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On Wednesday October 10, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee
approved two pieces of legislation designed to expand and increase VA programs by providing specialized programs including
those for spinal cord injuries, serious mental illness, and substance abuse disorders
The legislation now moves on to the floor of the House for a vote in the next week or two.
*HR 2792, the Disabled Veterans Service Dog and Health Care Improvement Act of 2001 includes provisions that:
--Provide service dogs to veterans suffering from severe hearing impairments, spinal cord injuries or similar disabilities.
--Establish a chiropractic service program at 30 VA medical centers to be phased in to all centers over a five-year period.
--Create a National Commission on VA nursing to address the VA nursing shortage by enhancing recruitment and retention of
qualified nurses.
--Require an assessment of VA's special telephone services to veterans so that improvements in quality can be made.
National Legislative Service testified against two provisions of HR 2792 viewed as potentially detrimental to the VA health care
system. Both provisions were removed from the legislation that is being presented to the full House.
*H.R. 2716 The James Drappeaux-Stuart Collick-Heather French Homeless Veterans Assistance Act aims to eliminate chronic
homelessness among veterans within 10 years. Among other provisions, this legislation:
--Provides 2,000 additional low-income housing vouchers for homeless veterans enrolled in the VA health care system, with
priority given to veterans under care for mental illness or substance abuse disorders.
--Increases funding by $10 million for homeless veterans' housing.
--Strengthens the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) to reintegrate homeless veterans into the labor force.
--Provides additional funding for medical care for veterans with specialized needs, including for older veterans, women, substance
abusers, and those with PTSD
For the VFW's testimony on these bills go to: http://www.vfwdc.org/shared/congtest01.htm
For the text of the legislation enter the bill number in the box at the top at:
http://thomas.loc.gov
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