AFSA International Legislative Committee Bulletin 2014-092

CMSgt (Ret.) James E. Lokovic

ViceChairman,AFSA International Legislative Committee

September9,2014

1. They’re Back! For a Few Legislative Days. An article in DefenseNews reports, “The US House soon could vote on a spending[bill] that would keep the Pentagon and other federal agencies funded while lawmakers hit the campaign trail. Federal funding will run out on Sept. 30. The House could recess for midterm-election campaigning as soon as Sept. 19, and the Senate could leave Washington just four days later.

“That means both chambers will have to pass a continuing resolution (CR) and send a final version to President Barack Obama before they scatter out across the country. . . GOP brass want to move a ‘clean CR’ free of controversial provisions. . .”

The article goes on to quote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as saying, “. . . I think we’ll pass a clean CR that would operate the government probably into December. . .”

“A CR would merely fund all department and agencies at past-year levels and prevent the Pentagon and other entities from actions such as starting new acquisition programs, firing up new production lines and negotiating multiyear contracts.”

Source article:

2. DoD to Renew Effort on Military Health Care, Other “Reforms.” DefenseNewsalso reports, on a comment made by Secretary of Defense Hagel as he represented the Administration in a weeklong visit to Europe. Hagel said, in part, that he“. . . plans to forge ahead with bureaucratic Pentagon ‘reform initiatives’ despite the uptick of global threats and military activities in recent months.

“There will be a ‘continued focus on the reform measures that we have undertaken’--including changes within acquisition, military healthcare, and the nuclear enterprise--in the months ahead, Hagel said. . . ‘There are probably another half-dozen reforms that we will continue to put high priorities on,’ Hagel said.”

To read the full article, go to:

3. New SECVA Says VA Programs Too Complicated for Most Veterans. On 8 September, new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald, held his first press conference since assuming his position. An article in NewObserver.com reports, “The Veterans Affairs Department with its 14 different password-protected websites is too complicated for most veterans to navigate, new Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald said Monday, promising to make it easier for them to get disability benefits, health care, job training, and other benefits. The VA must ‘put veterans and the center of everything we do,’ he said.

“McDonald took over the agency in July after former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned amid a political furor over veterans in need of medical care having to wait months for appointments at VA hospital and clinics. Investigators said efforts to cover up or hide the delays were systemic throughout the agency's network of nearly 1,000 hospitals and clinics. . .”

To read more about Secretary McDonald’s press conference, go to:

(end)