U.S. Congressman John Boozman 3rd District of Arkansas

Veterans' Affairs

My father was a Master Sergeant in the US Air Force, so I grew-up understanding the challenges veterans and their families face. I believe that serving our country in uniform is an extremely noble undertaking that all-too-often goes under-appreciated and unnoticed. I am committed to changing this and my colleagues and I have made some historic breakthroughs in the past few years.

As Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, I have the opportunity to help make our soldiers and veterans transition into civilian life easier. This is a priority for the VA Committee in the 111th Congress as we work to make opportunities available to the brave men and women who are returning from fighting the Global War on Terror.

During the 110th Congress, S. 3023 passed the House with my support and was signed into law by President Bush on October 10, 2008. This legislation represents the largest single increase in veterans’ benefits since World War II and contains some legislative proposals that I introduced.  Since then, I have been working with my colleagues in the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity to ensure a seamless implementation of the Post 9/11 GI benefit that was included in this legislation. I am committed to ensuring that it is ready to serve our nation’s veterans when it becomes effective in August of 2009.  S. 3023 has a wide range of other improvements for employment, education, vocational rehabilitation, housing programs and a “service members’ rights.” I will continue working with my colleagues in Congress to ensure an effective implementation of these new benefits. To find out what benefits the GI Bill 2008 entitles you to, click here.

I have also introduced a number of bills during the 111th Congress to provide more job opportunities for our veterans and find ways we can assist their lives after serving our country.  These pieces of legislation represent areas we can improve our commitment to our veterans through employment, education and accommodating living needs. Some of these bills are as follows:

H.R. 1172, the “Pat Tillman Veterans’ Scholarship Initiative” is named after the former NFL player who was killed on active duty while serving in Afghanistan. The bill directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to include a list of organizations that provide scholarships to veterans and their survivors on the VA website.
 
H.R. 1171, the “Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) Reauthorization Act of 2009” reauthorizes the HVRP program for five years through Fiscal Year 2014. HVRP provides grants to homeless veteran providers for job skill training and employment services. This legislation has passed the House of Representatives and been referred to the Senate for further legislative consideration.
 
H.R. 1170, establishes a grant program to encourage development of new assistive technologies that will help meet the needs of disabled veterans through the Specially Adapted Housing grants.  This legislation has passed the House of Representatives and been referred to the Senate for further legislative consideration.
 
H.R. 1169, This bill would triple the sizes for the Specially Adapted Housing and Adaptive Auto grants. These grants enable disabled veterans to adapt their homes and their vehicles to meet their particular disability. These grants are essential for increasing the opportunities for disabled veterans to lead full and successful lives.
 
H.R. 1168, the “Veterans Retraining Act of 2009” increases training assistance for veterans who have been unemployed for at least four months. The bill would provide a housing stipend for veterans who are participating in a re-training program. The bill would also provide up to $5,000 in moving expenses for the veteran who completes the training to move to an area of the country that has jobs to fit their new skill.

In addition to my own legislative priorities, I continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in support of legislation to address other issues of concern to all veterans, as well as their survivors and beneficiaries, such as concurrent receipt, the Survivors Benefit Program (SBP), and adequate and timely funding for VA health care.

A commitment was made to veterans of the armed services that the government will take care of health needs, and I will work to ensure that this commitment is honored. I am committed to working hard for the veterans in Arkansas and will use my assignment on the Veterans' Affairs Committee to affect legislation that serves all veterans.  

The VA Beneficiary Travel program mileage reimbursement rates increase. The reimbursement rate is increased in November of 2008 from 28.5 cents to 41.5 cents based upon mileage traveled to or from a Department facility or other place in connection with vocational rehabilitation. The deductible requirements for purposes of beneficiary travel of mileage reimbursement remain at $7.77 one-way; $15.54 round trip; with a monthly cap of $46.62. To read more about this decision click here.

Congressional Research Service Reports:

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. CRS, which is a department of the Library of Congress, works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress.

CRS Reports are in PDF format. In order to view these files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC. You can download the free reader from Adobe's website. These files may be rather large and may take a few minutes to download.

Veterans Affairs: Basic Eligibility for Disability Benefit Programs