TREA Legislative Update
September 8, 2006

Congress is back in town and they are anxious to get things settled so they can leave Washington and go home for their campaigns. This means that it is very likely (but not definite) that the NDAA for 07 will be completed some time next week. Therefore whatever your concerns are: Retiree Healthcare, National Guard and Reserve benefits, the end of the SBP/DIC offset, moving up the time for paid up SBP or dozen of other causes NOW is the time for you to contact your members of the House and the Senate.

1. Haas v. Nicholson (Court of Veterans Appeals overturns Agent Orange rule.)  
At the end of August the Court of Veterans Appeals overturned the VA rule requiring a Vietnam veteran to have set his or her foot in Vietnam to qualify for the legal presumption that they were exposed to Agent Orange and that that exposure contributed to him or her developing a listed disease. (These include Type II diabetes, Hodgkin’s disease, prostate cancer and many others. A full list may be found at: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/benefits/herbicide/#bm04 ). They found that the rule had not been properly established since the VA had not complied with the notice and public comment rules required by the Administrative Procedures Act. What does this mean to you? If you or someone you know is a “Blue Water” sea service veteran, received a Vietnam Service Medal and developed one of the listed diseases you should be found service connected. However, you should not wait to apply or to reapply (if you had been previously denied service connection due to this rule) because the decision was based on HOW the VA had instituted the rule and they may very well sit down and promulgate the rule correctly this time. It is also likely that they will appeal the decision. Therefore, if you think you may be covered by this situation TREA suggests that you go to your Veteran Service Officer as soon as possible and see if you should file a claim. Don’t delay.

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2. Funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center- Good News Last week at TREA’s National Convention the membership passed a resolution calling for the Senate to plus up the funding for medical research on brain injuries (through the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center) Last year the very fine program was funded at $14 million; this year $7 million. On Tuesday Senator George Allen (R-VA) submitted an Amendment 4883 to the NDAA07 (HR 5631) to provide $19 million for the program. On the Democratic side Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) submitted a similar amendment. The $19 million figure was obtained from a House of Representative paper. So it seems very likely that this mistake will be corrected in the very near future.

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3. Senate passes Defense Appropriations Bill
Last night a unanimous Senate passed the ’07 National Defense Appropriations Act 98-0. It contains $469.7 billion for the next fiscal year. Next week the House and Senate will start the conference for the final bill. In June the House passed its version of the NDAA07 with $427.6 billion. Representative C.W. Young (R-FL), Chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee said that the House would likely support the Senate’s higher amount. The Senate’s version included the $50 billion the House put in for supplemental funding for conducting the war and other emergency needs and an additional $13.1 billion for repairing and replacing war worn military equipment.

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