VFW.org

National Legislative Service

The location of our Washington, D.C., office allows us to monitor all legislation affecting veterans, alert VFW membership to key legislation under consideration and to actively lobby Congress and the administration on veterans issues. 

With VFW’s own priority goals in mind, combined with the support of 2.1 million members of VFW and its auxiliaries, our voice on “the Hill” cannot be ignored! 

 

WHAT WE DO:

We continuously advocate on veterans behalf. By testifying at committee hearings and interacting with congressional members, The VFW has played an instrumental role in nearly every piece of veterans legislation passed in the 20th century, as well as bills developed in the 21st.

Most recently, VFW efforts halted the Department of Veterans Affairs proposal to re-review more than 70,000 cases it had already decided for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The review’s sole purpose was to revoke awards for disability compensation under the guise of fraud review.

One of the VFW's most successful legislative pushes was making college education affordable for military servicemembers with the signing of the 1944 GI Bill of Rights, the signing of the Montgomery GI Bill in 1984, and the signing of a new 21st Century GI Bill in 2008. 

Learn more about VFW victories, by reading our comprehensive list of VFW'S HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS. 

VFW's NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMS INCLUDE:

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 The VFW’s legislative initiatives center on quality of life and health initiatives for all the nation's veterans, past and present. The list below details VFW’s 2012 legislative priority goals. You can also access our Priority Goals brochure here. 

VA HEALTH CARE

  • Insist Congress provide sufficient funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs so it continues providing the highest quality care to wounded, ill and injured veterans. 
  • Ensure Congress provides sufficient funding for VA research into the identification, prevention and treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injuries, and other wounds to the mind, exploring alternative treatment options.  
  • Urge Congress to keep women’s issues at the forefront of legislation to continually improve availability and access to VA programs, services and specialists. 
  • Oppose all efforts to eliminate or reduce presumptive service-connected conditions for wounded, ill and injured veterans, as well as to defeat any proposal that would lock out or increase fees on VA Priority Group 7 and 8 veterans. 
  • Provide adequate funding to maintain current building structures and reduce the backlog of critical infrastructure gaps. 

Suicides & Homelessness

  
  • Address the national crisis where 18 veterans commit suicide every day by ensuring that Congress properly fund DOD and VA awareness and support programs. 
  • Push Congress to properly oversee and fund homeless programs by increasing per diem rates, providing education and career training opportunities and making available substance abuse and mental health services.   
  • Ensure available permanent housing solutions for all homeless veterans—especially female veterans with children. 
 

VA BENEFITS & COMPENSATION

  •   Urge Congress to use its funding and oversight authority to require the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to reduce the claims backlog while improving the overall quality of ratings decisions. 
  • Call on Congress to require VA to install an IT infrastructure that will help transform VA into a 21st century agency.  A timely, accurate claim should be what every veteran, service member and eligible family member receives. 

SEAMLESS TRANSITION

  • Demand the creation of one integrated electronic medical and service record that will follow service members from the time they raise their right hands to the time they are buried in a VA cemetery. 
  • Urge Congress and the Administration to improve Transition Assistance Programs to help new veterans successfully transition into civilian life.  

MILITARY QUALITY OF LIFE

  • Oppose all proposals that will damage morale and decimate the all-volunteer force.  
  • Call on Congress to remain fully committed to improving the quality of life for all active duty and Reserve Component members and their families.  
  • Support efforts to lower the Reserve Component retirement pay age to 55. 

EDUCATION & EMPLOYMENT

  • Urge Congress to address the highest unemployment rates among veterans in recent history.  
  • Fight to sustain G.I. Bill benefits; ensuring veterans receive the opportunities they have earned.  
  • Insist on legislation in Congress to strengthen USERRA and reverse legal decisions that tended to favor employers and undermine the employability of our National Guard and Reserve forces. 
  • Ensure Congress mandates that all federal agencies reach the 3-percent government-wide procurement goal for Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses. 

DEFENSE & HOMELAND SECURITY

  • Fully support U.S. troops and their mission to prosecute the war on terrorism, as well as to protect our nation’s citizens and interests around the world.  
  • Ensure defense funding fully supports personnel Quality of Life initiatives, troop end strength requirements, and needed weapons systems development and replacement programs.  
  • Halt the development and/or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, while continuing to develop and deploy a ballistic missile defense system to protect the U.S. and our allies. 
  • Secure U.S. borders, shorelines and all ports of entry against foreign nationals’ intent on doing us harm. 

POW/MIA

  • Achieve the fullest possible accounting of U.S. military personnel missing from all wars.  
  • Ensure the U.S. Government keeps the POW/MIA issue elevated as a national priority. 

 The VFW has played an instrumental role in nearly every piece of veterans legislation dating back to 1900. Below are a few highlights.

  • 1980 — VFW calls for an investigation into Agent Orange exposure with connection to Vietnam service, leading to the passage of the Agent Orange Act in 1991
  • 2007 — VFW calls for VA/military health care system review after Walter Reed outpatient debacle
  • 2008 — G.I. Bill for the 21st Century becomes law

View a complete list of VFW’s legislative victories (pdf).

VFW's WASHINGTON WEEKLY

Want to know what’s happening with national security, veterans issues and Capitol Hill? Sign up for the VFW's free Washington Weekly newsletter. Read the current issue.