Know Before You Go briefing inspires and informs members on legislative duties, topics to address and how to get points across.
National American Legion Legislative Division professionals laid out priorities Tuesday for members heading to Capitol Hill to visit their elected representatives. They also advised them to keep messages succinct and well-prioritized, be flexible with lawmaker time and personalize issues, with real examples, where possible.
Soon into a discussion of a key legislative priority – combatting the mental health “war within” and veteran suicide – California Legionnaire Armado Salinas II stepped to the microphone and told his story of recovery.
“I am a suicide survivor,” he began. He told the crowd of veterans from across the country that in 1983, after he came home from military service, a difficult transition period led to the loss of his home, his job and family. “I felt defeated.”
He isolated himself. “It’s the silence. Sui-silence. We warriors, we don’t share our pain.”
He finally regained stability and was able to move on, get back to work and even start three businesses. Assistance, he explained, is critical “when a veteran needs it most.” Emergency funding, housing and other forms of help during risky periods in a veteran’s transition can save a life by offering “that little bit of stability to get back to worth.”
Explaining that he now proudly gives back to veterans through The American Legion, he said that the “war within is the battle that we all have. But we need to let Congress know to help that veteran in that critical time.”
American Legion Legislative Division Senior Associate Bailey Bishop explained that “mental health and suicide prevention is, and remains to be, one of The American Legion’s top legislative priorities, and for good reason. Research suggests that 24 veterans die by suicide every day, but it is believed that this number is actually underreported.”
Specific asks for Congress, she added, include expansion of access to suicide-prevention training, investment in alternative therapies, and standardization of data so VA is “not relying on trends from five or 10 years ago.”
“We want to start making sure that we focus on making veterans resilient,” American Legion Executive Director for Government Affairs Mario Marquez told the crowd. “We want to get away from the ‘broken veteran’ narrative. Winning the war within is not just about suicide, but it’s also about starting to change the narrative to a more positive way to fight the fight.”
American Legion Department of Minnesota Chaplain Kelley Ackerman added during the session that spiritual care needs to be part of the equation. “We do need to encourage, in a political environment, that we bring all of the stakeholders to the table and that spiritual care subject matter experts’ voices need to be heard, and we need to develop those programs. We’re first and foremost human beings, and that extends beyond the billable.”
The briefing hit on no fewer than five other big issues American Legion national staff in Washington are working on Capitol Hill, including:
· Community care balance. Use of non-VA healthcare providers has grown substantially since 2018 when the VA MISSION Act became law. It offered veterans in rural areas distant from VA facilities and those whose VA facilities can’t fulfill timely appointments the opportunity to use care outside VA. The newly introduced ACCESS Act aims to ensure adequate funding is available for community care, when and where it is needed, and that non-VA providers “meet high standards that VA sets, so that you know if you need to go somewhere else that VA cannot provide, that you will be in good hands,” Bishop said. She added that the Legion is calling on greater accountability from the VA Office of Community Care, with improved transparency and communications among VA, community providers and the veterans they are serving.
· Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations. Legislative Division Associate Jake Corsi told the group that about one-third of VA benefits cases are remanded for further documentation due to “poor medical screening.” The Legion is calling for better oversight of contracted physicians who conduct C&P exams and improvement of the overall process. One benefit, he explained, would be reduced backlog of undecided VA claims and appeals.
· Transition Assistance Program (TAP). Legislative Division Associate Eric Johnson said the Legion is calling for improvements to the TAP program so servicemembers are better informed and prepared for life after discharge. While TAP is available 365 days prior to separation, and two years prior to full military retirement, too few take advantage of it. “More than 70% of servicemembers don’t actually start using those access points and that information within the 365-day limit,” Johnson said. “They often wait until the last possible minute, due to operational needs from the commanders, or other requirements.” He added that the Legion wants Congress to explore modernization of the program through smartphone technology and artificial intelligence to put TAP at the fingertips of those about to enter the civilian world. One Know Before You Go attendee made the point that TAP is nearly non-existent for members of the Reserve components.
· Veteran homelessness. More than 32,000 veterans are considered to be homeless in the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on any night, Johnson told the group, which is disproportionally higher than the national average. “It’s going to take more than taking out a couple bucks of change and handing it out on a street corner. It takes more than buying a meal. This is a deeper problem, deeper fix, from VA, the government, and our communities as a whole.” Congressional action to fund “deeper solutions” for housing, resources and services is needed to improve the situation, he told the group. “We frequently say that ‘homeless’ and ‘veterans’ shouldn’t be in the same sentence. But the reality is, it is. It’s a reality that faces us every day.”
· Lethality of the U.S. Armed Forces: Legislative Division Director Julia Mathis drew a collective gasp from the crowd when she reported that “there’s a belief that China’s shipbuilding capacity is 232 times greater than ours.” The United States, she explained, no longer has the world’s largest navy, nor the shipbuilding capacity necessary to keep up with global adversaries. “Given the way the world is emerging, that is a problem that we want Congress to address.” She added, on the national security front, that expanded “domains of warfare” – such as cybertechnology and critical infrastructure – are threats to U.S. homeland security, as is a diminished domestic military industrial base that creates dependency on unstable supply chains, all of which require research, development and talent acquisition in the U.S. Armed Forces.
In his opening remarks, American Legion National Commander James A. LaCoursiere Jr. stressed that the organization’s priorities for Congress must be conveyed in a non-partisan, well-informed and prioritized way. “This isn’t about politics,” he said. “It’s about policy … This is the time that we must put aside all partisan agendas. You are here to represent The American Legion, no other organization, and certainly no political party.”
American Legion Legislative Commission Chairman Matthew Shuman told the group, as they prepared to depart, “You are not just walking the halls of Congress. You are marching in with the voice of millions of veterans from every community, every town, every city and every state. When you sit across from a lawmaker, remember that you carry the stories of our brother and sister veterans who have served, who have sacrificed, who have come home, and now they depend on you to be their voice today.”
- Legislative