LEGISLATIVE DIVISION UPDATE Week Ending January 15, 2021
Congress
On Wednesday, the House again impeached the President on the grounds he incited the riots at the Capitol last week. The Senate is unlikely to bring up the Articles of Impeachment and hold a trial until after next week’s inauguration, although it could be as soon as that afternoon.
On Tuesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) held a hearing on civilian control of the military. The committee is scheduled to hold a nomination hearing for retired Army General Lloyd J. Austin III to become the next Secretary of Defense. Austin only retired a few years ago, within the seven-year window set out in statute. In order for him to become Secretary of Defense, Congress would need to pass a special waiver. That was recently done for James N. Mattis; the only other waiver was for George Marshall in 1950. In the meantime, President-elect Biden will appoint Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist to act as Secretary of Defense until Austin is confirmed. The SASC has scheduled a nomination hearing for Austin for January 19, in the afternoon.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has scheduled a nomination hearing for Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for January 27. Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough has been tapped to lead the VA under the Biden Administration. If confirmed, he would be the second non-veteran to serve as VA Secretary. However, during the Obama Administration, McDonough worked closely with the Secretary McDonald when he first took the position.
Congress starts legislative work
It’s clear that the 117th Congress has started in a weird way. However, Members are doing what lawmakers are supposed to do: introducing legislation and working to get it passed.
House Veterans Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Bost (R-IL) introduced four pieces of legislation on Wednesday:
o HR 290: GI Bill Transferability Protection Act of 2021 – if a service member transfers their GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child and fails to fulfill service requirements, the service member (rather than the spouse or child) is responsible for repaying tuition and other expenses to the government. o HR 291: The COST Savings Act – the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is to identify medical facilities that would benefit from on-site medical waste treatment systems. o HR 292: The VA Health Center Management and Stability Act – the VA is to develop and implement a plan to hire directors at medical centers that lack permanent leadership, which has been an ongoing problem for years. o HR 293: The HELP Act – the VA would be required to establish qualification standards and performance metrics for human resources personnel within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
COVID vaccines for veterans
All military beneficiaries age 75 and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to TRICARE. In a statement released Thursday, beneficiaries are urged to visit their military treatment facility’s website or follow them on social media to learn about the local vaccination process and availability. The Defense Health Agency is also working to create a process for notifying beneficiaries about this.
On Tuesday, Richard Stone, the Executive in Charge of the VHA, instructed all VA health care facilities to “provide COVID-19 testing and vaccines to primary and secondary family caregivers.” Before this policy change, caregivers had to seek the vaccines in the community. To be eligible, individuals must be enrolled in the VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. The change came after heavy lobbying by a number of veterans organizations.
Upcoming Hearings
On Tuesday, January 19, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Gen. Lloyd Austin to be Defense secretary. On Thursday, January 21, the House Armed Services Committee.) will hold a hearing on civilian control of the military; and the consideration of Gen. Lloyd Austin for a legal exception for appointment as Defense secretary. On Wednesday, January 27, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will conduct a business meeting to consider committee rules and an original resolution authorizing expenditures by the committee for the 117th Congress; immediately followed by a hearing on the nomination of Denis McDonough to be Veterans Affairs secretary.
Grassroots
The National Legislative Division (NLD) uses VoterVoice as its advocacy platform for connecting American Legion members with members of Congress. From January 9th to January 15th fifteen (15) member subscribed to receive action alerts while six (6) unsubscribed. There are now 24,966 members and supporters signed up to receive action alerts.
Appointments to the National Legislative Council are two-year terms that conclude on December 31st of even years. The National Commander, with recommendations from the Departments, appoints and reappoints Legionnaires with working relationships with their member of Congress to be the Legionnaire at the local level to work directly with their member of Congress to relay the national priorities of The American Legion. On December 2nd the NLD Grassroots team sent out spreadsheets to all Departments with previous vacancies and vacancies created by the election of new members of Congress. Departments were asked to reply with new appointments by January 15, 2021 to [email protected]. Please respond by January 15 with an updated council roster or an ETA of when it will be completed if you have not done so already.
Legislative AARs
National Legislative Division staff continues preparations for the upcoming 117th Congress, to include updating the Legislative Agenda, writing Point Papers, and drafting campaign plans. On Monday, January 11, NLD staff participated in a joint VSO conference call to discuss coordinating efforts on a variety of issues concerning the Veterans Benefits Administration. On Monday, January 11, NLD attended a VA-led webinar that discussed the upcoming research opportunities on women servicemembers and veterans. While many of the topics discussed were focused on women’s physical health, it was discussed that mental health would also be a predominate research area for women servicemembers and veterans in the coming years. On Tuesday, January 12, NLD staff participated in a conference call with the House Veterans Affairs Committee Staff to discuss priorities for the 117th Congress and provided The American Legion’s input. On Tuesday, January 12, NLD staff met with Rep. Zeldin’s (R-NY-1) office to discuss expanding a bill the Legion supported in the 116th Congress and that is planned to be reintroduced in the 117th Congress. The new provisions discussed during this call would be placed into existing text to create a higher quality of comprehensive care. On Tuesday, January 12, NLD staff participated in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on civilian control of the military; and the consideration of Gen. Lloyd Austin for a legal exception for appointment as Defense secretary. Video and testimony from the hearing is available here. On Wednesday, January 13, NLD staff participated in a joint VSO conference call to discuss legislation for COVID-19 during the 117th Congress. On Wednesday, January 13, NLD staff hosted a quarterly Legislative Commission Call to brief the Legislative Commission and Legislative Council on the Legislative Division’s plans for the 117th Congress. It was a well-attended event where members of the Legislative Council and Commission were able to express their 2020 achievements and goals for the upcoming year. Additionally, the NLD presented our legislative accomplishments and goals as well. We look forward to the next Quarterly Call in April 2021. On Wednesday, January 13, NLD staff participated in a webinar presented by The Brookings Institute entitled “A new path to education reform: The next chapter on 21st century skills.” The webinar discussed the impacts of the abrupt disruption to the education status quo wrought overnight by COVID-19, and how we can rethink the classroom at every level of the education system. More information and video of the event is here. On Thursday, January 14, NLD staff participated in a joint VSO conference call to discuss our priorities for the 117th Congress. On Friday, January 15, NLD staff met virtually with Legion VA&R staff to discuss a variety of issues concerning legislation of interest and the contents of the Commander’s written testimony.
Lawrence Montreuil, Legislative Director The American Legion (202) 263-2981