AUSA on the Hill
AUSA President Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., and Director of Government Affairs, Bill Loper, met with Sen. John Warner, R-Va., on Friday to discuss a range of topics important to the Army such as concerns about the current state of Army readiness and its impact across the spectrum of defense issues.

Gen. Sullivan urged Sen. Warner to provide the resources necessary to increase the size of the Army, reset its equipment and continue the process of modernization. Keeping the Walter Reed Army Medical Center open beyond 2011 was also discussed as was the impact of global climate change on national security. Sen. Warner thanked General Sullivan for his leadership and offered him the opportunity to testify before Congress later in the year.


Legislation to End DIC/SBP Offset Introduced

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., introduced legislation last week that would end the deduction of VA-paid dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities.

Sen. Nelson’s bill would also accelerate the effective date of paid–up status for retirees who paid SBP premiums for 30 years and have attained the age of 70.

Please help AUSA push Congress to pass these important bills by sending your legislators an AUSA-suggested message. Go to “Contact Congress” and click “Elected Officials” type your Zip Code and scroll down to “Support Legislation to End the DIC/SBP Offset”.


Houses Passes Emergency Supplemental Spending Bill
The House passed their version of the fiscal 2007 emergency supplemental spending bill on Friday, by a vote of 218-212. As expected, the bill contained language that sets a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to send their version of the supplemental bill to the Senate floor. That debate and vote is scheduled for this week. It is expected to be as contentious as that in the House because of the troop withdrawal language included in the bill despite the defeat of a similar resolution two weeks ago.


House Panel Passes the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007
The House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved bipartisan legislation (H.R. 1538) aimed at fixing health care problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and elsewhere in the vast military-medical bureaucracy last week.

Committee Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said, "This bipartisan legislation is our first step to address the problems brought to light by the inadequate living conditions and the administrative snafus experienced by some service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I am pleased that our Committee has moved expeditiously to make the changes we can adopt fairly quickly, such as improving training and reducing caseloads for case managers so service members and their families can get the help they need when they need it. The bill would also improve the transition for service members when they leave the Armed Forces and enter the Department of Veterans Affairs system. As the Armed Services Committee continues its work on the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization bill, we will have the opportunity to examine more comprehensive reforms to ensure that our forces receive the high quality care our nation has an obligation to provide."

H.R. 1538, the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007, provides the people, training, and oversight mechanisms needed to ensure that wounded warriors will receive committed quality care. It also sets the stage for reform of administrative processes that will restore member confidence in the integrity and efficiency of the disability evaluation system and begin the process of achieving a truly seamless transition of service members to the Department of Veterans Affairs programs.

The committee adopted a number of amendments, all by voice vote. Among them:

* A one-year moratorium on hiring private contractors to perform "Department of Defense functions" at medical facilities

* A measure that would make the transfer of soldiers from active-duty military to the VA system more formal and regimented

* A requirement that the VA increase the number of physicians at its hospitals by an unspecified amount

* A measure creating a new "Wounded Warrior Battalion" within the Army, based on a similar unit within the Marine Corps. The unit is intended to track active-duty soldiers in "outpatient status" who still require medical care, and it would operate for at least a year.

The House is scheduled to vote on the bill this week.

Trivia of the Week
During the Battle of Antietam, who commanded the Union Army of the Potomac and who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia? (Click on link for answer)

Answer -
George B. McClellan commanded the Union Army of the Potomac, and Robert E. Lee commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. In September 1862, Robert E. Lee led his army into northern territory for the first time during the Civil War and met McClellan's army at Sharpsburg, Maryland. Although the Union Army (87,000 troops) outnumbered the Confederate Army (40,000 troops) by more than 2-to-1, the battle was tactically a draw. The next day, Lee's army withdrew into Virginia, and the Union claimed Antietam as a victory. Five days later, President Abraham Lincoln used this victory to issue a Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

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