Senate Committee Passes Feingold, Sanders Effort to Expand Outreach to Veterans

Press Release

SENATE COMMITTEE PASSES FEINGOLD, SANDERS EFFORT TO EXPAND OUTREACH TO VETERANS
Measure Adopted by Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Would Make State and Local Entities Eligible for Grants

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has passed the Veterans Health Care Authorization Act, which includes an effort by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to improve outreach to veterans. The Feingold-Sanders language, based on Feingold's Veterans Outreach Improvement Act, would expand a grant program for community-based organizations to include state and local entities, including the National Guard and veteran service officers who conduct outreach for veterans. The measure would also require coordination between grant recipients and the Veterans Administration (VA).

"Nearly every day I learn of veterans in my state who are not aware of services and benefits they have earned through their service to our country, including wounded veterans who fall through the cracks as they transition out of the military," said Feingold. "This bill will help ensure that these veterans get the services and benefits they need, including mental health care to address the alarming increase in PTSD rates. Conducting outreach is more important than ever as we welcome home and prepare to enroll into the VA system the tens of thousands of dedicated military personnel who are serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places around the globe."

"This legislation expands on a model program the VA and National Guard have used in Vermont to help service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan," added Sanders. "We can have the best health care services in the world for our veterans and their families, but if they do not know about them or cannot access them, what good do they do? This legislation will provide resources to organizations so that they can reach out to returning service members, veterans, and their families. With as many as 300,000 U.S. military personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffering from PTSD or major depression and as many as 320,000 having suffered a traumatic brain injury of some kind, we need these outreach services more than ever."

The Veterans Outreach Improvement Act, on which the language is based, would create a grant program for state and local entities that conduct outreach to veterans and help them get their benefits. State Departments of Veterans Affairs will be eligible for the grants to conduct outreach activities such as the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs' "I Owe You" Program, which has notified over 10,000 Wisconsin veterans and their families of benefits and services for which they are eligible.

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