Newsbytes September 27, 2024

In this Issue:
Government Funding will Continue after October 1
Report: Veterans Wait too Long for Service Connection
GAO Report on Navy Manpower Shortage
CNO Successfully Treated for Cancer
Gold Star Mother’s Day 

Government Funding to Continue after October 1
The House and Senate have approved a Continuing Resolution (CR-H.R. 9747) for fiscal year 2025, extending government funding at current levels through December 20, 2024. The CR would maintain FY 2024 funding levels for federal agencies and programs that would otherwise shut down at the end of FY 2024 on October 1. Last week, the House rejected a CR (H.R. 9494) that would have funded the government through March 2025 and required voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote (202-220).

The measure provides additional funds for the Secret Service's protective operations during the presidential campaign and mandates the agency's cooperation with congressional investigations into the attempted assassinations of former President Donald Trump. Several expiring authorities, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the National Flood Insurance Program, would be extended through December 20.

Congress frequently enacts stopgap measures to avoid a government shutdown before the fiscal year begins on October 1, as they often fail to complete work on the 12 spending appropriations bills in time. Lawmakers must pass full appropriations bills by the end of April 2025 to avoid automatic 1% broad spending cuts under the June 2023 debt-limit deal (Public Law 118-5). Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) expressed satisfaction with the bipartisan agreement, noting it is "free of cuts and poison pills." President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law.

Report: Veterans Wait Too Long for Service Connection
With the enactment of the Veterans Comprehensive Toxic Exposure Act (PACT Act) in August 2022, millions of veterans now have the opportunity for expedited disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). However, thousands of others exposed to environmental hazards during military service wait approximately 31 years to receive similar recognition from the VA, a new report has found.

The report, released by Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), reveals that the VA's disability claims process — requiring veterans to prove that their health conditions are directly related to military service — is cumbersome for those unaware of their exposure to toxic substances or those who fail to link latent illnesses to their service. The report found that the VA takes an average of 31 years to recognize an exposure for an individual veteran after it first occurs, and it takes about 34 years to establish a presumptive service connection — a federal designation that eliminates the need to prove a military tie — for exposure-related conditions.

This delay is too long for many veterans. The report concludes: "Despite major toxic-exposure laws enacted every decade or two over the past century, the time veterans wait from the moment of exposure to meaningful VA compensation and medical support remains shamefully long — more than three decades on average."

In response, VA officials acknowledged that veterans have waited "far too long" to receive benefits. However, the PACT Act, which extended benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits and other airborne hazards during the Global War on Terrorism, has enabled the VA to expedite claims for millions of veterans and their survivors.

"We're currently delivering more care and more benefits to more veterans than ever before, but make no mistake — we will not rest until every veteran gets the care and benefits they deserve. We are grateful for the feedback from our partners and will continue to work with them to fulfill our shared mission," VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said in a recent statement.

According to the VA, the expedited presumptive conditions for 23 diseases listed in the PACT Act, along with hundreds of other associated illnesses, will benefit approximately 900,000 veterans or their survivors.

The PACT Act also codified a process through which the VA can establish new presumptive conditions. The department is currently considering whether to make three conditions — acute leukemias, chronic leukemias, and multiple myeloma outside of the head and neck — presumptive for those who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan, and the entire Southwest Asia theater of operations.

GAO Report on Navy Manpower Shortage
A recently released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (GAO-24-106525) reveals that 63% of executive officers (second-in-command on ships) surveyed reported that insufficient manning made it "moderately to extremely difficult to complete repairs while underway." The U.S. Navy's manpower shortage is affecting its ability to perform repairs at sea. Navy executive officers and sailors told the GAO that there are widespread concerns about sailor training. When relying on available formal (classroom) training, 64% of executive officers said it is moderately to extremely difficult to conduct sailor-led maintenance, and 75% found it moderately to extremely difficult for sailors to complete repairs.

Additionally, the Navy's maintenance guidelines are sometimes inaccurate regarding the time and personnel needed and are not written appropriately for sailors' maintenance skills or supervisors' experience levels.

As of late last year, the Navy was short nearly 14,000 enlisted sailors to keep its aircraft carriers, surface ships, and attack submarines properly manned, according to the GAO. This shortage forces smaller crews to take on more work, exacerbating the stress of ship life.

CNO Successfully Treated for Cancer
Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who has served as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) since November 2023, successfully underwent treatment for stage 1 breast cancer in June. The cancer was detected during a routine mammogram, and she received outpatient surgery to treat it. Franchetti is the first woman to serve as Chief of Naval Operations and the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Before this role, she served as the 42nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations from September 2022 to November 2023 and as acting CNO from August to November 2023.

A surface warfare officer, Franchetti previously served as Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy of the Joint Staff (J5) from 2020 to 2022, as the second Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Development in 2020, and as Commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet from 2018 to 2020. She has also commanded carrier strike groups and U.S. Naval Forces Korea. She was the second woman promoted to four-star admiral in the United States Navy.

Gold Star Mother's Day
On the last Sunday of September, the nation observes Gold Star Mother's and Family's Day, honoring the surviving mothers and families of fallen service members. On June 23, 1936, the U.S. Congress designated the last Sunday of September as Gold Star Mother's Day. It serves to honor the ultimate sacrifice of service members while acknowledging their families' loss, grief, and ongoing healing.