INDIANAPOLIS -- A new generation of leaders came to Indianapolis from 31 departments (states) of The American Legion. The 51 students of the National American Legion College honed their leadership, team building, communications and mentoring skills to pass the intensive course. They received diplomas from National Commander Clarence E. Hill during a ceremony held here this morning.

WASHINGTON - Rounding out the month of October with the enactment of legislation strengthening the political franchise of active duty military personnel has left the leader of The American Legion feeling good.

WASHINGTON  -- The American Legion has delivered letters of appreciation to four members of Congress for introducing bills that would improve the Troops to Teachers program, which is designed to make it easier for military veterans to transition into careers as educators.

WASHINGTON - The leader of The American Legion, the nation's largest veterans service organization, says he feels a mixture of pleasure and disappointment at the contents of the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization Act. The measure was signed into law today by President Obama and witnessed by Peter S. Gaytan, Executive Director of the Legion's Washington, D.C. headquarters.

WASHINGTON  - "A good temporary solution," is how the leader of the nation's largest veterans service organization characterized VA's decision to employ an outside contractor to assist in processing the large volume of GI Bill claims.

The American Legion which usually opposes outsourcing services that the organization believes the Department of Veterans Affairs should directly provide, recognizes the unprecedented number of claims facing VA as a result of the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the urgency of delivering those benefits in a timely manner.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On what leaders of The American Legion characterized as "an historic day," President Barack Obama signed into law the Veterans Health Care, Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009. The landmark legislation contained a provision for which the nation's largest veterans' service organization had long campaigned: advance budget appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) medical care operations.

INDIANAPOLIS - In less than a week, an American Legion blog site raised more than $50,000, which Target matched with an additional $50,000 contribution, to help U.S. soldiers who were forced to destroy their camp and all of their possessions during a deadly Oct. 3 enemy attack in Afghanistan. In addition, Connecticut-based Computer Sciences Corporation has donated 56 laptop computers to the relief effort to replace those that were destroyed.

INDIANAPOLIS - Eleven outstanding high school students emerged from a field of nearly a hundred applicants as recipients of a $20,000 Samsung-American Legion Scholarship.

WASHINGTON, DC - A long campaign by The American Legion has come to a victorious conclusion with Senate passage yesterday of the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009, better known as the "VA Advance Appropriations Bill.".

The act authorizes financial appropriations for Veterans Affairs Department medical care programs one year in advance of the start of each fiscal year. It was already approved by the House of Representatives and is now on its way to President Obama's desk for signature.

WASHINGTON -- The American Legion's national commander says he is pleased by the Department of Veterans Affairs' just announced recognition of the herbicide Agent Orange as a culprit in three more illnesses plaguing Vietnam veterans. The VA's decision was in reaction to the latest in a series of "Veterans and Agent Orange" reports from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

INDIANAPOLIS - Like a sequel to a bad horror movie, the Disabled Veterans' Tax has once again reared its ugly head and The American Legion is furious.

WASHINGTON - The National Commander of The American Legion says The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Obama Administration should be commended for the swift action taken to alleviate problems caused by overdue benefits payments to GI Bill students.

WASHINGTON - The American Legion's National Commander, Clarence Hill, has praised the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009. This measure would provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with advance appropriations each fiscal year to begin on October 1, whether the rest of the annual Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations have been signed into law or not.

WASHINGTON  - The leader of The American Legion expressed disappointment today at the failure of Congress to okay an appropriations bill to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs during this new fiscal year, though a Continuing Resolution (CR) to provide additional funding for VA medical accounts was approved,