Majority News

Today, the United States Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC) unanimously passed legislation to offer Post-9/11 combat veterans, including those suffering from conditions caused by toxic exposures, such as burn pits, access to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care.

This week, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to extend a rule originally introduced by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) – ranking member and chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee – to protect GI Bill benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The extension ensures this rule stays in effect until summer of 2022.

Today, the Colonel John M. McHugh Tuition Fairness for Survivors Act – legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee – was signed into law. This law expands in-state tuition eligibility for the families of certain servicemembers who died while on active duty and veterans who die from service-connected disabilities.

U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) along with U.S. Representatives Tracey Mann (KS-01) and Chris Pappas (NH-01) – members of the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee – introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to expand the Department of Labor (DOL) Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) to all 50 states and U.S. territories. The HVRP program offers customized employment and training services to homeless or at-risk-of-homelessness veterans to address their specific barriers to employment. Services may include occupational, classroom and on-the-job training, as well as job search, placement assistance and post-placement follow-up services.