Throughout my time in Congress I have worked tirelessly on behalf of our military service men and women. I have supported numerous legislative measures aimed at honoring Minnesota veterans and their families. I will continue to work to ensure that our veterans and their families are treated with the respect they have earned and deserve.
I could not be happier to report that the 110th Congress provided the largest increase in funding in Veterans Affairs history upon passage of H.R. 2642, the FY2008 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies appropriations bill which became Public Law110–161 on December 27, 2008.
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Veterans
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Washington, D.C. – Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) today commended the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for including “service-connection” for Vietnam Veterans with three additional illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure. Simply put, this change means that Vietnam Vets no longer need to fight for compensation if they suffer from these three serious medical conditions: hairy cell leukemia, Parkinson's disease, and ischemic heart disease.
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In the 110th Congress, I supported several legislative initiatives to aid our veterans:
- I supported H.R. 140 to require that the amounts reimbursed to institutional providers of health care services under the TRICARE program be the same as amounts reimbursed under Medicare;
- I supported the Retired Pay Restoration Act (H.R. 303), which would allow the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability;
- I supported H.R. 6625, the Veteran Voting Support Act, which passed the House on September 17, 2008 which allows for VA facilities to serve as non-partisan voter registration centers. This legislation aims to help break down some of the barriers that our veterans face when simply attempting to exercise their right to vote.
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In the fall of 2007 I worked closely with the Minnesota Congressional delegation to ensure that the members of the Minnesota National Guard 1/34th Brigade Combat Team (BCT) received their full Active Component GI Bill entitlements. The 1/34th BCT returned to Minnesota after a 22-month mobilization and deployment to Iraq, the longest tour of any ground combat unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Unfortunately, members of the unit were informed after they returned home that they were not eligible for their full GI benefits because their orders to return home cut them a few days short of the eligibility for these benefits. After my office was informed of this decision by the Army, I wrote to the Department of Defense to appeal this decision. I am pleased to report that the Army responded positively to my inquiries and that most soldiers of the 1/34th BCT were granted waivers to access those educational benefits.
Read the press release to learn more about this. |
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