Action Item: Contact House and Senate Reps Today

Important action to take this week. Veterans for America has made it easy for us to get armed with info and ready for action in support of 3 vital amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2007.

Click on Steve Robinson's picture to listen to this week's legislative update. Then head over to their online action form to really show you support the troops.

Click on 'Article Link' below tags for details...

Before the NDAA comes up for a vote, it's hammered out in a joint House-Senate conference. To be sure the following three amendments make it through this process, we need to contact the House and Senate leaders involved -- Representatives Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Ike Skelton (D-MO), plus Senators John Warner (R-VA) and Carl Levin (D-MI). You can use this online action form to make contact quickly and easily.

Here are the 3 amendments that need our support (via Veterans for America):

• Amendment S. 4224 sponsored by Senators Barak Obama (D-IL) and Bill Frist (R-TN) requiring that traumatic brain injury (TBI) assessments be included as part of post-deployment health care assessments for service members deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan involved in improvised explosive device incidents (road side bombs). Serious brain injuries can have long-term effects if not diagnosed and treated quickly.

• Amendment S. 4466 sponsored by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) improving mental health care screening before deployment of our troops, establishing a minimum standard requirement and further evaluation by a qualified health care professional if a mental health condition is detected during pre- or post- deployment screening. Soldiers are committing suicide while deployed and after returning home. This screening may help save lives now.

• Amendment S. 4409 sponsored by Senators Barak Obama (D-IL) and Kit Bond (R-MO) requiring a report from DoD on the feasibility of providing secure electronic medical and military records to service members when discharged to assist with expediting veterans’ medical care at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers and private physicians. By providing full sets of records, this amendment allows veterans to choose when and where they go for medical care, and it provides an historical account of their military duty.

And don't forget to thank Veterans for America for providing this service to us, either by dropping them a nice line or two or tossing a few nickels into their bucket.

Thank you for taking action today!