From: Wayne Gatewood, Jr 
Subject: Veterans News for Sunday , July 1, 2012

34.                        VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as June 28, 2012:

            June 28, 2012.  HVAC, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity will mark up pending legislation: 

• H.R. 4115 - Helping Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Return to Employment at Home Act
• H.R. 3524 - A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to provide certain rights for persons who receive treatment for illnesses, injuries and disabilities incurred in or aggravated by service in the uniformed services, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 4057 - Improving Transparency of Education Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2012
• H.R. 4740 - Fairness for Military Homeowners Act of 2012
• H.R.5747 - Military Family Home Protection Act

10:00 A.M.; 334 Cannon

July 25, 2012.  The House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee will hold a joint hearing titled “Back from the Battlefield: DOD and VA Collaboration to Assist Service Members Returning to Civilian Life.”  10:00 AM; 2118 Rayburn HOB

1. Today in History:

• 1776 – The Battle of Sullivan's Island ends with the first decisive victory in the American Revolutionary War leading to the commemoration of Carolina Day.
• 1776 – Thomas Hickey, Continental Army private and bodyguard to General George Washington, is hanged for mutiny and sedition.
• 1778 – The American Continentals engage the British in the Battle of Monmouth resulting in standstill and withdrawel under cover of darkness.
• 1807 – Second British invasion of the Río de la Plata; John Whitelock lands at Ensenada on an attempt to recapture Buenos Aires and is defeated by the locals.
• 1846 – The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax in Paris, France.
• 1865 – The Army of the Potomac is disbanded.
• 1880 – The Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is captured at Glenrowan.
• 1881 – Secret treaty between Austria and Serbia.
• 1894 – Labor Day becomes an official US holiday.
• 1902 – The U.S. Congress passes the Spooner Act, authorizing President Theodore Roosevelt to acquire rights from Colombia for the Panama Canal.
• 1914 – Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I.
• 1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, bringing fighting to an end in between Germany and the Allies of World War I.
• 1922 – The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces.
• 1936 – The Japanese puppet state of Mengjiang is formed in northern China.
• 1940 – Romania cedes Bessarabia (current-day Moldova) to the Soviet Union.
• 1942 – Nazi Germany started its strategic summer offensive against the Soviet Union, codenamed Case Blue
• 1948 – Boxer Dick Turpin beats Vince Hawkins at Villa Park in Birmingham to become the first black British boxing champion in the modern era.
• 1950 – Korean War: Seoul is captured by North Korean troops.
• 1950 – Korean War: Suspected communist sympathizers, argued to be between 100,000 and 1,200,000 are executed in the Bodo League massacre.
• 1950 – Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul and leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge to in attempt to slow North Korea's offensive.
• 1956 – in Poznań, workers from HCP factory went to the streets, sparking one of the first major protests against communist government both in Poland and Europe.
• 1964 – Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
• 1967 – Israel annexes East Jerusalem.
• 1973 – Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.
• 1976 – The Angolan court sentenced US and UK mercenaries to death sentences and prison terms in the Luanda Trial.
• 1978 – The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke bars quota systems in college admissions.
• 1981 – A powerful bomb explodes in Tehran, killing 73 officials of Islamic Republic Party.
• 1987 – For the first time in military history, a civilian population was targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht.
• 1989 – On the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević delivers the Gazimestan speech at the site of the historic battle.
• 1992 – The Constitution of Estonia is signed into law.
• 1994 – Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release sarin gas in Matsumoto, Japan; 7 persons are killed, 660 injured.
• 1997 – Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield II – Tyson is disqualified in the 3rd round for biting a piece off Holyfield's ear.
• 2001 – Slobodan Milošević deported to ICTY to stand trial.
• 2004 – Sovereign power is handed to the interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule of that nation.
• 2005 – War in Afghanistan: Three U.S. Navy SEALs, 16 American Special Operations Forces soldiers, and an unknown number of Taliban insurgents are killed
• 2009 – Honduran president Manuel Zelaya is ousted by local military forces following a failed request to hold a referendum to change the Honduran Constitution in order to serve a second term. This was the start of the 2009 Honduran political crisis.

“If we don’t change direction, we’re likely to end up exactly where we are headed.”    ~ Chinese Proverb ~

WASHINGTON REPORT   Supreme Court Strikes Down Stolen Valor Law The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the Stolen Valor Act (PL 109-437) that made it a crime to lie about one's military service and decorations.  The Court said the law intrudes on free speech saying it is perfectly okay to lie about military service awards.   "Permitting the Government to decree this speech to be a criminal offense would endorse government authority to compile a list of subjects about which false statements are punishable," the ruling states.  "That governmental power has no clear limiting principle."   Early in the case, NAUS cosigned an amicus brief to the Court making our argument to uphold the law, which we now know did not happen.  Though we respect the Court decision, we continue to view fabrication of military service records and awards as repulsive behavior, lying and fraud.  We look forward to Congress taking a second look at developing a constitutional way to stop those who would steal or impersonate another’s valor.    Response to Court: Stolen Valor, Second Look In response to the Court decision, Congressman Joe Heck (R-NV) said, "Now that the Supreme Court has laid down this marker, I will be pushing for a vote on a version of the Stolen Valor Act that will pass constitutional scrutiny."     Congressman Heck has introduced H.R. 1775, a revised Stolen Valor Act, which would make it illegal for individuals to benefit from lying about their military service, record, or awards.  According to the Nevada Republican his bill would pass constitutional review on the grounds that it does not attempt to limit speech basing the bill on whether an individual benefits from the lying.  Rep. Heck's bill has 52 bipartisan co-sponsors.  Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) has introduced the Senate companion bill, S. 1728.    NAUS is asking for your help in contacting your elected officials to gain support for H.R. 1775.  Please click on this CapWiz Alert to send an email.  Please ask your family, friends and neighbors to become involved too.  Free speech is one thing but deliberately lying for gain or to impress others demeans the sacrifices made by all real veterans.   NAUS Supported GAIN Act Approved Last week witnessed advancement of the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now Act (GAIN Act) as part of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (S. 3187).  This week the Senate approved the NAUS endorsed bill this week and will send it to the President for signature into law.   NAUS has covered this measure extensively in our member magazine the NAUS Uniformed Services Journal (USJ) and as readers know, the GAIN Act is commonsense legislation that provides market incentives to encourage innovation in the development of drugs to fight currently untreatable multidrug resistant bacteria without putting federal dollars at stake.    Final passage of the GAIN Act will help fight drug-resistant infections that have increasingly affected troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as many of them have been exposed to a new, highly-resistant and contagious strain of Acinetobacter (Iraqibacter) bacteria.    Approximately 3,300 service members were treated for drug-resistant Acinetobacter between 2004 and 2009.  Among these cases, 89 percent are resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics and 15 percent are resistant to all forms of treatment.   NAUS considers the passage of this bill as an important step and it is hopeful that the incentives provided in the GAIN Act will encourage drug makers to develop new treatments.  We encourage readers of our Update to join NAUS members and receive our award winning USJ.     Welcome to the NAUS Weekly Update.  Please email us any feedback, corrections or tips.  You can join NAUS online here.