DAV Magazine — January/February 2018
NEWS for VETERANS
Blue Water Navy veterans legislation tabled
■ The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 (H.R. 299) was introduced Jan. 19, 2017, but is now inactive due to disputes over how to fund the proposal. The bill was intended to expand the presumptions of service connection related to the exposure to dioxin-containing herbicides, including Agent Orange, to veterans who served in the territorial seas of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Veterans who served on ships no farther from the spraying of herbicides than many who served on land are arbitrarily and unjustly denied benefits for the presumption of exposure, and thereby are ineligible for presumption of service connection for herbicide-related disabilities. This legislation would correct that injustice.
While DAV supports the legislation based on DAV Resolution 033, the manner in which some legislators suggested to pay for the benefits increase would be initiation of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) round down. DAV opposes any changes in law or regulations that would repeal or deprive disabled veterans or their dependents of existing benefits, per Resolution 088, which opposes the long-term rounding down of COLA increases because it directly reduces benefit payments to veterans and their survivors.
“To be clear, Congress has made the choice to require new veterans benefits or programs be offset in order to pay for this,” said National Legislative Director Joy Ilem. “There is absolutely no requirement that funding for the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 come from a COLA round down.”
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Tim Walz urged the committee to fund the legislation from other sources rather than reduce existing veterans benefits.
“I think it’s bad policy to take from one group of veterans to give to another to fix this,” said Walz. “To find the money from the inside for one veteran group to pay for another—for a wrong that was done and is owed by this entire country to pay for—strikes me as the wrong way to go.”
DAV will continue to advocate for Blue Water Navy veterans to get the benefits and services they’ve earned, while ensuring other veterans benefits are not affected.
VA photo Ids now available through online application
■ In 2015, a law was passed that requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to issue a hard-copy photo ID to any honorably discharged veteran who applies.
Now, honorably discharged veterans of all eras who want a new identification card can apply online. The cards may be used in place of DD-214 forms as verification of service for discounts on goods and services offered to veterans by public and private institutions.
To apply for the card, veterans must register with vets.gov, a process that authenticates users through the ID.me system, similar to registering with eBenefits.
Registering requires users to upload a copy of a valid government photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, and provide their Social Security number, among other information. No protected personal information will be printed on the card.
To complete the card application process, users must then upload a recent photo to the VA site that can be printed on the ID. The cards will be directly mailed to veterans.
The new cards will not qualify as official government-issued identification for air travel or other uses.
To find out more about how to apply for a VA photo ID online, visit vets.gov/veteran-id-card.
■ The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 (H.R. 299) was introduced Jan. 19, 2017, but is now inactive due to disputes over how to fund the proposal. The bill was intended to expand the presumptions of service connection related to the exposure to dioxin-containing herbicides, including Agent Orange, to veterans who served in the territorial seas of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Veterans who served on ships no farther from the spraying of herbicides than many who served on land are arbitrarily and unjustly denied benefits for the presumption of exposure, and thereby are ineligible for presumption of service connection for herbicide-related disabilities. This legislation would correct that injustice.
While DAV supports the legislation based on DAV Resolution 033, the manner in which some legislators suggested to pay for the benefits increase would be initiation of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) round down. DAV opposes any changes in law or regulations that would repeal or deprive disabled veterans or their dependents of existing benefits, per Resolution 088, which opposes the long-term rounding down of COLA increases because it directly reduces benefit payments to veterans and their survivors.
“To be clear, Congress has made the choice to require new veterans benefits or programs be offset in order to pay for this,” said National Legislative Director Joy Ilem. “There is absolutely no requirement that funding for the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 come from a COLA round down.”
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Tim Walz urged the committee to fund the legislation from other sources rather than reduce existing veterans benefits.
“I think it’s bad policy to take from one group of veterans to give to another to fix this,” said Walz. “To find the money from the inside for one veteran group to pay for another—for a wrong that was done and is owed by this entire country to pay for—strikes me as the wrong way to go.”
DAV will continue to advocate for Blue Water Navy veterans to get the benefits and services they’ve earned, while ensuring other veterans benefits are not affected.
VA photo Ids now available through online application
■ In 2015, a law was passed that requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to issue a hard-copy photo ID to any honorably discharged veteran who applies.
Now, honorably discharged veterans of all eras who want a new identification card can apply online. The cards may be used in place of DD-214 forms as verification of service for discounts on goods and services offered to veterans by public and private institutions.
To apply for the card, veterans must register with vets.gov, a process that authenticates users through the ID.me system, similar to registering with eBenefits.
Registering requires users to upload a copy of a valid government photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, and provide their Social Security number, among other information. No protected personal information will be printed on the card.
To complete the card application process, users must then upload a recent photo to the VA site that can be printed on the ID. The cards will be directly mailed to veterans.
The new cards will not qualify as official government-issued identification for air travel or other uses.
To find out more about how to apply for a VA photo ID online, visit vets.gov/veteran-id-card.
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