do a better job of meeting the needs of as many as 1 million troops who will leave the military by 2017, U.S. lawmakers said today. The Department of Veterans Affairs has struggled to ease a backlog in disability claims and to ...
8. Veterans with businesses can get state advice. Sacramento Bee The Illinois Departments of Veterans Affairs and Central Management Services will host "Mission: Veterans 2 Entrepreneurs" in Marion at the VFW Heyde-Pillow Post. Officials will provide information on doing business with local, state and federal agencies ...
9. Obama again vows Veterans Affairs exempt from sequester. Politico Mitt Romney warned veterans that the looming sequester would mean bad things for the health care military veterans get through the Department of Veterans Affairs. “That devastation would start here at home. Mark my words, those cuts would only weaken ...
10.Romney Ignores Other Budget Players. AP When Mitt Romney spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) convention on Tuesday, he blamed President Obama "for the prospect of large cuts in defense spending next year." Romney, however, is "ignoring the role that Congress and members of his own party played in setting up that possibility." The VFW convention heard from Obama on Monday. During his speech, according to the AP analysis, Obama "glossed over just how much" problems with disability benefits and mental health treatment "have grown during his time in office."
11.At VFW Convention, Romney Accuses Obama Of Leaking Classified Information. AP During his VFW convention speech, Romney "accused...Obama of trying to gain a political edge in their close campaign by leaking classified information about the US military raid that killed Osama bin Laden." In "response, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama has zero tolerance for leaks." McClatchy "Romney's critics called the criticism of the leaks a diversion to mask a lack of foreign policy and veterans' affairs specifics in his" VFW convention speech. But several "thousand veterans, many standing in the aisles or at their seats to take photographs, cheered Romney, a reception similar to the one afforded Obama." Wall Street Journal During his VFW convention speech, Romney said, "Whoever provided classified information to the media, seeking political advantage for the administration, must be exposed, dismissed and punished. The time for stonewalling is over." USA Today "During his remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Romney cast Obama as
jeopardizing America's standing in the world and for making some security decisions to get political advantage. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee called for a 'full and prompt investigation' on leaks of national security information, as he seized on comments made yesterday by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the intelligence committee," who said, "I think the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks." On Tuesday, though, the "Democratic senator said...she should not have 'speculated' on the source of the leaks and criticized Romney for using her original comment against Obama."
12.Romney Says VA Would Be Badly Hurt By Automatic Defense Cuts. Bloomberg News "Romney, heading for a six-day trip overseas to bolster his foreign policy credentials, accused President Barack Obama of weakening the US, blaming him for leaks of security secrets, dangerous defense-spending cuts and mistreatment of allies including Israel." During a VFW convention speech that he gave on Tuesday, Romney "also blamed Obama for automatic defense cuts put in place by Congress last summer in an effort to force a bipartisan compromise on reducing the national debt that has yet to materialize. 'This is not the time for the president's radical cuts in the military,' Romney said, calling the reductions a path to 'devastation' that would weaken the Department of Veterans Affairs." Washington Times "Romney...used his speech before the VFW to blame Mr. Obama for failing to come up with a replacement for the roughly $600 billion in defense cuts, known as a sequester, that are scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1 if Congress does not find a common ground." Romney "warned on Tuesday that the cuts will jeopardize the nation's ability to provide services to military veterans and its ability to confront the threats coming from abroad - including radical Islam to Iran's disputed nuclear program."
13.Veterans Affairs Funding Heads For A Hill Grilling. Politico "Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki are set to testify on Capitol Hill" today "about the steps they're taking to work better together. Instead, they'll likely be peppered with questions from members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on whether...VA is completely exempt from sequestration spending cuts." The committee's chairman, US Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), said, "Conveniently this week," President Obama "declared 'veterans' benefits' are exempt in a speech before a group of veterans, but his own acting OMB (Office of Management and Budget) director, Jeffrey Zients, has stated that VA may face sequestration under current law. Which is it?" Politico adds, however, that in April, the OMB said the "conclusion that we have reached is that all programs administered by the VA, including veterans' medical care, are exempt from sequestration." Politico During his VFW convention speech, Romney "warned veterans that the looming sequester would mean bad things for the health care military veterans get through" VA. But Barack Obama's budget office has "declared the VA, including all its health programs, would be spared if the sequester goes into effect in January."
14.DOD To Improve Voluntary Education Safeguards. American Forces Press Service "The Defense Department is nearing completion of an agreement with post-secondary schools to ensure service members have the best possible experience in continuing their education, a senior Pentagon official said" on Tuesday. An "online draft of the new instruction says all schools providing high school completion and post- secondary education through the DoD Tuition Assistance Program must agree to the multi-agency memorandum of understanding and have a signed copy on file with DoD prior to service members receiving approval of tuition assistance." The DOD "developed the memo with the departments of Education, Veterans Affairs, and Justice, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of an executive order President Barack Obama announced at Fort Stewart, Ga., in April to ensure that service members, veterans and their families can get the information they need about the schools where they spend their education benefits."
15.Revamped Program Aims To Help US Veterans Transition To Civilian Life. AP The Federal government is "redesigning a program that helps US troops transition to civilian life after they leave the military." Defense Secretary Leon Panetta "says troops have some great skills but that the updated transition program is needed to help them get additional training and education on their way to success in the civilian workplace." A separate AP (7/25) story appearing in at least 267 publications says Veterans Affairs help run the Transition Assistance Program.
16.Sgt. Shaft. House Bill Would Require VA Secretary To Provide Caskets Or Urns For Some Veterans. Washington Times "Sgt. Shaft" column said US Rep. Gus Bilirakis, "Florida Republican and vice chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, recently introduced legislation that would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide caskets or urns for veterans with no next of kin and insufficient resources to cover burial and funeral expenses. The legislation comes after it was discovered that Pvt. Lawrence Davis Jr., a World War II veteran with no next of kin, was buried in a cardboard box at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla." According to the Times, US Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) "have both co-sponsored a bill in the Senate titled 'The Dignified Burial of Veterans Act of 2012.'"
17.Korean War Veterans Reunited At VA Home. Newsday "August Angerame, 83, and Frank DiBella, 82, of Bay Shore, who fought together in Korea at the dawn of their adulthood, are together again at its twilight." By a "twist of fate, the former soldiers were assigned to the same room at the geriatric care facility at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center earlier this year." Newsday added, "The story of their reunion after more than 60 years has become the talk of the Northport nursing home staff, said Gina Norton, a 16-year nursing assistant who cares for DiBella." Norton added that when DiBella can see Angerame in a nearby bed at night, DiBella is "fine" and can "go right to sleep."
18.San Diego Council Approves VA Center To Treat PTSD. Los Angeles Times "The San Diego City Council on Tuesday voted 7-0 to authorize a 40-bed facility in the Old Town neighborhood to be run by the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The vote came as the VA and officials of a free charter school across the street from the proposed site announced agreement on several issues to resolve concerns by school parents that the facility could pose a danger to students." The VA "agreed, among other things, to enhance security measures at the facility, which is slated to open in spring 2013."
19.VA Career Tool May Be Example For Other Agencies. Federal Times "Veterans Affairs Department employees have had access to one of the government's best career-development tools since October." Last week, "top VA officials demonstrated the tool - called MyCareer@VA - at a meeting" of the "National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations, led by Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry." Berry "said some agencies are looking at adopting similar career-development tools and looking specifically at the VA tool as a possible role model."
20.VA's Paperless Systems A Roadmap For Other Agencies. AOL Government "The Department of Veterans Affairs has unleashed myriad technology tools and new management processes to cut a backlog of disability claims and speed benefits delivery that could be a roadmap for every federal agency transitioning to paperless systems. With the help of smart technology and online self-service access, 1.67 million veterans have registered for the secure VA-Department of Defense web portal, a 400 percent increase in just one year, the Department of Veterans Affairs said" recently. Robert Reynolds, VA's Benefits Assistance Service director, "told AOL Government that the surge in enrollees at the eBenefits portal is part of a concerted effort to reach out to service members in new and aggressive ways." Jim Marszalek, an assistant national service administrator for the Disabled American Veterans, called the eBenefits upgrades a "great enhancement."
21.Wide Variation In ICU Admits In VA System. MedPage Today "Intensive care admission practices varied widely at Veterans Affairs hospitals, suggesting a lack of consensus about high- and low-risk patients, investigators concluded. Out of 31,555 patients admitted directly to 118 acute-care hospitals included in the analysis, more than 50% had a 30-day predicted mortality of 2% or less, reported Lena Chen, MD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues in Archives of Internal Medicine online." The "study was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs."
22.Severely Wounded Army Capt. Patrick Horan And Wife Move Into Home Renovated By Volunteers. Washington Post
23.Las Vegas-Based Research Team Working On New PTSD Treatment. Las Vegas Review-Journal
24.Veterans With Businesses Can Get State Advice. AP "Veterans who own or who would like to own a small business can learn about getting work with government agencies and not-for-profits at a summit to take place" this Friday. The "Illinois Departments of Veterans Affairs and Central Management Services will host 'Mission: Veterans 2 Entrepreneurs' in Marion at the VFW Heyde-Pillow Post."
A welcoming home for our Troops.
