Newsbytes August 9, 2024

In this issue:
FRA Headquarters is Moving
SAC Approves Defense Spending Bill
VA Staff Errors Hurting Disabled Veterans
A More Comprehensive Look at Veteran Suicide
VJ Day August 14
Navajo Code Talkers Day

FRA Headquarters is Moving!
On August 29, 2024, FRA HQ will be moving to its new home. As you know, moving is not a one-day affair but, in fact, a process that takes a few weeks.
Between now and move-day, we will attempt to keep things as normal as possible. Membership will still be answering the phones, emails will continue to be received and responded to, and correspondence will continue to be opened. However, some tasks may take a little longer than usual to complete as we prepare for the move. There will be hiccups, and we ask for your patience during this time. Some of our IT processes are already in the cloud, while others will be down for a few days. We will need to shut down servers, move them, and then bring them back online. We will be offline from August 28 through September 3, 2024. Our goal is to minimize the amount of time that systems, including the phone system, will be out of order. (Our phone numbers will remain the same.)
Finally, if you are sending us correspondence after August 23, 2024, please use our new address:
Fleet Reserve Association
1600 Duke Street
Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314

SAC Approves Defense Spending Bill
The Senate Defense Appropriations Committee (SAC) approved an $852.2 billion defense appropriations bill, which circumvents the debt limit deal by including $21 billion in “emergency funding.” The SAC approved the bill unanimously. The still unnumbered bill will now go to the Senate floor for further consideration. The House earlier passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Appropriations bill, providing a total discretionary allocation of $833.053 billion, which is $8.57 billion (1%) above the Fiscal Year 2024 level and consistent with the limit set in law by the debt limit deal (Fiscal Responsibility Act). Both the House and Senate versions include funding for a 4.5% pay raise for all military personnel. The House appropriations bill provides $2.5 billion for an additional 15% pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers, while the Senate bill provides only a 1% additional increase. After the Senate approves the bill, a conference committee will be appointed to resolve the differences between the bills. This final bill will be approved by both chambers of Congress and then sent to the President to be signed into law or vetoed.

OIG Report: VA Staff Errors Hurting Disabled Veterans
At a recent House Veterans Affairs, Disability Assistance, and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee hearing, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) report was discussed, claiming that staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) made mistakes costing $100 million when reviewing veterans' claims for full disability connected to injuries and illnesses from military service. The report claims that about 75% of claims for a 100% disability rating that auditors reviewed between May 2022 and April 2023 were improperly processed, resulting in overpayments and underpayments. The errors were the result of processors failing to follow VA policies and procedures for deciding compensation in complex claims for full disability, according to the findings. The report estimated that 74% of granted and 76% of denied total disability individual unemployability (TDIU) claims had at least one error. The report also found that 26% of granted claims and 10% of denied claims had monetary impact errors. Most of the errors resulted in underpayments. The hearing looked at ways to improve training for processors to provide more accurate and consistent decisions on disability claims.

Legislation Requires a More Comprehensive Look at Veteran Suicide
The Pentagon has recently issued a report indicating that certain military jobs, including infantry, ordnance disposal and diving, combat engineering, and medical care, are associated with higher suicide risks. The report studied suicide rates in the armed forces between 2011 and 2022 by military occupational specialty and identified trends to help the Pentagon address suicide risk among certain jobs. As the challenge of reducing suicide in the military community continues, lawmakers hope the report can facilitate constructive action. The FRA supports improvements to VA and DOD suicide prevention programs to reduce the rate of suicide among veterans and active-duty service members.
Legislation has been introduced in the House (H.R.4157) and in the Senate (S.928) to require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take a more comprehensive look at the factors that best prevent veteran suicide. The “Not Just a Number Act” (S.928, H.R.4157), sponsored by Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.), John Boozman (Ark.), and Reps. Gerald Connolly (Va.) and Nancy Mace (S.C.), respectively, would require the VA to examine veterans’ benefits usage in their annual suicide prevention report to evaluate the relationship between VA benefits and suicide outcomes. This legislation would also have the VA analyze which VA benefits have the greatest impact on preventing suicide and require the agency to issue recommendations for expanding those benefits to help combat veteran suicides.
Currently, the VA only analyzes how many veterans who die by suicide had recent interactions with VA through medical or mental health appointments. Acknowledging that suicide prevention goes beyond just mental health practices, the legislation would also have the VA examine veterans’ use of disability compensation, education and employment benefits, home loans and foreclosure assistance, and housing assistance programs. Members can weigh in on this issue online.

V-J Day August 14
V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day, marks the end of World War II, one of the deadliest and most destructive wars in history. When President Harry S. Truman announced on August 14, 1945, that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, war-weary citizens around the world erupted in celebration.

Navajo Code Talkers Day
Navajo Code Talkers Day, celebrated every year on August 14, recognizes the contributions of Navajo Marines during World War II. These Marines, while serving in the Pacific, transmitted messages using a Navajo language-based code during a time when secret communication was essential. The code was never broken by Japanese forces in the Pacific and proved to be of great assistance to the U.S. Marines.