Thanks to your action last month, the Honoring our PACT Act passed the House with a broad bipartisan vote. Now it is time for the Senate to do its job. This historic legislation would ensure toxic-exposed veterans receive the VA health care and benefits they need. It would provide a list of presumptive conditions associated with burn pits and establish a permanent presumptive framework to address any toxic exposure, foreign or domestic, past, present, and future. It would help Post-9/11 veterans, Persian Gulf War veterans, K2 veterans, Atomic veterans, and Vietnam veterans, including those who served in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Contact your Senators and tell them to vote “yes” when the Honoring our PACT Act is brought to the Senate floor.
HVAC Markup Hearing
The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs conducted a full committee markup on legislation previously discussed in pending legislation hearings. The committee recommended that 17 bills be moved to the House floor. These bills would improve VA’s claim process, extend VA work-study allowance, improve Office of Inspector General oversight, increase entrepreneurship opportunities, and offer medical foster homes to veterans who qualify for long-term care. One of the advanced bills, H.R. 5754, Patient Advocate Tracker Act, stemmed from a proposal by 2021 VFW-SVA Legislative Fellow Cameron Zbikowski. The VFW has provided congressional testimony on several of these bills and will closely monitor their progress.
April is the Month of the Military Child
April is a time to acknowledge and reflect on the sacrifices and challenges military children experience as a result of their parents’ service to our nation. These children maneuver childhood like their civilian peers but with stressors that are unique to the military lifestyle. Separations from parents, frequent relocations, and missed milestones, like birthdays, are commonplace. Further still, some of them must care for service-injured parents while others experience the loss of a parent as a result of service.
Reminders
Studded tires are to be taken off vehicles by Friday, April 15.
The last day to file taxes in Pennsylvania is Monday, April 18.
POW/MIA Update
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Walter R. Pentico, 17, of Lexington, Nebraska, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. He will be buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) in Honolulu on April 29, 2022.
Navy Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols, 21, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. Interment services are pending.
Army Air Forces Sgt. Elvin L. Phillips, 23, was assigned to 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Phillips was serving as gunner crashed. Following the war, his remains could not be identified. Interment services are pending.
Till next week, praying for all service members.
– Charles Castelluccio
