Dear Friend:

Supporting our nation's veterans continues to be a top priority of mine. This month, as we honor Veterans Day and recognize those who served in our Armed Forces, I want to share my recent work in Congress to uphold our commitment to our nation's veterans.

Last year, I was proud to support the largest one-year budget increase in the 77-year history of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This year, Congress built on this accomplishment, approving legislation, which is now law, that increased VA spending by $4.5 billion over last year's level - $2.8 billion more than what the President originally requested in his budget. Among other things, the funding in this bill is expected to reduce the backlog of benefit claims, to provide veterans with advanced prosthetics that will improve their quality of life and to bolster key mental health and substance abuse programs.

Veterans must have necessary medical support and treatment, but they also deserve other transitional opportunities. In that vein, the Democratic-led Congress approved a GI Bill for the 21st Century. Similar to the original GI Bill of 1944, this new law is expected to improve veterans’ ability to obtain a college diploma, thereby increasing their job opportunities.

Additionally, with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) estimating that it will treat more than 5.8 million patients in the coming year, including 333,275 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, I have been fighting to make sure that our local veterans continue to receive quality, accessible health services. For years, the VA proposed closing or partially consolidating the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford with three other Boston-based VA facilities. Fortunately, in May, after vigorously opposing this plan through four public Local Advisory Panel (LAP) meetings during the tenure of three VA Secretaries and after countless behind-the-scenes meetings and phone calls and letters, the VA finally got it right, rejecting all the proposed efforts to transfer or consolidate services from Bedford as well as the facilities in Brockton, Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury. This was a significant victory for veterans and their families.

Finally, I have established a Veterans' Advisory Board (VAB), which is comprised of local veteran advocates who serve as liaisons with the community. Seeking to help soldiers, veterans and their families with benefit and job service awareness, the VAB helped me host a “Benefits and Jobs Fair” at which over forty local businesses and veterans’ service organizations and government agencies participated in serving over 300 attendees. If you are interested in the work of this VAB or my work in general on behalf of veterans, please visit my website at: http://tierney.house.gov/services/information-for-veterans. If you have further questions, please contact George McCabe in my office at 978-531-1669.

Sincerely,


John F. Tierney
Member of Congress