NGAUS WASHINGTON REPORT 4-26-10

In this issue:
- Big Win: Law Expands Mental Health Services
- NGAUS Eyes Upcoming Post-9/11 G.I. Bill
- TRICARE Affirmation Act Signed into Law
- NGAUS Reception Welcomes ‘One of Our Own’
- Magazine: Ag Teams, Airplanes, Grasshoppers
- Employment Opportunity: Comptroller

Legislative Affairs
Big Win: Law Expands Mental Health Services
A major piece of legislation on its way to the White House for the
president’s signature includes a section NGAUS has been watching closely.

The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, which was sponsored
by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and passed both chambers last week, does
plenty, but we’ve been especially interested in the expansion of mental
health care to rural veterans.

Within the law’s many sections is one that authorizes the Department of
Veterans Affairs to provide for three years post-deployment education,
support counseling and mental health services to veterans who served in Iraq
or Afghanistan and their families.

Once signed, the law will allow the VA to contract the delivery of those
services to community mental health centers. It also expands training of the
local health care community in the delivery of mental health services.

That portion of the bill was actually written a year ago by Sen. Jon Tester,
D-Mont., as the Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act. Tester’s bill
was folded into S. 1963 and became part of the bill passed last week.

Pete Duffy, deputy director of legislative affairs at NGAUS, calls this “a
quiet but big win for NGAUS.”

NGAUS Eyes Upcoming Post-9/11 G.I. Bill
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, says he plans to introduce a bill before the
end of May to clean up technical problems with the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.
NGAUS will keep an eye on it to ensure it provides the education benefit to
troops who served in Title 32 status, who are currently excluded from the
benefit.

Akaka discussed his intention last week at a hearing of the Senate Committee
on Veterans Affairs that he chairs. During the hearing, Sen. Scott Brown,
R-Mass., who is a Guardsman and member of NGAUS, asked witnesses from the
Department of Veterans Affairs if the department could handle the workload
if this change was made. They assured him they could.

Akaka said, “The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill can be improved and it is time to begin
that work. It is imperative that we begin to move forward in a considered,
deliberate and comprehensive fashion.”
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TRICARE Affirmation Act Signed into Law
President Obama signed legislation yesterday that is intended to protect
military members from being penalized for not having private insurance.

The new law provides a specific exemption for TRICARE beneficiaries from a
requirement of the health care reform law that will require people without
“minimal health coverage” to either buy private insurance or face a penalty.

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the House Armed Services Committee chairman and a
key sponsor of the TRICARE Affirmation Act, said he hopes this resolves
questions by military members, retirees and their families about how
national health reform might affect them.

Signing the new law “reinforces that military health care coverage will not
be adversely affected by the health care reform law,” he said.
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At the National Guard Memorial
NGAUS Reception Welcomes ‘One of Our Own’
A NGAUS member who just happens to be the newest U.S. senator was
welcomed to the city Monday evening by the association.

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., who won a special election in January to fill the
seat held for more than 40 years by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, was
toasted by about 100 people at the National Guard Memorial just three blocks
from the Capitol.

In brief remarks, Brown, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts
Army National Guard, said, “I’m so honored to be here, I’m almost
speechless, which is a rarity.”

He said he would be the “number one advocate” for the Guard on Capitol Hill.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., attended, too, saying Brown is a friend with the
expertise, background and “guts” to stand firm in support of the Guard.

Maj. Gen. Joseph C. Carter, the adjutant general of Massachusetts,
introduced Brown and called him a “colleague and a friend.”

Other attendees of note included Gen. Craig R. McKinley, National Guard
Bureau chief, Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt, Air Guard director, retired Lt. Gen.
Clyde A. Vaughn, former Army Guard director, and retired Lt. Gen. John B.
Conaway, former NGB chief.

Retired Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett, NGAUS president, said in opening remarks,
“It’s quite an honor to have one of our own represent us in the United
States Senate.”
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Communications Department
Magazine: Ag Teams, Airplanes, Grasshoppers
The National Guard has been working with Afghan farmers for a few years
now, hoping to grow more than wheat and grapes and apples. They hope to reap
the type of trust and cooperation needed to put Afghanistan on the proper
path. Read about it in the May issue of *NATIONAL GUARD *being mailed this
week … Also in the new issue, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is behind
schedule and appears over budget. What does this mean for the Air National
Guard?

The Depression was bad enough, but Colorado farmers were hit with another
setback when billions of grasshoppers invaded the state in 1937. …
Membership is the lifeblood of NGAUS, yet many people know little about how
they become a member. The details are coming next month in *NATIONAL GUARD*.

Plus, are earmarks really bad? You might get an argument from some people in
the National Guard. … And does the Air Force mean it when it talks about the
Total Force?

All of this and more is in the May issue of * NATIONAL GUARD*. Look for it
soon in your mailbox. And if you can’t wait, find it online later this week
at

NGAUS Employment Opportunity
Comptroller
NGAUS is seeking a qualified person to serve as comptroller. This
person will supervise and coordinate financial operations for NGAUS, the
National Guard Educational Foundation, NGAUS Insurance Trust and the
National Guard Memorial Building.