AUSA on the Hill. The AUSA director of government affairs, Bill Loper, and other representatives from various military and veterans’ associations were invited to a recent roundtable meeting hosted by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.Joined by 11 other Democratic members of the House, including the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, Norm Dicks, and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, the group discussed the problems caused by the lingering threat of sequestration that would gut defense accounts and could affect veterans’ education accounts.Another topic of discussion was the advance appropriation to fund veterans’ health care.The stop-gap spending bill just cleared by Congress does not include money for it and all of the associations are concerned that the omission will negatively affect veteran health care.Also discussed was the need end to the SBP-DIC offset.This has been a long-time goal of AUSA’s and we will continue to press Congress to resolve it.Pelosi and the other Democratic members pledged again to maintain their efforts to pass legislation on behalf of military personnel, their families and veterans. President signs six-month stopgap spending measure. In the wee hours of the morning on Sept. 22, the Senate cleared a continuing resolution (CR) that will extend spending through March 27, 2013, and increase funding levels for most programs and agencies by about 0.6 percent.The measure provides $608 billion for the Pentagon, including $88.5 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations account, for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.Senators then joined their House counterparts and departed the Capitol until after the election.The question remains about what will happen after the CR expires at the end of March. Here are some options:Clear an omnibus spending bill in the lame-duck session, using the six spending measures passed by the House as well as those backed by the Senate appropriations committee as a framework.Allow members to offer amendments and shape an omnibus spending bill.Maintain the status quo by extending the current CR through the entire fiscal year to allow lawmakers to focus on reducing the deficit and overhauling the tax code.Hill sources say the last option is the most likely.This is no way to do business.