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LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN 

LEGION 

JOINT HEARING 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

BEFORE THE

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AND THE

U.S. SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012 

Serial No. 112–79 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 

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U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman 

CLIFF STEARNS, Florida 

DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee 

MARLIN A. STUTZMAN, Indiana 

BILL FLORES, Texas 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

JEFF DENHAM, California 

JON RUNYAN, New Jersey 

DAN BENISHEK, Michigan 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada 

ROBERT L. TURNER, New York 

BOB FILNER, California, Ranking 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida 

SILVESTRE REYES, Texas 

MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine 

LINDA T. SA ́ NCHEZ, California 

BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa 

JERRY McNERNEY, California 

JOE DONNELLY, Indiana 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

JOHN BARROW, Georgia 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

HELEN W. TOLAR, Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington, Chairman 

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

BERNARD SANDERS, (I) Vermont 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

JIM WEBB, Virginia 

JON TESTER, Montana 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina, Ranking 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

KIM LIPSKY, Staff Director 

LUPE WISSEL, Republican Staff Director 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to 

prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting 

between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process 

is further refined. 

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C O N T E N T S 

October 3, 2012 

Page 

Legislative Presentation of The American Legion ................................................ 1 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Chairman Jeff Miller, U.S. House of Representatives .......................................... 1 

Prepared Statement of Chairman Miller ........................................................ 30 

Hon. Michael Michaud, U.S. House of Representatives ....................................... 2 

Prepared Statement of Hon. Michaud ............................................................ 32 

Senator Richard Lugar, U.S. Senate ...................................................................... 3 

Senator Mark Begich, U.S. Senate ......................................................................... 10 

Senator John Boozman, U.S. Senate ...................................................................... 11 

Prepared Statement of Senator Boozman ...................................................... 33 

WITNESSES 

James E. Koutz, National Commander, The American Legion ........................... 4 

Prepared Statement of Mr. Koutz ................................................................... 34 

Accompanied by: 

Verna Jones, Director, National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation 

Commission 

Michael Helm, Chairman, National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation 

Commission 

Peter Gaytan, Executive Director, The American Legion 

Kenneth Governor, Chairman, National Legislative Commission 

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LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF THE 

AMERICAN LEGION 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

AND U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, 

Washington, D.C. 

The Committees met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 

345, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Jeff Miller [Chairman of 

the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Miller and Michaud. 

Senators Begich and Boozman. 

Also Present: Senator Lugar. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN JEFF MILLER 

The CHAIRMAN. Good morning, everybody. Thank you so much 

for being here. We appreciate you making the trip to Washington. 

I am pleased to be joined by colleagues from not only across the 

Capitol, but across the aisle, as well. And as I told some of you this 

morning at breakfast, you know the congressional schedule 

changed a few weeks ago, so a lot of Members are not in Washington today. Senator Boozman flew in this morning, as a matter 

of fact. I came in last night, got caught in the fog trying to get in. 

And you probably just drove down from Maine, didn’t you? 

But we thank you for being here. And rest assured, all the Members will not only receive the full testimony of the commander but 

also from the questions that are going to be given here. We are 

Webcasting, as well, so folks will be able to see this streaming live. 

And also it will be stored on the Internet so folks can get a look 

and see for themselves. 

And I have a full statement that I want to enter into the record, 

but I do want to extend a very warm welcome to your new commander—we are glad to have you; it was a pleasure to meet you 

this morning—the 2012-2013 National Commander, James E. 

Koutz. 

We are proud to have you with us here today. We look forward 

to your testimony and learning from you where the Legion stands 

on your legislative agenda. 

I also want to welcome the Legion’s auxiliary that is here, as 

well; of course, my friends from Florida, who I had a chance to visit 

with this morning at breakfast very briefly. 

But instead of me going through a complete statement, I ask 

unanimous consent that I can enter the full statement into the 

record. 

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[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MILLER APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX]

The CHAIRMAN. And, with that, I would like to go ahead and introduce—let’s see—Mike, do you want to give a quick opening 

statement? 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL MICHAUD 

Mr. MICHAUD. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I, too, would like to welcome the National Commander here this 

morning, as well as the National President of the American Legion 

Auxiliary also. And I want to thank both of you for your advocacy 

for our veterans and enduring support that the American Legion’s 

over 2.5 million members have given for our veterans. 

Before we start, I also would like to extend compliments to your 

Washington, D.C., staff, to let you know that the staff here in 

D.C.—it is a pleasure working with them, but they also are out 

there each and every day fighting for the American Legion’s priorities. So I want to thank you, National Commander, for the excellent staff that you have here in Washington. 

And I also would like to recognize and ask them to stand in the 

audience the folks from Maine that took the time to be here today. 

I think they are still out in the audience. Would the Maine American Legion members please stand up? 

I would like to thank both of you for coming here today, as well. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. MICHAUD. These Committees are charged with oversight of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs and the VA’s budget. And 

while it has been busy and frustrating, we have been able to accomplish a lot over the last couple of years. 

And we must also make sure that we provide the best care and 

service for our veterans. And we need to, first of all, understand 

how the veterans population is growing, changing, and where they 

are located geographically. And in 2011, we had just over 22 million veterans, with 34 million dependents, and we had 450,000 survivors of deceased veterans receiving compensation. 

And I was pleased to see that the VA’s budget for 2013 reflects 

many of these changes. But they must do better to do outreach for 

our veterans, particularly those that live in rural areas, and to do 

better with the dependents. The VA 2013 overall budget is $140 billion, an increase from the 

2012 request. And because of the hard work of many individuals 

here in this room, advance appropriations continue to help the VA 

with long-term planning. With advance appropriation, we ensure 

sufficient, timely, predictable funding for veterans health care. 

But advance appropriation only works when we work together to 

pass a long-term appropriation bill, as well. Short-term continuing 

resolutions are not helpful in the planning process, and we have to 

do better as Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. 

Although Congress may disagree on a lot of things, I hope that 

we can agree on providing strong appropriation for the VA in a 

nonpartisan effort. And in that regard, I would like to thank Chairman Miller for all the effort and hard work that he has done on 

the House side to make sure that the Committee works in a bipartisan manner. 

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I was troubled by the July report from CBS News that found suicide rates for our soldiers is up 80 percent. Our veterans are returning from war with invisible wounds that need treatment but 

are discouraged from seeking those treatments for various reasons. 

And as a Nation, we can do better, and we must get this right. 

And to The American Legion, I ask you to continue to help in 

this regard. As you lobby the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I 

hope you are also lobbying the Committees on Armed Services to 

make sure that they are dealing with this issue, as well. Care must 

begin with the person who is on active duty before they take off 

the uniform and become veterans as well. 

Servicemembers—also, if you look at another area of effort we 

have to do better on, that is for military training. Look at jobs. 

Servicemembers are experienced in many different career fields 

that can be varied, such as electronics, medicine, air traffic control. 

And we have to do everything we can as a Congress to help our 

veterans find jobs when they come back. And I think it is important for The American Legion, with your broad outreach into all 

the different States, to make sure that the States are doing the 

same thing, as well, to make it easier for our veterans to find jobs 

as well. 

And, with that, I would ask for the remainder of my statement 

to be included in the record. And I want to again thank you, National Commander, for being here today, and all the members from 

The American Legion. So thank you. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAUD APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX]

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, so ordered. 

And Senator Boozman is going to yield his time, at this point. 

Senator Lugar, I understand you have a prior commitment. And 

so, in keeping with your schedule, sir, we appreciate you being here 

today to introduce the National Commander for 2012 and 2013, 

Commander James Koutz. We appreciate you being here. You don’t 

remember this, but I met you for the first time in 1977 up here in 

Washington. And so I have great respect and admiration for you, 

Senator. 

The senior Senator from Indiana is recognized, sir. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR RICHARD LUGAR 

Senator LUGAR. Well, thank you very much, Chairman Miller 

and distinguished Members of the House and Senate Veterans’ 

Committees. 

I deeply appreciate this opportunity to address this Joint Committee in order to introduce a very distinguished Hoosier, American 

Legion National Commander James E. Koutz, as he presents his 

organization’s current legislative priorities to this Committee. 

Over the course of my service in the United States Senate, I have 

had the distinct honor to spend considerable time with Hoosier 

servicemembers and veterans from all branches of the military. 

Each time, I am reminded of how fortunate we are as a Nation to 

have so many young men and women who are willing to step forward now to defend the ideals upon which our Republic was founded. 

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It is one of our duties in Congress to ensure that those who bear 

the considerable burden of defending our Nation in military service 

receive the care and support they have earned upon their return 

to civilian life. Since its founding in 1919, The American Legion 

and its members have worked closely with officials at the local, 

State, and Federal levels in providing that support. 

I am also very proud to note that The American Legion is 

headquartered in my hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. I was especially pleased to meet with Jim most recently in August during 

the American Legion’s 94th National Convention in Indianapolis, 

where he was elected to serve as National Commander. 

He brings a wealth of experience to this new post. This includes 

his own service with the United States Army in Vietnam, more 

than 2 decades in the private sector with Amax Coal Company, his 

election as a County Commissioner in Warrick County, Indiana, 

and his service to the veterans of our State as a member and President of the Indiana Veterans’ Affairs Commission. I am confident 

the talent and diligence that he has exemplified have been the hallmark of his career to date, and they will continue to well-serve The 

American Legion during his term in office. 

I would like again to thank the leadership and Members of the 

respective Veterans’ Affairs Committees assembled here today for 

calling this important hearing. 

I wish Jim and his wife Vickie every success in their important 

service to the 2.4 million veterans that make up The American Legion. And I look forward to learning much more about the American Legion’s important legislative priorities and supporting those 

in the future. 

I thank the chair. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator, for being here 

with us today. And we know that your schedule is tight this morning, so whenever you need to depart, please feel free to do so. 

And, Commander Koutz, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF JAMES E. KOUTZ, NATIONAL COMMANDER, 

THE AMERICAN LEGION; ACCOMPANIED BY VERNA JONES, 

DIRECTOR, NATIONAL VETERANS AFFAIRS AND REHABILITATION COMMISSION; MICHEL HELM, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL 

VETERANS AFFAIRS AND REHABILITATION COMMISSION; 

PETER GAYTAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE AMERICAN LEGION; AND KENNETH GOVERNOR, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL 

LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION 

Mr. KOUTZ. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to thank the Senator, my Senator from Indiana, Senator 

Lugar, for that kind introduction. 

Good morning, Chairman Miller and Members of the Committee. 

First, let me state how proud I am that you took on to have this 

POW-MIA flag and empty chair behind me. I understand this is 

the first time, and I hope it is not the last time. Thank you. 

On behalf of the 2.4 million members of The American Legion, 

I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you this morning. 

Prior to getting into the details of my written testimony, I would 

like to introduce some of the national officers that will serve with 

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me this year. As I call their names, I ask that they stand to be recognized. 

National Vice Commanders: David Hall, out of West Virginia; 

Glenn Hickman, Department of Ohio; James Hallie Holland from 

South Carolina; John Neylon from New Hampshire; and Jeanette 

Rae from Nevada. 

Our National Sergeant-At-Arms: Al Pulido from Indiana. 

Our National Adjutant: Dan Wheeler. 

And our National Treasurer: George Buskirk. 

Please stand and be recognized. 

Thank you. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. KOUTZ. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge some 

special men in the audience who fully comprehend what I am just 

beginning to understand—what it means to sacrifice a year of your 

life to be the face of this great organization—the past national commanders of the American Legion. 

Gentlemen, would you please stand and be recognized? 

[Applause.] 

Mr. KOUTZ. Next, I wish to introduce the leadership of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Nation’s largest patriotic women’s organization. 

Please stand as I call your name and be recognized. 

National President Peggy Thomas from Virginia; National Vice 

President Nancy Brown-Park from California; and National Secretary Mary ‘‘Dubbie’’ Buckler from Indiana. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. KOUTZ. We also have several past national presidents of the 

American Legion Auxiliary joining us today. I would like for them 

to stand and be recognized. 

With us today is the National Commander of the Sons of The 

American Legion, Chris Huntzinger from Department of Pennsylvania. 

Chris, please stand and be recognized. 

[Applause.] 

Mr. KOUTZ. In addition, several of the men present dedicated a 

year of their lives to serve as National Commanders of the Sons of 

The American Legion. 

Gentlemen, would you please stand to be recognized? 

Most importantly, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce and thank my wonderful wife Vickie, my best friend. 

Vickie? 

[Applause.] 

Mr. KOUTZ. A month from now, U.S. citizens will go to the polls 

across the country and cast ballots in the general election. Washington will be focused on that great landscape beyond the Beltway. 

That is where I come from. That is where you will find The American Legion. 

You will find The American Legion in rural towns of the West, 

helping veterans make that 4-hour trip to a VA medical center. The 

American Legion is promoting and hosting more than 200 job fairs 

throughout this Nation. The American Legion service officers are 

working day and night to help veterans understand their VA 

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claims and file applications that won’t get stuck in a massive backlog. 

The American Legion is in your district, your hometown, and 

your neighborhood. For nearly a century, this organization has fulfilled the spirit of its Federal charter in ways that can’t easily be 

quantified. Suffice it to say that millions of volunteer hours are put 

in by Legionnaires; millions of real dollars are raised to help veterans and their families; and millions of lives are touched every 

year all through America by The American Legion. 

By the end of my year in office, I will have spent more than 300 

days traveling the Nation and sometimes beyond, visiting veterans, 

active duty troops, and patriotic Americans everywhere. I will have 

a rare and unique opportunity to see the faces and hear the stories 

of those who have sacrificed on behalf of our Nation. 

They will ask me what The American Legion is doing for them 

today, and they will ask me what their elected officials are doing 

for them. They will want to know what you are doing to make 

things right for America’s veterans, their families and communities. 

They have a good reason to ask. As today’s generation of troops 

comes home from war, they are unsure about their futures. Where 

will their jobs come from? What if they can’t get the war out of 

their minds? What if they need a doctor now but they can’t wait 

and see one in a month? 

They will want to know what massive cuts in the defense budget 

will mean to small businesses and factories that supply defense 

contractors and hire veterans. Will these businesses be shut down? 

Will we weaken our national security because of a weakened economy? 

These are tough questions. Veterans need to know that The 

American Legion and our elected officials are working hard to resolve these issues confronting the Nation they swore with their 

lives to protect and defend. These men and women have sacrificed 

in ways we are only beginning to understand. Their families have 

and will. It is truly up to us to ensure their sacrifices are rewarded 

with a promise of a brighter future. 

That brighter future, we all know, depends on the ability to earn 

a decent living. In my written testimony, you will find jobs among 

the American Legion’s list of priorities. A stronger economy and 

specifically improved career prospects for veterans will go a long 

way toward solving a number of problems facing our Nation today. 

It is no secret that a large percentage of America’s veterans are 

struggling to find work, having faced jobless rates as much as twothirds higher than in the comparable civilian population in the past 

year. The American Legion has been at the forefront of efforts to 

combat veteran joblessness, and we all know we have an ally in 

this Congress. 

Specifically, I speak of the progress made in the acceptance of 

military experience for credits toward licenses and credentials in a 

number of trades and career paths for veterans. It is just common 

sense that those who drove Humvees through firefights delivering 

supplies to forward operating bases ought to have a leg up when 

they pursue over-the-road truck-driving certification as civilians. 

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Medics who have saved lives on battlefields don’t need to start at 

lesson one when they are working to become civilian EMTs. 

The American Legion has been fighting this battle longer than 

anybody else. Since our landmark ‘‘Study of Licensure and Certification for Veterans’’ in 1997, we have worked with concerned parties in both the government and the private sector. We have been 

on the Hill, at the Pentagon, with the Department of Labor, sideby-side with representatives and Presidential task forces, and in 

the boardrooms across this country. 

And it is bearing results. You have worked with us to make landmark strides in licensure and certification with legislation such as 

the recent VOW to Hire Veterans Act and the Veterans Skills to 

Jobs Act of 2012. We are grateful for this dedication and cooperation that Congress has shown us on this issue. Clearly, you have 

heard the concerns of veterans, and we appreciate everything you 

have done to improve the situation on the Federal level. 

But we cannot let up. As The American Legion works to capitalize on these gains and increase our efforts, we need your support to keep working with the States to improve their acceptance 

of military training, as the Federal Government has already done. 

Legislation like the HIRE at Home Act can help State-level efforts 

to recognize military training, education, and experience. 

The American Legion is now working with groups such as the 

American National Standards Institute and Solutions for Information Design to advise U.S. Army Training and Doctrine on 

credentialing to evaluate the programs of instruction being provided while these men and women still wear the uniform. We all 

need to recognize the top-quality education and training men and 

women of the United States Armed Forces receive when they are 

serving our country. 

We are working with the United States Chamber of Commerce, 

Military.com, and Recruit Military, LLC, to produce hundreds of 

hiring fairs across this country, from big cities to small towns, from 

convention centers to American Legion posts. If you have not been 

to one of these events, I strongly encourage you to do so. There you 

will see firsthand the quality of these returning servicemen and 

women, employers who understand their value, and Legionnaires 

who are dedicated to improving their lives. 

The men and women who fought for this country shouldn’t have 

to fight for a job when they return home. Veterans, their families, 

and The American Legion will keep working to revive our Nation’s 

economy. Efforts to improve opportunities through licensing and 

credentialing, through job fairs and business development, must 

continue in earnest. 

For many newly minted veterans, the ability to get a job and 

earn a decent income has been diminished because of sacrifices 

made in uniform. That is why we simply must come up with a solution to a problem that has been with us for years, unfortunately, 

and has gotten worse: the VA claims backlog. I would challenge 

anyone this room to recall a time when The American Legion did 

not come before this Congress looking for answers to this worsening problem. 

Among veterans in every corner of the Nation, many who wait 

months or even years for decisions about their claims, this is not 

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just some nagging bureaucratic nuisance. The claims backlog, 

which is now hovering at about 1 million cases, is a gathering 

storm of mistrust between those who fought for their Nation and 

those who promised them benefits if should they become disabled. 

Our government’s failure to decide their claims on time is inexcusable. 

VA’s efforts to tame the backlog have not produced positive results. American Legion service officers are working around the 

clock to help veterans through their process, and we all know that 

VA has added employees to help solve the problem, but this is 

clearly not enough. Secretary Shinseki has promised to break the 

back of the backlog by 2015, and yet, with more new claims outpacing decisions, we are going in the wrong direction. 

Congress can no longer simply be concerned about this problem. 

Congress, VA, and The American Legion must work together to 

solve it. And that does not mean simply rewarding processors for 

fast decisions regardless of quality. We have found an alarming 

amount of inaccuracy in claims decisions made at VA regional offices throughout the country, and that only slows down the 

progress. 

Earlier this year, when Congress summoned American Legion 

service officers for a hearing about the backlog, we were encouraged. These service officers are at the front line of this battle every 

day. They have unique perspectives that can help VA contend with 

its biggest issue. 

We have seen many pilot programs and promises from VA. It is 

time to roll up our sleeves and really fix what is wrong with this 

system. If the Social Security Administration and other Federal 

benefits programs can handle their claims in a timely manner, veterans cannot understand why the VA cannot. 

In The American Legion, we have made training our service officers a top priority. It is part of the job, not something that gets in 

the way of the job. When we bring our service officers together for 

training twice a year, they make recommendations based on the 

complex system they must navigate on a daily basis. They are the 

ones who can see the flaws in the VA work-credit system that rewards quantity over quality. 

There simply has to be a better way to get this done. For instance, VA could start counting claims done right as a positive and 

claims done wrong as a negative, so everyone could have a more 

accurate picture of what is really getting done in these regional offices. Veterans waiting past a realistic target date might be compensated with interest on their claims, creating an incentive for VA 

officers to get these claims decided on time. 

There are ways to work with the mechanics of the system to 

make it serve the veteran and not the bureaucrats. We are willing 

to roll up our sleeves and work with you to find those ways. The 

American Legion has people in the trenches who not only understand the problems but can contribute to the solution. Veterans are 

tired of hearing how the government is working on ending a backlog that continues to grow. 

Veterans and The American Legion want results and are willing 

to do whatever it takes to obtain them. Remember, we are all partners in this. Everyone knows the claims process is confusing for 

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veterans. The American Legion is there with free services to help 

navigate the system and make things easier for both the veteran 

and the VA personnel who have to decide their claims. Nobody gets 

charged a penny for this service—not the veteran, not the government. 

We are out there working to put these claims in order, to help 

make it easier for these veterans by putting them in touch with the 

people who are dedicating their time and effort to make the process 

easier for those veterans. We work with the congressionally chartered veterans organizations to get the transitioning veterans in 

touch with the people who can make this system run more smoothly. If you work to hand them off to us, we will not forsake that 

trust. We will walk them through that transition into the proud, 

patriotic, and productive phase that is life as a civilian veteran. 

The American Legion understands that our Nation is in a budget 

crisis the likes of which has not been seen in over a generation. 

First and foremost, our Nation’s veterans are deeply concerned 

about national security in the face of drastic defense spending cuts. 

Equally important to The American Legion is the protection of 

VA and veterans programs administered in other Federal agencies. 

Thanks to the tireless work of this Committee and especially you, 

Chairman Miller, Congress and the White House have reassured us 

that the VA will be exempt from sequestration. 

Unfortunately, many programs important to veterans are funded 

by agencies outside the VA: Arlington National Cemetery; the 

American Battle Monuments Commission; the Joint Prisoners of 

War, Missing in Action Accounting Command; the Department of 

Labor’s VETS Program; HUD-VASH; and others. Veterans are seriously concerned that these important government functions will be 

compromised or cut in order to make ends meet. 

And that does not even begin to address the massive cuts that 

will be levied against our Nation’s defense, which is poised to bear 

fully half of the $1.2 trillion burden that could not be relieved by 

the supercommittee last winter. The Department of Defense is 

asked to bear this burden while U.S. servicemen and women are 

still at war with hostile enemies in Afghanistan and all around the 

world. 

The American Legion has been promised that the budget would 

not be balanced on the backs of veterans. If cuts to the Department 

of Defense erode TRICARE, diminish quality of life for our troops, 

or put more pressure on our National Guard and Reserve components, it is clear that an unfair portion of responsibility is falling 

upon the shoulders of America’s current and future veterans. 

While the budget does not fall squarely on the shoulders of the 

House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees, we urge you to 

work with your colleagues to find the right balance without sacrificing our Nation’s ability to defend itself or to care for its protectors. 

I am grateful for the work this Congress has done on behalf of 

our veterans. I will tell Legionnaires and their families throughout 

this country that their elected officials are, in fact, working with 

us, the stakeholders, to solve some very serious problems. I will explain to them that our voices matter in Washington and we are 

being heard. Now it is time for all of us to act on those voices and 

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make good on our promises to the men and women who have 

served. 

I thank you for the opportunity to come before you and renew the 

commitment of The American Legion to work closely with Congress 

to ensure that we are meeting this Nation’s obligations to its veterans. Since 1919, The American Legion has been there for America’s servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Our organization is a voice for the hundreds of thousands of men and women 

serving today in the military who are unable to speak for themselves. 

The American Legion is there for millions of veterans, many of 

whom are either too proud or too humble to demand the benefits 

they have earned. The American Legion is there to give you, our 

elected officials, a direct lane of communication with a very special 

breed of constituents—those who have pledged their lives to the 

Nation we all love. 

It is much more than good political sense to address the questions, problems, and issues our Nation’s veterans and their families 

face today; it is a sacred obligation. I think we can all agree on 

that. 

Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of 

America. Thank you. 

[Applause.] 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF JAMES E. KOUTZ APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Commander. We appreciate your testimony and look forward to an opportunity to ask 

some questions momentarily, but Senator Begich from Alaska has 

arrived. And since the House had an opportunity to give our opening statements prior to your comments, I would like to recognize 

Senator Begich. 

Good to see you, sir. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MARK BEGICH 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I will try 

to be brief. 

And, first, Commander Koutz, thank you for being here. Thank 

you for your testimony and being part of this. And all the Members 

that are here today. 

I know, as Congress, the Senate is out. But there are a couple 

of us here. We wanted to make sure the Senate is well-represented. 

We care deeply about what is going on with the veterans and the 

issue of our veterans community, not only in the Nation, but all 

across that—in our State, for example. 

And, also, I want to make a note of past national commander 

Jimmy Foster. I caught a glimpse of him over here. 

Thank you for traveling all the way from Alaska to be here. You 

and Hawaii, if there is someone from Hawaii here, get a special 

award for traveling the distance. So thank you very much for being 

here. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for once again having this joint meeting. 

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It is always important for us here in Washington to hear from 

all of you of what we need to be doing, how we are doing, what job 

improvements we need to have with regard to our veterans, as well 

as—and I know at times we talk about our active military, too, and 

I know you have lots of ideas in that arena, so please don’t hesitate. 

As you know, this summer, the Congress passed a pretty significant piece of legislation, the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, which really helped improve many fronts, enhancing specially adapted housing programs 

for disabled veterans, improving the VA’s ability to end homelessness among veterans, providing health care for veterans, family 

members exposed to toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune, removing several inefficiencies in the claims process—but, honestly, as 

we all know, more to be done there, with regard to moving our 

claims forward—and expanding critical health care for our veterans. 

And a special thank you to the VA. I know we are always trying 

to hold them accountable, and we are doing a good job at times. 

Sometimes we have to push them a little bit extra. But there was 

one thing they did for rural Alaskan veterans which was critical, 

and I want to thank your organization for helping support this effort. 

And that is, the VA and Indian Health Services, in a historic act 

of cooperation, are now ensuring that veterans who are in rural 

Alaska—which, in some cases, 80 percent of our communities are 

not accessible by roads. So they can’t get into the veteran van and 

go down to the clinic, because there is no van to take them to the 

clinic because there is no road to take them to a clinic. You have 

to fly. At the end of the day, it could be $1,000 or more. 

But the VA, through the Indian Health Services, and our clinics 

throughout rural Alaska are now in a cooperative effort to ensure 

that veterans, no matter where they live, in any rural part of Alaska, they are going to get access to quality health care. And that, 

to me, is a huge step for our thousands of veterans in Alaska. 

So thank you to your organization to help support that effort. 

And thanks to the VA for being a little innovative in their efforts. 

So thank you all very much for being here, and I will just listen 

to the continued testimony. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator. 

I would also like to recognize my friend from Arkansas, Senator 

Boozman. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN 

Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It really is good to 

be with you and Congressman Michaud. 

Many of you know that I served in the House for a number of 

years and served with these guys for a long, long time. And there 

is nobody that puts veterans first, you know, in regard to these 

two. 

You guys do a great job. Not only you, but it is also a pleasure 

to be with your staffs on both sides, both the Senate and House 

staff. 

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This is kind of a unique fraternity, serving in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee in the House or Senate. This is an area where we 

really do work and get along and do things in a very, very bipartisan manner, which is so important. 

Senator Begich, it is great to be with you. 

Senator Begich is a new friend. He and I have worked together 

on a number of bills having to do with women’s issues, having to 

do with the Transition Assistance Program, and things like that. 

Congratulations. Thank you for being here, Commander. We appreciate you so much. Your testimony was great. 

I also want to thank Peggy for all that you do. We know who 

really does the work amongst the group. I have a wife and three 

daughters, so I am very, very aware of that. But we do appreciate 

all that you do. 

And then, also, I thought it was so nice, you know, mentioning 

your wife, your partner and friend and things. And my dad did 20 

years in the Air Force. And I think, you know, it was representative of her help through the years, but, also, it is so representative 

of that when you are in the military, it is not just an individual 

thing, it takes the whole family. And so we appreciate her being 

here and representing that also. 

I want to recognize our folks from Arkansas, and our State commander, Mary Irvin, is here. 

Where are you, Mary? Very good. Thank you for being here. 

And then, also, R.D. Kenzie and Steve Gray. And, again, we appreciate you all so much and all that you do to work so hard for 

our veterans in the State of Arkansas. And we have a number. 

Certainly, this is a very critical time for our Nation’s veterans, 

and it is so important that the Legion—you know, it is so important that you are here. Don’t ever underestimate how important it 

is here, again, telling your Congressmen, your Senators, their 

staffs—which sometimes is even more important, telling their 

staffs—how important these things are as we move forward. 

I know that all Americans are very concerned about employment 

security, but veterans, in particular, are struggling with meaningful employment and careers. This is certainly a very difficult economy. You mentioned, Commander, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act 

and the Veterans Skills to Jobs Act. As you said, you know, certainly these are a step in the right direction, but—and, again, everyone deserves credit in a very bipartisan way for moving that forward. Yet there are still a number of things that we can do and 

will do in that area. 

On the other hand, we have to be careful. You know, certainly, 

we want to do these efforts; we can’t do those by mortgaging the 

futures of our children and grandchildren by borrowing money from 

people like China. So we owe this, again, to our veterans, in the 

sense of their honor and sacrifice. But we can do that. Like I say, 

we can get that done and will get it done. 

The failure of the Joint Deficit Committee has left us with the 

looming arbitrary cuts. Those have been mentioned, you know, both 

from up here and down there. I am pleased that the House, you 

know, essentially passed a bill that said, no, these impending cuts 

aren’t going to affect military families. And, certainly, I think that 

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is all of our’s position. We would like for the administration to clarify better, you know, that that is set in concrete. 

So, again, certainly, as you said, Commander, we must make it 

perfectly clear that under no circumstances—we cannot and will 

not balance the budget or solve our fiscal problems on the backs 

of our men and women in uniform and our veterans. 

[Applause.] 

Senator BOOZMAN. I though you all were napping. That is a deafening applause. And, again, the good news is that I think that we 

are all on board. 

Thanks for your efforts with suicide prevention. You know, that 

is something that we are working on very, very hard here. There 

is just a number of things, you know, in regard to that. 

The other thing that I am concerned about is military voting. 

You know, that is something that—if anybody has a right to vote, 

it is the men and women that are serving overseas. And so, again, 

I think in a very bipartisan way, we are working to ensure that, 

you know, that is not going to be a problem. And so we are going 

to press on forward in that front, and we appreciate your all’s efforts also in doing likewise. 

So, again, thank you for being here. 

And now let’s go ahead, Mr. Chairman. I know we have some 

questions for the panel. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR BOOZMAN APPEARS IN

THE APPENDIX]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator. We appreciate 

your comments. 

And, again, because we have two House Members and two Senators, we may dispense with the typical 5-minute question period. 

I would probably ask a question and then turn to Mr. Michaud or 

to Senator Begich, so we can kind of have a little bit more of a freeflowing discussion than we normally would in a process like this. 

I do want to draw attention to the fact that you congratulated 

or thanked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for the job fairs that 

they are holding around the country. I had the opportunity, a week 

ago Monday, or Tuesday I guess it was now, to be in West Palm 

Beach with Allen West, down there attending a job fair and function. And they have been all over this country. For some reason, 

they haven’t been to my district yet; we will see if we can fix that. 

But your organization and theirs have been working collaboratively. And we know that because the unemployment rate is so 

high among our returning veterans that something has to be done. 

We see a lot of the corporations around this country, and small 

businesses as well, that are joining together to make sure that we 

can use the talents that our military men and women have when 

they come home and transition back to civilian life. 

And that is something that, again, you have helped us get that 

word out to many of the States’ Governors around the country, 

that, in fact, their jobs that they had in the military certainly 

should transition well into the private sector. 

I have said it many times. I have a good friend that is a homebuilder. He said, ‘‘Give me somebody that has been in the military, 

that knows how important it is to show up to work every day on 

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time, has good critical skills, decision-making skills, and I can 

teach him how to build a house. But bring me somebody that 

knows how to build a house and is absent of those skills, it is very 

difficult for me to be successful.’’ And it is very, very true. 

With that, I want to focus a little bit— 

Senator BOOZMAN. Can I just add to that, Mr. Chairman? 

The CHAIRMAN. No. No. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Please? 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BOOZMAN. Very shortly. 

You know, the Chairman was talking about, you know, these jobs 

skills. Last night I got up at 4 o’clock. I had a 6 o’clock flight, so 

I was at the airport at 5 o’clock. So I was up at 4:00. But before 

that, I was riding with the Little Rock Police Department, you 

know, throughout the different areas, you know, just trying to get 

a feel for how we could be helpful to them. 

But one of the things they mentioned was how desperately they 

need policemen and how much they liked returning servicemen and 

women, you know, the great job that they do. 

One of the things that they mentioned was the training process 

is so—you know, it takes a long time. And it just goes to, you 

know, what we have talked about, getting certificates in the military so that a military policeman, once he completes his training, 

he is given a certificate. They can take certificates from other training States, you know, and things like that, but they don’t have the 

ability to do that there. 

So it just highlights, you know, what you are talking about, how 

we can do some of these things, again, to very quickly put some 

men and women in the workforce. 

The CHAIRMAN. Very true. Because it is also a process of putting 

them together. The folks that are looking for people who want to 

work and getting the people who want to work—and that is where 

Military.com and Monster.com and a lot of other organizations 

have done a great job. Although the job has yet to be finished, but 

they are helping put those folks together. 

But I want to hone in, if we can, for just a minute on the claims 

backlog. Because I think, you know, obviously, that is a huge issue 

that is out there that everybody in this room is concerned about. 

Congress is concerned about it; Department of Veterans Affairs is 

concerned about it. But it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. 

Secretary Shinseki has already said several times—you quoted it 

in your opening statement—that by 2015, that, you know, within 

125 days, the idea was that everybody would have their claims adjudicated at 100 percent. Well, it isn’t happening. 

And, unfortunately, we had a hearing just a couple of weeks ago 

where we kind of took a status check with VA, where are you? 

Their focus was more on what they were turning out, which is exactly what you talked about. And that is important: a million 

claims being adjudicated. But the backlog is growing. And if you 

are not keeping up with that backlog, it is certainly not going to 

assist and fix the problem. 

So, again, I would like to hear from you, if you would, your perspective on, what are the things that can be done? What can Congress do legislatively, if you will, to assist the problem? 

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We all talk about the electronic medical record, but that is years 

away from being able to truly have that seamless transition. We 

are moving in that direction, but we have folks, you know, today 

that are waiting 1, 2 years in order to have their claims adjudicated. 

And we have put dollars forward, we have put bodies forward; 

it does not seem to fix the issue. So I would like to hear what you 

think. 

Mr. KOUTZ. Well, Mr. Chairman, I think one of the things that 

we could do is do more hiring of adjudicators, do more hiring of the 

processors. 

As you probably know, a lot of these claims that are coming back, 

they are not completed. They need to be fully developed claims. 

You know, I believe like any other business, if you are in a backlog, 

then the only way to get that backlog taken care of is to hire more 

people. 

And I understand in the VA, being a former—or a still commissioner of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, that it takes 

time to train an adjudicator or a claims processor. So that will take 

time. But maybe we can—and I don’t really know how much overtime they are working, if they are working overtime. 

But I think that they got to do these claims more accurately. Because when they come back, the first thing that we see is mistakes. 

Then that claim goes right back to the regional office, and we are 

starting all over again from step one. 

So I think that is the biggest thing, is maybe get the accuracy, 

which the Secretary said that he would like to have a 98 percent 

accuracy. If we get to that number, then I think you will see the 

backlogged claims be reduced. 

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know the percentage of the claims that 

your service officers put together that are adjudicated complete? I 

mean, they may not necessarily get the rating that they are asking 

for, but the percentage of packages that are completed? 

Mr. KOUTZ. I don’t know, but Peter Gaytan, the Executive Director of our Washington office, probably has an answer for you. 

Mr. GAYTAN. Thank you, Commander. 

Mr. Chairman, The American Legion takes very seriously the 

quality of our work and our training of our service officers. Twice 

a year, we put our service officers through rigorous training to ensure that they have the qualifications, knowledge, and skills to not 

only to produce quality, fully developed claims that we submit to 

the VA but also to help reduce the backlog. Because it is going to 

be a team effort to do that. We are going to have to have, as the 

commander said, qualified, well-trained service officers to do this 

work. 

Now, your specific question on the number that The American 

Legion adjudicates— 

The CHAIRMAN. Or percentage. 

Mr. GAYTAN.—I would like to defer to our VA&R Director, Verna 

Jones, who handles that area. 

Ms. JONES. Thank you. 

Mr. Chairman, we actually received a report from the VA just 

last week, and I can tell you the number of claims. The American 

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Legion handles 244,000 claims, annual. That is our number this 

year, 244,000. 

Now, I am not sure of the exact percentage, but the number is 

244,000 for The American Legion nationally. 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay. If you would, just for the record, if you 

could let us know just the percentage. 

[THE ATTACHMENT APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX]

The CHAIRMAN. I am trying to get a handle, you know, on how 

many claims are being done by the veterans themselves, obviously 

using the veterans service officer. You know, the assumption, from 

my standpoint, was it would be better to go through a service officer in order to file your claim, but I just—I am interested in knowing, for no other reason than I think folks up here on the dais 

would like to hear it. 

Mr. Michaud, do you have a question? 

Mr. MICHAUD. Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I also would like to thank Senator Boozman for his very kind and 

generous remarks. I am very glad to see that you haven’t forgotten 

the House that you came from and you are willing to come back 

over here on the House side. And I really enjoyed working with you 

and continue to work with you. 

Once again, I would like to thank you for coming here today to 

put forward your ideas of what The American Legion would like to 

see Congress do and some of the concerns that you currently have 

out there. And The American Legion is a strong advocate for our 

veterans and for all those who have served, and that is known 

throughout the halls of Congress. 

I want to take this opportunity, however, today to discuss an 

issue that is really important to our troops and for our country. We 

all remember the outrage this summer when it was discovered that 

our Olympic athletes were wearing uniforms made in China. Well, 

I think we should be as equally outraged by the fact that our 

troops are not wearing 100-percent-American-made uniforms. Our 

soldiers put their lives on the line for us. They should fight in uniforms that they can trust, uniforms made in the USA. 

Next week, I will be going to a funeral for a soldier that died 

over in Afghanistan in Maine. 

When you talk about uniforms made in the USA, I read an article—and I left you a copy; I know you haven’t had a chance to read 

it yet. But I am not the only person who is upset with what is happening with our military today. I was reading an article in the Air 

Force Times where it says, ‘‘Master sergeant says ’no’ to Chinesemade boots.’’ 

He was issued a pair of Chinese-made boots. He made a stink 

about it. He ultimately did get American-made boots. He was sent 

to Afghanistan, and over in Afghanistan he was given a uniform, 

the Army Operation Enduring Freedom camouflage uniform. He 

asked for a pair of required boots, the tan boots. Well, guess what? 

He was issued a pair of Chinese-made boots once again. 

In the article, you will see where the master sergeant, at the 

end—and I would like to quote it, what the master sergeant said. 

And I quote, ‘‘This is about patriotism. This is about following the 

Berry amendment set forth over 60 years ago. This is about AmerVACREP180 with DISTILLER

17 

ican soldiers wearing our country’s uniforms made by Americans.’’ 

And I couldn’t agree more with the master sergeant. 

At a time when our Nation is divided and the discourse in Washington, D.C., is extremely negative, it seems to me, with the outrage for our athletes wearing Chinese-made uniforms, that this is 

one issue we all can agree on. Even both candidates who are running for President of the United States are criticizing one another 

about not being tough on China. And both campaigns are talking 

about making sure more things are stamped with ‘‘Made in the 

USA.’’ 

Well, there is a way we can get tough on China: increase things 

made in the USA and to make sure that our American soldiers are 

not treated as second-class citizens, that they have the best. That 

is what they are fighting for, this country, United States of America. 

And I find it extremely concerning because this issue is not an 

issue that needs Congress to act, it is not an issue that we need 

a regulatory agency to address; it is an issue that is already the 

law. 

So my question to you is, what is the American Legion’s position? 

Do you believe that our soldiers that are putting their lives on the 

line each and every day for us, should they be wearing clothing 

made in the United States of America? 

Mr. KOUTZ. The answer is yes. The American Legion believes 

that— 

[Applause.] 

Mr. KOUTZ. I am sure The American Legion and the American 

people believe that all equipment should be made in the United 

States of America. 

And there you go again; we are talking about jobs. Put the Americans to work making these boots. That will provide jobs here at 

home. 

Mr. MICHAUD. Well, I want to thank you very much, National 

Commander. 

And just for the record, I know Congressman Duncan Hunter, 

who is a Republican colleague from California, he and I are writing 

a letter—we encourage our colleagues to sign that letter—to the 

administration, requiring them to comply with the intent of the 

law. And it is unfortunate we have to do that. And hopefully we 

will see some changes in that regard. 

Thank you very much. I yield back the balance of my time. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Begich? 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much. 

Just a couple questions, but I wanted to mention also, in 

March—for Jimmy, this is for you also—that we are going to hold 

a jobs fair for veterans. 

And it is an interesting thing. When you do these jobs fairs, 

there is an incredible amount of folks that come out. And I just met 

this morning—why I was late here was I was meeting with 

franchisors, a few franchise businesses, restaurants, so forth. They 

have a new initiative to help veterans get into that business. And 

so we are very excited about what is happening with the smallbusiness community regarding our veterans. 

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Let me, if I can—Ms. Jones, you mentioned 244,000, give or take, 

claims you have processed. Do you keep track of the acceptance 

rate? And what I mean by that is, you submit them; how often do 

they, kind of, make it through the system successfully? What is 

that percentage? 

Ms. JONES. Thank you, sir. 

Because it takes so long for those claims to travel through the 

system, it is almost impossible for us to keep an accurate accounting of how many of them are awarded, how many of them denied. 

But I will tell you that at our Board of Veterans’ Appeals we keep 

track of the amount of claims that are overturned. And right now 

we are at 76.6 percent of claims that have been adjudicated in 

error and overturned by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. 

Senator BEGICH. Uh-huh. 

Ms. JONES. The VA puts out an annual report that breaks down 

how many claims they adjudicate every year and how many of 

them have been awarded, how many of them have been denied. But 

they don’t break them down by POA, or by the power of attorney, 

for each veterans service organization. 

Senator BEGICH. It would be an interesting—maybe it is something we can ask the VA to do on a regular basis. Because there 

would be good—because my bet is your officers are doing a great 

job. And that is my bet. And, you know, if it is working so successfully, maybe there is an opportunity to streamline it even more. So 

if you are already having a very high success rate in acceptance of 

these claims, then maybe there is a way to look at the process and 

slim it down a little bit on the VA side. 

Because your rate of success and doing the claims as successfully 

as you are doing them should be a benefit to you all and also, obviously, the veterans who are receiving that benefit. So maybe there 

is a little opportunity there if we measure the success rates there. 

Ms. JONES. Absolutely, sir. As a matter of fact, we asked the VA 

for those numbers just yesterday. 

Senator BEGICH. Oh, good. 

Ms. JONES. We expect to receive them shortly, and we will make 

sure that you get a copy of that. 

Senator BEGICH. Will you share with us individually or through 

the two Committees? I think that would be helpful. Because that 

would help us, I think, make the case of why your services officers 

can process these very successfully. 

And, therefore, maybe there is—again, I know the VA duplicates 

some of the work once you do all this. It is like, well, maybe we 

can cut some of that out, make it a little faster, and base it on your 

past success rate. 

Ms. JONES. Yes, sir. 

Senator BEGICH. So let’s take a look at that. 

The second thing, I guess, Commander, maybe you can answer 

this or maybe give some comment on it with regards to mental 

health services. And I know it is a big issue. You know, we are 

struggling, I know, in the Armed Services Committee, which I also 

sit on. We have been successful in now getting mental health service providers in the battlefield, at that level. Rather than waiting 

for folks to come home and then try to figure out what to do at that 

point, we are trying to step it up on the front end. 

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And it has been very successful, to some degree. But I know the 

VA is agreeing to hire more providers and services, but the challenge is getting more in the pipeline. So maybe you could give some 

thoughts there. 

I know in the bill we passed earlier I had an amendment, which 

was successful, which ensured that if you use mental health services through telemedicine, which is proving to be very successful, 

no co-pays are required anymore, which I think is a huge step in 

getting better access. 

But do you have some thoughts or innovative ideas of how we 

can get more mental health service providers and veterans access 

to those folks? 

Mr. KOUTZ. Well, hiring more mental health services and providers—with the percentage of these troops coming home with 

traumatic brain injury and PTSD, we know that that is going to 

increase. It is going to increase immensely. So I think we are going 

to have to get to where we can train these people so that we can 

take care of these soldiers when they come home. 

Senator BEGICH. Uh-huh. 

Mr. KOUTZ. I don’t know if the rate—I think, from what I am understanding, the rate is maybe 50 percent, if not more, of these returning soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq that are 

having these two problems with TBI or PTSD. I think the sooner 

that we can get this job done, the better off we are going to be, so 

we can take care of these soldiers when they come home. 

Senator BEGICH. Very good. 

Let me—Mr. Chairman, I have just one quick question. 

I caught most of your testimony because I came in just as you 

were starting. And I just wanted to ask, I didn’t hear you mention 

the GI Bill. And I am just wondering if there are issues, or the success of the GI Bill, or are there things that we should look at to 

improve. 

I know we made one improvement these last couple years, and 

we are getting a lot of use of the GI Bill. But are there any 

thoughts you want to add on that issue while you are here? 

Mr. KOUTZ. The GI Bill is in good shape right now. The only 

thing, I think, that The American Legion is concerned about is that 

we need to keep watching and see how things are going with the 

GI Bill in case we need to improve it. 

Senator BEGICH. Good. 

Mr. KOUTZ. You know, there is always room for improvement in 

the GI Bill. But right now we have no major issues with the GI 

Bill. 

Senator BEGICH. Very good. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Boozman? 

Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Commander, you know, you can have great benefits, but if you 

can’t access them, it is a real problem. And I know that you all 

have been working hard for our rural veterans, you know, trying 

to ensure that the accessibility is there. We have been working 

with Senator Franken and actually passed a bill in Committee that 

would require the Office of Rural Health to put out a specific strategic plan, you know, as to how to do that. 

VACREP180 with DISTILLER

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I know you all have been very, very active in that regard. Can 

you elaborate on some ways that you feel like we can do a better 

job in serving our rural veterans? 

I know, also, you know, there is a move to expand the Census 

Bureau definition. Again, if you could elaborate a little bit, that 

would be helpful. 

Mr. KOUTZ. Well, The American Legion believes that to take care 

of this rural health care problem we have that we need to add more 

clinics, more outpatient clinics, more doctors, so we can take care 

of this. As you heard me, probably, in my opening statement, I said 

some veterans are driving up to 4 hours. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Right. 

Mr. KOUTZ. And then when they get there, they probably can’t 

get in. So the problem is that we don’t have enough staff, doctors, 

the medical equipment. So if we maybe add staff, add more clinics 

to take care of the rural veteran, I think that would be a big asset 

in helping these veterans. 

Senator BOOZMAN. And telemedicine? Vans? 

Mr. KOUTZ. Sure. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Things like that. Very good. Well, we do appreciate your efforts in doing that. 

You know, it is interesting. We are working with Senator 

Franken, you know, and he is a—you know, you have some large 

cities, you know, in his State, but it is a very rural State, you 

know, as is Arkansas and so many of the places that we represent. 

I mentioned the licensing, you know, and how it came up, you 

know, with the police. I know you all are really on the cutting edge 

of that. I think you had, you know, a summit. Can you tell me a 

little bit about how that went and some of the suggestions perhaps 

that you have in that area? 

Mr. KOUTZ. I didn’t understand your question. 

Senator BOOZMAN. The credentialing, making it such that— 

Mr. KOUTZ. Licensure and— 

Senator BOOZMAN. Yes, sir. 

Mr. KOUTZ. Well, and just like the Veterans Skills to Jobs Act, 

you know, as I said in my statement, that if you are a Humvee 

driver over in Iraq or Afghanistan, dodging IEDs and land mines, 

then when you come home, you ought able to be a truck driver. Or 

if you are a medic, you ought to be able to come home and not have 

to go through step one of being an EMT in civilian life. 

So I think, you know, that credentialing and—I think you are 

working in the right direction and we are working in the right direction to make this better for our veterans and our 

servicemembers when they come home. 

Senator BOOZMAN. The Congressman, the Chairman, you know, 

mentioned what is on all of our minds, you know, the backlog and 

the stuff, how can we be helpful. Can you describe in a little bit 

more detail the Claims Coach mobile phone—the app, you know, 

what that is going to be about, how that is going to be helpful? 

Mr. KOUTZ. I would let Verna from VA&R, Verna Jones, answer 

that question. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Sure. 

Ms. JONES. Thank you. 

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Our Claims Coach mobile app is set up to help veterans 

download this application on their mobile phones that will direct 

them to a veterans service officer. It will help the veteran sort out 

what they need to gather—information, documents, what documents they need to bring in. And it will even help them put in 

their ZIP code and determine which veterans service officer is closest to them to help them with that. 

So the mobile app is going to set the veteran up so that when 

they walk into the veterans service officer’s office, they are more 

able to have a fully developed claim, which we know is supposed 

to go through the system more quickly. So we are excited about the 

mobile claim app and hope that more veterans will download that 

claim app to help them get ready to file their claim. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Yeah. Very good. That is excellent. I think 

that will be very, very helpful. 

Just one last thing, Commander. Can you elaborate on your comment regarding the VA health care system, that growing numbers 

of female veterans in a system that has traditionally catered to 

men, must adapt to meet the unique needs of today’s veterans population, you know, with us having so many more females in the 

military? 

And, I guess, if you could elaborate on that and really tell us how 

you feel like the Department can improve the delivery of care and 

benefits to an increasing number. Not only do we have a large 

number now, but we have an increasing number of female veterans 

in need of VA services. 

Mr. KOUTZ. Well, with the 20 percent of our military force being 

females nowadays, we believe that we must have better medical 

care; we must get the doctors that can take care of our female veterans in these VA clinics. 

You know, from what our understanding is on a survey that we 

took, there was only 25 percent of the female veterans that felt 

that the VA medical system was better than going to their own. So 

I think that we need to just maybe do a better job in taking care 

of our females. 

What I have been trying to do is trying to get a woman veterans 

coordinator in every department in The American Legion. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Very good. 

Mr. KOUTZ. And once we get all that Committee together—that 

I am hoping that The American Legion will get these female coordinators together, and then they can tell us the needs that they need 

to have, and then we can relay it to you. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Very good. Thank you, Commander. 

Mr. Chairman? 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. 

You were talking about the GI Bill and some of the education 

benefits. One of the things that the Legion can help us with, as we 

have just changed into a new fiscal year, and that is with the 

VRAP program, or the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program. I 

think we did 45,000—we, Department of Veterans Affairs, 45,000— 

or Labor—45,000 applications approved. There were many that 

were in the queue that were waiting. 

We actually authorized 99,000 total. As of today, the numbers 

that I have, there are 63,844 applications, of which 50,000 of them 

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were approved. So there is still, you know, roughly, another 36,000 

folks out there that can access these benefits for retraining. 

So I would like to ask for your help, with the Legion’s help, in 

getting the word out to those individuals. You know, we focus a lot 

on the younger returning veterans, but, obviously, this is focused 

on 35- to 60-year-old folks, to get them retrained to come into the 

workforce. 

And so I just bring that to your attention. You had talked about 

the VOW to Hire Heros Act. That was part of it. So we would like 

to ask for your assistance with getting the word out on that. 

Also, we were talking about mental health. I would like to ask 

a question. And anytime you talk about going outside the norm, we 

get some visceral responses. But we had a roundtable discussion 

with some of the veterans service organizations recently here, in 

talking about mental health and how do we get the patient to be 

able to get to the provider as quickly as possible. And it takes VA 

so long to hire somebody, especially somebody that is accredited 

with some type of a medical degree, whether it is a nurse or a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, optometrist—whatever it may be. 

And there has been some discussion about opening TRICARE, to 

give the option for folks to either stay in the traditional VA track 

or go into the TRICARE system, still being managed—their care 

being managed by VA. We could double the amount of providers 

overnight if we were able to do something. 

Does the Legion have a position? Are you willing to look at these 

options to help solve what literally is a crisis in this country? Our 

mental health backlog out there is something not to be proud of. 

We have to provide it quickly to those that are in need, wherever 

they may be. And some of them are in rural areas, and it is very 

difficult. And it is very difficult to do a lot of it via telehealth, 

which—Senator Begich has talked about telehealth and the great 

success, but mental health may be somewhat different, especially 

in the very, very beginning. 

So I would like to ask what the Legion’s position, if any, on exploring the opportunity. 

Mr. KOUTZ. Well, just let me say a few words before I turn it 

over to our Executive Director, Peter Gaytan. 

But we understand that is a big issue. We understand there are 

problems there, and we understand that we are going to have to 

train the people to take care of these mental health—you know, a 

lot of these mental health people probably don’t even want to come 

to us. They want to stay in the back. But I think, with your help 

and our help, that maybe we can go to those people and get them 

out and come and get the help they need. 

So, with that, I will turn it over to Peter, our Executive Director. 

Mr. GAYTAN. Thank you, Mr. Commander. 

And that is a real issue, what you are bringing up, beginning 

with the access to mental health. The access to mental health right 

now is efficient. You mentioned telehealth. The VA is utilizing 

other resources, like telehealth. And it is going to be a growing 

problem, in terms of mental health care. 

But specifically with the suggestion of opening up TRICARE and 

utilizing TRICARE, The American Legion was at that roundtable, 

and we appreciate the invitation. It is something we are taking 

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under consideration to consider. We would like to see the reality 

of that being in effect. How much will it improve our veterans’ access to mental health care that they need? 

Because when we are looking at the new demographics of returning veterans—and we have talked about rural health care, and The 

American Legion published a report earlier this year focusing on 

rural health care. We in this Nation are at a time where we are 

relying more and more on our Guard and Reserve servicemembers, 

not only to serve, but to serve in combat zones. They are returning 

to rural areas. They are returning to areas that aren’t supported 

with military treatment facilities, areas that may not have a VA 

facility close by. 

And they are not just coming back to the support of a military 

base and the unit that they know; they are thrown back into the 

civilian world. And that time between the pressure of combat to the 

time they are walking down Main Street, USA, is short. 

So those individuals are the ones we need to capture and utilize 

new ideas like TRICARE, telehealth, even contracting out specialized mental health care when appropriate. Not a blanket statement 

that we can allow our veterans to go down the street, but in specific areas, in specific cases where we know that we can reach that 

veteran in a timely manner to protect them and hopefully reduce 

the suicide rates, those are the things we need to look at. 

So I think the TRICARE discussion—and I appreciate that opportunity—that TRICARE discussion is just part of a larger equation of how can we develop as many options as possible to reach 

these returning veterans who have these very dire mental health 

care needs. 

And, yes, VA is getting overwhelmed. And, yes, VA does take a 

long time to hire, train, and utilize new employees. And this is an 

area that we need to concentrate on. And I think—I can tell you 

that the TRICARE issue brought up—The American Legion is 

studying, considering, and talking to you and your staff to better 

understand those options. 

But I think you and we have an obligation to realize how much 

that TRICARE opportunity will help the situation and what else 

needs to be added to that, so we can improve mental health care 

access and reduce the effects that our combat troops are coming 

back and dealing with. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Mr. Michaud? 

Mr. MICHAUD. Thank you. Don’t want to get too comfortable here 

with this gavel here next to me. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. MICHAUD. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I would like to actually follow-up on that same line of thinking. 

When you look at a State like Maine, we are a very rural State, 

and access is an extremely important issue. And when you look at 

what we are seeing in the military today, with the increase in suicide rates, as well as within our veterans population, our female 

veterans—I just saw a movie, documentary just the other day, ‘‘The 

Invisible War,’’ with sexual assaults and some of the problems that 

our female veterans have. So access is extremely important. 

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First of all, I would like to thank The American Legion once 

again for putting out ‘‘A System Worth Saving.’’ I think that is definitely a very good document that I enjoy reading every year because it really highlights some of the issues out there in the VA 

system. 

Following on the same train of thought that Chairman Miller 

brought up, when you look at access, whether it is TRICARE, 

whether it is utilizing our federally qualified health care clinics, I 

can understand some of the concerns that the veterans might have. 

And I, too, do not want the VA just being an insurance agency 

where, you know, VA will pay for services outside because I think 

there is a very important role for the VA to play. 

But, also, I believe that we, and you, we have to do everything 

that we can to make sure that our veterans get the health care 

that they need when they need it. And when you look at the fact 

that the mental health—Secretary Shinseki has agreed to hire 

1,900 mental health and associated workers. With that, the problem being there are already 1,500 vacancies that he has had, some 

over a year, in the mental health area. 

So I am very glad that you are looking at the TRICARE system, 

and I think it is very important that we look at everything that we 

have to, to make sure they get the care that they need. 

But I guess my question would be, in that same vein, is if you 

look at rural States, such as Maine, when you look at uniqueness, 

whether it is Alaska or some States that have a lot of islands, and 

veterans trying to get the health care that they need when they 

need it, would you also be willing to look at, in the rural areas, if 

they do not have TRICARE services in those particular areas, if 

there might be some collaborative effort that we could utilize, federally qualified health care clinics or rural hospitals, to get those 

types of services? 

And, once again, I am not advocating that the VA sends everything out, because I don’t think they should. But I do think that 

there have to be some medium ways where we can look at the veterans as getting the care that they need, at the same time making 

sure that the VA medical facilities are still a primary focus for our 

veterans. 

Would you want to comment on that? 

Mr. KOUTZ. Well, we are willing to probably work with you on 

anything to be sure that we get our veterans taken care of. The 

main thing is that they get the proper health care, and especially 

the mental health area, getting veterans taken care of. Because, 

you know, as you talked about the suicide rate, that is something 

that we have to be sure that we get that nearly stopped. There is 

way too much suicide going on, and it is not just the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. There are still Vietnam veterans that are 

doing it every day. 

I don’t know what the answer is, but I wish there was an answer 

that we could take care of these servicemembers that are doing 

this, and the veterans. But, yes, we are willing to work any way 

we can to take care of it. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Begich? 

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Senator BEGICH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a couple 

quick more questions. And I apologize, I may have to depart here. 

But I want to follow up on the mental health issue. 

And I know, as just mentioned, the amount of mental health providers the VA is moving forward into hiring. The challenge is their 

process of hiring and also making sure there is a supply line. And 

I hate to be so crass about it, but, you know, you have to have 

enough people in the pipeline who want to take those jobs in a very 

huge and growing field nationwide, not just for our veterans. 

So we have a huge challenge. So we may have to be more creative in ensuring that we get mental health providers working for 

the VA, or at least in cooperation with the VA, and also recruiting. 

Because the mental health services that our veterans will need will 

not go away after a few months. They are going to be around for 

many, many, many years, and we need to have those services available. 

So we may want to think about how we incentivize folks to get 

into this field of mental health services who then work for the VA 

and/or work with the VA. And so that is something, maybe a little 

thought that we should think about and maybe some suggestions 

back from you folks. 

The other piece is—and I know the big issue when we dealt with 

utilizing our Indian Health Services, which are actually run by the 

Alaska Native Tribal Consortium, for health care delivery within 

our rural parts of Alaska was the quality of care. The veterans 

want to make sure that, whatever happens, that they get quality 

care. No matter where it is, they want quality care. And the concern was always that the VA offers a certain level, and would these 

other agencies offer less? And that was the big concern. 

What we found, what our veterans have found, and their organizations have found, that our Tribal Consortium delivers equal or 

better care than the VA. But we never take the choice away from 

the veteran. The veteran can go to the VA hospital or the VA clinic 

or utilize this service. And we think it is going to increase capacity. 

So I think there are innovative ways to ensure the core of the 

VA is strong, stable, and growing, but also making sure we utilize 

some other arena that we put and pour in a lot of Federal dollars 

in delivering health care systems in very remote, rural areas. And 

I think that is a great way to ensure that we keep equal or better 

quality for our veterans. 

So I think as you look at this, I think we are all going to be very 

interested in this and your suggestions. 

Along with that, we were able to put into the defense authorization bill language for active military—we need to do the same thing 

for veterans—and that is, if you are a veteran and you are getting, 

say, mental health services here in Washington, D.C., but then you 

go home to Alaska and you want to get that same mental health 

service provider to provide for you, if they are not licensed in Alaska, it is not going to happen. 

In the active military, we have put some language in, in an 

amendment I put in, to ensure that no matter where you go you 

can still access that doctor. Because with mental health services, 

it is a little different than a physician who may be taking care of— 

maybe you had a hand injury or something of that nature. Mental 

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health providers is all about a relationship that you are building 

with the provider. And so it is critical that that veteran continue 

to have that care from whoever they need and want from wherever 

they are in this country. And we have to think about that. 

And so I think there is an effort—we need to do like we did in 

Armed Services with veterans, the same kind of language to ensure 

that, no matter where you live, you can access that. 

Now, I know I will get in trouble with every State, with their 

medical boards and jurisdictions and all that gobbledygook that 

gets in that. But at the end of the day, if we have a veteran who 

is receiving great care, they should get it wherever they move and 

be able to access that person. That is why we did the telehealth 

medicine. No co-pays anymore because we think that is a great access point. 

So I just want to put that on, so as you are thinking about these 

things, please help us here. 

The other one, on the TAP program, as you know, this has been 

a challenge, the TAP program. And I know it is being piloted now, 

a new one, by VETS at the Department of Labor. I don’t know if 

you have any feedback yet from how that is working or not working, and I don’t know if anyone can comment on that. 

But, as you know, when I first came here 4 years ago and they 

told me it was 160 or 170 slides in a PowerPoint, I said, are you 

kidding me? I wouldn’t even pay attention to that, and we read a 

lot of material around here. It was a dysfunctional element to transition our folks back into civilian life. 

So does anyone have any comments on this pilot program that 

is working or at least started now? 

Mr. GAYTAN. We actually had staff attend the first new TAP pilot 

program. 

Senator BEGICH. Yeah. 

Mr. GAYTAN. And it was mixed information that we received. We 

sat in with the briefings. We were impressed with some of the information that was delivered. We were very impressed that it is 

going to be mandatory, which it should have been a long time ago. 

What we are doing is giving our feedback back to the VA— 

Senator BEGICH. Excellent. 

Mr. GAYTAN.—and letting them know where we think not only 

where they can improve in their delivery of information, but where 

they can utilize organizations like The American Legion to express 

to these individuals how we can help them when they transition. 

In fact, The American Legion has taken the initiative to author 

letters to the Secretary and others to ask if we can work together 

in a more collaborative way for you to share—for DoD and VA to 

share the information on these transitioning veterans so we can 

help them before they take the uniform off. And when they come 

back to their rural communities, where The American Legion lives 

and exists, we can provide that much-needed help that they may 

need to access the VA, to understand the VA. 

These troops don’t know the VA. We know the VA because we 

live and breathe it every day. But when they are coming back and 

they are taking the uniform off and they are going in a direction 

in their lives they didn’t consider before, be it injured or leaving 

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the military, The American Legion has a track record since 1919 

of helping those individuals. 

VA and DoD should recognize that and allow us to help at the 

level we can help. And that comes through collaboration, acceptance of what we can do by sharing the information of those 

transitioning veterans. And that is what our organization asks for. 

So with the TAP program, it is a great approach. We are part 

of improving it. In fact, I am going to be going down to Norfolk on 

Friday to promote our claims app. We are actually going to show 

it down at the TAP program in Norfolk. 

Senator BEGICH. Excellent. 

Mr. GAYTAN. So we, as an organization, are part of the process 

to improve the TAP program. So we are grateful that they want to 

look and improve it and they are recognizing it needs to be improved. Just let The American Legion be a big part of that. 

Senator BEGICH. Well, thank you very much for that comment. 

And I think—I hope I speak for the rest of my colleagues here: 

Anything we can do to help make sure you are at the table, especially in the redevelopment of that TAP program, if there is information you are sending that you think is valuable and maybe the 

listening isn’t happening on the other end at times, you have to let 

us know. 

Because we think—what I have always heard is the program, 

originally, was just problematic. I am trying to be polite here. But 

having you involved is critical. Veterans being the test pilot, in essence, on this is critical to make sure this works for veterans, not 

just administrators to process it, but for veterans who need that information. So I thank you for that. 

If I can ask one quick question of Ms. Jones, and then I will 

cease at that point, if that is okay, Mr. Chairman. 

Ms. Jones, I know we talked a little bit about women veterans 

and what is happening. You know, I know it is a critical issue in 

what we are doing. And it is more of almost a wraparound service 

in a lot of ways, from not only the health care necessary, but also 

child care and other things. 

Can you tell me maybe the one or two or three top items that 

women veterans are saying to you that I wish we could do, you 

know, fill in the blank? Can you do that for me? 

Ms. JONES. Yes. Thank you. 

You know, in 2010, The American Legion, as I told you, did a 

women veterans survey. This is the first national women veterans 

survey done since 1985, when the VA conducted a survey. We know 

a lot of things have changed since 1985. 

We held a survey for over 30 days, for about 30 days, and 3,012 

women responded. We asked them 67 questions measuring 10 attributes. And what these women told us is what they want boils 

down to quality health care, affordable medications, and fair and 

equitable compensation, just like our male counterparts. Women 

want to be able to walk into the VA health care system and receive 

the gender-specific health care that we deserve. 

Recently, I was in the hospital, in February. I stayed in the 

emergency room for 15 hours because they didn’t have a room for 

a woman veteran—15 hours, with a life-threatening condition, because they needed to find a room for me. Women veterans deserve 

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to go into the VA health care system, into the hospitals, and get 

treatment as quickly and as efficiently as our male counterparts. 

What women want is it to be understood that there are some 

gender-specific differences, that we want medical professionals to 

understand that women need particular things. Mammography is 

one of them. All of the mammography, or the mammograms, are 

outsourced. So we go out on a fee basis to get our mammograms. 

But it takes a long time to receive the results. What we want is 

for the VA to understand that, while we of gender-specific differences, we still deserve the same timeliness as they give to, in 

some ways, our male counterparts. 

And what we are asking for is not a separate facility to walk 

into; we want to go into the VA health care system, a system that 

is provided for veterans, that is built for veterans, that understands veterans, to include female veterans. But maybe a separate 

waiting room, especially for women veterans who suffer with PTSD 

specifically due to military sexual trauma. 

When the law was reduced, the standards reduced for men for 

PTSD, they left out military sexual trauma. They failed to reduce 

the standards. And women, or largely in part women, providing the 

burden of proof for women on proving their claims for military sexual trauma. We want to be included in that liberalized law for 

PTSD. 

So what they told us is that we want fair treatment, and we 

want the VA to understand that women are a large part of our 

military, and when we come home, we want to be cared for, just 

like our male veterans. 

Senator BEGICH. Very good. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Senator Boozman? 

Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really don’t have 

any more questions. 

I appreciate your comments. And especially coming from somebody, you know, that can relay their personal experiences, it is 

very, very important. And I appreciate you sharing, you know, your 

particular ordeal. And that is certainly something I know that the 

Committee on both sides, you know, are going to be working hard 

to try and remedy. There is simply no excuse for that. 

Thank you, Commander, for being here. And we just appreciate 

your service, appreciate everyone’s service so much, all that you all 

represent. And, again, we look forward to working with you in the 

next Congress. And, again, just appreciate all of your efforts. 

Mr. KOUTZ. We thank you. And just let me say that The American Legion is always here. We want to work with you to do the 

best we can for the veterans of this Nation. 

The CHAIRMAN. I would ask unanimous consent that all Members 

would have 5 legislative days to revise or extend their remarks or 

include any extraneous materials for today’s hearing. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

[THE ATTACHMENT APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX]

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The CHAIRMAN. And let me finish, Commander, again, by saying 

thank you so much for being here, being willing to spend your time 

helping us understand more what The American Legion’s perspective is. 

And I can clearly say that without your help the job would be 

a whole lot harder. So I look forward to working hand-in-hand with 

you as we move down the road together and try and solve the 

issues that are there. 

We look forward to having another VSO roundtable early in the 

next legislative session, which is right around the corner. We know 

we have an election in just a few weeks and a lame-duck session, 

and then we will be returning for the 113th Congress. 

So I appreciate you being here. I appreciate everybody being here 

for your session in Washington. 

And, with that, this hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:35 a.m., the Committees were adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

Prepared Statement of Chairman Jeff Miller 

Good morning. 

Thank you to all who have joined us. I am pleased to be joined by my colleagues 

from both sides of the Capitol, but I regret that changes to the Congressional calendar have prevented many Members from attending today. However, we are live 

streaming this hearing on our Web site at Veterans.House.Gov so that your members and our Members can watch online. We will also have the hearing available 

on our Web site for future reference, so that the public can always come back and 

view these proceedings. 

The American Legion’s annual legislative presentation before these committees 

helps us shape policies and address issues impacting current and former 

servicemembers around the country. We value your input, and today provides us another opportunity to discuss solutions to problems and ensure the effectiveness of 

programs that work well for veterans. 

With a membership of nearly 2.4 million, the American Legion represents veterans from many different conflicts and all regions of the Nation and the world. The 

diversity of your membership is reflected in the numerous activities in which the 

Legion engages, not just in its tireless work here in Washington. Whether through 

working with families and youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, mentoring 

a future servicemember, aiding a veteran with a claim, or providing funeral honors 

for a veteran who has been called home, the Legion’s positive impact is felt every 

day. 

I want to extend a warm welcome this morning to the American Legion’s 2012– 

2013 National Commander, James E. Koutz. We look forward to hearing your testimony, and thank you for sharing your legislative agenda with our committees and 

Congress. 

I also want to welcome every member of the American Legion and its auxiliary 

here today, including a special welcome to the national president of the Auxiliary, 

Ms. Peggy Thomas, of Richmond, Virginia. Thank you, Ms. Thomas, for the fine 

work the Auxiliary does. We must all remember that family members also sacrifice 

in support of our warriors. Thanks to each of you for your service and for traveling 

from across the country to be with us today. 

Like many of you, I am proud to call the Sunshine State home, and would ask 

those who have made the trip from Florida to please stand or wave and be recognized. 

Before we begin, I would just like to say that this week hasn’t been VA’s finest. 

With the release of the report from the Office of the Inspector General on VA conference expenses, it is apparent we have a leadership void at VA. Without strong 

leadership at VA, I am concerned that some of the best ideas we put forth will never 

realize their full potential. VA is facing major obstacles – a backlog that continues 

to grow exponentially, a mental health care crisis, bureaucracy, and now this latest 

report that VA employees went on a spending spree with veterans health care funding. Not only did senior leadership fail to ensure effective planning for this large 

event, they also failed to ensure sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars. 

Disappointed is a polite word to describe my thoughts about this. I am disappointed that it has taken an OIG investigation to bring this lavish spending to 

light. I am disappointed that VA failed to take corrective action earlier. And I am 

disappointed that, in light of these findings, we are hearing the same thing we always hear from VA – ‘‘we will change, we have put safeguards in place, we don’t 

condone this behavior.’’ We’ve heard this tune before, but rarely do we see results 

or any substantive change. VA leadership must always hold itself accountable for 

providing veterans the best care and services possible and never gamble with our 

veterans, especially for some employees to have fun at a conference. That is a gamble VA leaders should never have taken. 

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In addition to ensuring strong, consistent oversight and leadership at VA, another 

ongoing challenge we strive to address is servicemembers’ transition, not just from 

DoD to VA but also to civilian life, including the workplace. Veterans’ unemployment is of great concern to these Committees, and we have made great bipartisan 

strides in improving that situation during the 112th Congress. 

I am glad that VA approved the maximum 45,000 applications for the Veterans 

Retraining Assistance Program for Fiscal Year 2012, an important step toward helping veterans get back into the workforce. The opportunity for 54,000 more veterans 

to participate in this new fiscal year will sustain that momentum. The American 

Legion has been a valuable partner in VRAP’s success, and outreach through your 

Web site and mailings can further the success. 

As we continue working toward job growth in the private sector for veterans, 

there are other issues which also command our attention. 

It was over a year ago that I communicated to this Administration that veterans 

funding should not be affected by sequestration. After receiving conflicting and 

vague responses during that time, we finally have a long-overdue answer that veterans funding will not be touched. 

To the members of these Committees, and I’m sure to many Legionnaires, it is 

puzzling why such a common-sense answer took so long, but it is also the right answer and one I am glad to finally have. 

As your written testimony discerns, significant challenges remain with disability 

claims processing. The backlog of claims continues to grow, despite input, including 

the Legion’s, on ways to improve accuracy within the process without compromising 

veterans’ benefits. 

We all know of the number of servicemembers returning home and what effect 

that will have on VA’s claims backlog. In order for the backlog to be eliminated, it 

first must decrease. However, VA’s own statistics show that the backlog has doubled 

in the past several years – a significant increase, not decrease. Although VA continues to reiterate its goal to eliminate the backlog by 2015 and to process claims 

with 98% accuracy, the agency fails to provide clear benchmarks and timelines as 

to how the backlog will decrease, let alone be completely eliminated. 

The assistance your veterans service officers provide in filing claims is invaluable 

in guiding servicemembers through a difficult and time-consuming process. Helping 

veterans with over one-hundred fifty thousand claims a year is no small feat, and 

the expertise provided helps each veteran receive care and benefits in a timely fashion. Still, we both know that VA must do its own part, and I look forward to continuing to work with your organization and my colleagues in the House and Senate 

to get VA moving in the right direction – more claims processed, in less time, with 

a higher accuracy rate. 

VA also is not treating veterans with the invisible wounds of war quickly enough. 

More than half of veterans seeking mental health care – and these are VA’s statistics – wait an average of 50 days for an initial evaluation. Not treatment, an evaluation. That statistic is a national shame. While VA may talk about processes and 

numbers and percentages, it must remember that its purpose is serving people, veterans who put themselves in harm’s way to protect freedom for those of us back 

home. Veterans should be able to receive help when they seek it, not the next day, 

week, or month. Any delay in providing this treatment is unconscionable. We must 

look at ways to expand VA’s mental health care capacity. This is a matter of life 

and death. So, I am open to ideas on how we can save 18 veterans a day, and I 

look forward to having a productive discussion on this issue today. 

The mandatory Transition Assistance Program participation enacted under the bipartisan VOW to Hire Heroes Act is another way we can reach out to individual 

servicemembers at a personal level. So, too, is the outreach that the American Legion provides, both through its national efforts here in Washington as well as 

through the nearly fourteen thousand American Legion posts throughout the world. 

You have my assurance that our committees will continue to work together with 

you to provide and improve services for our veterans. We have seen some major accomplishments together, but we all know there is much more to be done, and I look 

forward to even greater achievements for our veterans. 

Commander, thank you- not just for being here today but for everything you do 

and your organization does. The American Legion makes a positive difference every 

day in the lives of many, and I know it will continue to do so for many years to 

come. 

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32 

Prepared Statement of Hon. Michael Michaud 

I’d like to welcome the newly elected National Commander of The American Legion, James E. Koutz. 

I would also like to welcome the National President of The American Legion Auxiliary, Peggy Thomas. Thank you both for your advocacy for veterans and the enduring support of The American Legion’s 2.5 million members. 

Before we start, I would like to extend my complements to your Washington staff 

and to tell you, Commander, what a pleasure it is to work with them. 

I would also like to take a moment to recognize those in the audience who traveled here from Maine. If there are any Legion members here from Maine today, 

would you please raise your hand? 

These Committees are charged with oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the VA’s budget. And while this has been a busy and frustrating year in 

many regards, we must look forward to how we can best serve veterans in 2013. 

To provide the best care and services, we need to understand how the veteran 

population is growing, changing and located geographically. 

In 2011, we had just over 22 million veterans with 34 million dependents and we 

had 540,000 survivors of deceased veterans receiving compensation. 

I was pleased to see that the VA’s budget for 2013 reflected many of these 

changes. But they must do better outreach to eligible veterans and dependents to 

make sure they all get the services and compensation they have earned. 

The VA 2013, overall budget is $140 billion, an increase from the 2012 request. 

And because of the hard work of many individuals in this room, advance appropriations continue to help the VA with long-term planning. 

With advance appropriations we ensure sufficient, timely and predictable funding 

for veterans’ health care. 

But advance appropriations only works when we work together to pass year-long 

appropriations bills. Short term continuing resolutions are not helpful for planning 

purposes and hurt the ability of the VA to provide health care services. 

Although Congress may disagree on a lot of things, I hope we can always agree 

that providing strong appropriations for the VA is a non-partisan effort that must 

be done each year. 

I was troubled by a July report from CBS news that found suicide rates among 

soldiers is up 80 percent. 

Our veterans are returning from war with invisible wounds that need treatment 

but are discouraged from seeking this care for a variety of reasons. As a Nation, 

we can do better – we have to get this right. 

To The American Legion, I ask for your help on this issue. As you lobby the Committee on Veterans Affairs, I hope you also lobby the Armed Services Committee for 

early intervention. 

Care must begin when the person is on active duty. We must do more to help our 

veterans go on to live long and productive lives. 

One of our efforts has been to make it easier for veterans to get credit for their 

military training. 

Service members are experienced in many career fields that can be as varied: 

• as electronics, 

• medicine, 

• avionics, 

• mechanical and 

• air traffic control. 

These individuals have received first class training and experience, but unfortunately this top notch training rarely leads to a similar civilian career. 

More must be done on the state and Federal level to ensure that these skills 

translate into the civilian world. 

If a servicemember can get credit for military training then each State will be better served by capturing this talent and increasing productivity. 

With the American Legion’s extensive network of state departments, your organization will be critical in working with us to move this issue forward at the state 

level. 

On the Federal level, we must also be looking at how we help servicemembers 

transition back into civilian life. The Department of Defense and the Department 

of Labor must ensure that their employment and transition assistance programs are 

providing valuable and practical skills. 

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We must solve the disability claims problem at the VA. This has been an ongoing 

problem now for many, many years. 

If the current system is not working, we need to be honest with ourselves, admit 

the failure, and look for new solutions. 

If more money and more people have not solved the problem, we should look to 

other models to find improvements that could be beneficial for the VA. 

And it is not enough to process claims faster. We need to have an equal focus on 

accuracy so our veterans get the correct benefits the first time around and so that 

the VA doesn’t end up doing twice the work because of appeals. 

We all must continue to work together to provide our veterans with the quality 

health care and benefits that they require, and that they have earned. 

I thank you all for being here today, and Commander, I look forward to hearing 

the Views and Estimates of The American Legion. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Senator John Boozman 

Thank Commander James Koutz 

Thank the National Commander of the Auxiliary, Peggy Thomas 

Recognize the Arkansas members in attendance 

• State Commander Mary Erdman. 

• RD Kinsey 

• Steve Gray 

Thank all members in attendance for coming to Washington on behalf of our Nation’s veterans 

This is a very critical time for our nation’s veterans, so it is more important than 

ever for the Legion, and all of our veterans to be engaged with their representatives 

on the issues that are affecting them. I also appreciate the Commander’s testimony 

and look forward to working with them on many of their higher level goals that include economic opportunity for veterans, improving veterans’ healthcare and ending 

veterans homelessness, addressing looming budget cuts that could impact veterans 

and military families, and improving care for mental health care and treating TBI 

for our returning veterans. 

All Americans are concerned about employment security, but our veterans in particular have been struggling to find long-term meaningful employment and careers. 

While we are going through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression, Republicans and Democrats alike should put politics aside and work together 

to find common ground in providing our veterans with the tools they need to accomplish this goal. I agree with the Legion testimony that the ‘‘Vow to Hire Heroes Act’’ 

and the ‘‘Veterans Skills to Jobs Act’’ are steps in the right direction, and the House 

and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee leadership and their staff deserve credit for 

their bi-partisan work in achieving those accomplishments. Yet there is more that 

we can do in a non-partisan manner, and even in these difficult times we can pay 

for those efforts without mortgaging the futures of our children and grandchildren 

by borrowing money to pay for it from countries like China. We owe this much to 

our veterans to honor their service and sacrifice. 

That being said, the failure of last year’s Joint Deficit Committee has left us with 

looming arbitrary cuts to our National Defense, as well cuts to programs that support veterans and their families. The Constitution is clear that Congress’s primary 

obligation is to defend our nation. I am pleased that the House has passed legislation to avoid these impending cuts to national security and to provide certainty to 

our military families. The administration could also do more to clarify that sequestration will not hit veterans’ programs or negatively impact the delivery of veterans’ 

benefits. Unlike other government programs, we must always keep in mind that veterans’ benefits and programs are part of a sacred contract that guarantees these 

benefits for our veterans and their families in return for their selfless commitment 

and immeasurable sacrifice to protect this nation and its ideals. 

We must make it perfectly clear that we cannot, and will not, balance the budget 

and solve our fiscal problems on the backs of our men and women in uniform and 

their families! 

We also need to make sure that the VA has the tools, policies, and resources to 

see that our veterans are receiving their benefits, accurately determined, in a timely 

manner that provides our military families with the treatment and certainty they 

need to thrive and succeed. The current backlog of claims at the VA is a black-eye 

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on this nation, and doesn’t do justice to our appreciation for our veterans and their 

sacrifice. We are working to make progress on all fronts. On September 12th, the 

Senate Veterans Committee unanimously passed bi-partisan legislation to improve 

mental health care and suicide prevention for our veterans, and I appreciate Chairwoman Murray and Ranking Member Burr for their leadership and hard work on 

that legislation. This is particularly important for our veterans in rural areas, and 

I appreciate them for including language from legislation that I have been working 

on with Senator Franken to improve the VA’s Office of Rural Health to form a more 

strategic plan for improving access and quality of health care for veterans in rural 

areas. Also included in that bill was a provision that reflected work that Senator 

Begich and I have been doing to ensure that female veterans fleeing domestic violence have access to Veterans’ Homeless services. I appreciate the inclusion of this 

provision as well, and appreciate the Legion’s work to serve as a voice for the increasing number of female veterans who will be relying on the VA for a variety of 

issues when they return from the battlefield. We’re also working on bipartisan legislation to improve the Transition Assistance Program and improve other VA programs, and I am confident that Chairman Miller, Chairwoman Murray, Ranking 

Member Burr, and all members of Congress are committed to working together in 

a non-partisan manner to ensure that we uphold all of the promises that have been 

made to our servicemembers and their families. 

I am very concerned about some of the reports we are receiving about military 

voter registration and participation. Recent Comments from General Dempsey, coupled with the failure of this administration and DoD to comply with the legal requirements of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which requires 

on-base voter registration assistance at every military installation, are very concerning to me. Then-General George Washington is noted for saying ‘‘When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen’’ and we must do everything in 

our power to ensure that every servicemember is encouraged, and has the ability, 

to exercise our most fundamental civic duty that they have risked their lives to defend. With the leadership of Senator Cornyn, 21 of my Senate colleagues and I sent 

a letter on September 20th to General Dempsey expressing these concerns, and we 

are eager to receive a response. 

Finally, the Senate should pass legislation to ensure that our disabled veterans 

receive a COLA, and ensure that COLA is not delayed. The House passed their legislation to address this issue back on July 9th. This is not something that should 

be left for the last minute to be garbled up with a bunch of other bills in the eleventh hour before Senators leave to go campaigning. Reports of a ‘secret hold’ or a 

filibuster on this bill are inaccurate, and it is cleared for passage any time Senator 

Reid wants to bring it up. We should pass this legislation as soon as possible. 

We have never, and should never, use our veterans as political footballs. With so 

much going on that divides us in Congress, doing good work for our veterans is 

something we have always supported in a non-partisan manner. With much work 

to be done, with strong non-partisan leadership from Chairman Miller, Chairwoman 

Murray, and Ranking Member Burr, I am confident that Congress will put the 

needs of our veterans first and we will get done what-needs-to-be-done, to ensure 

that we are upholding all of the promises that have been made to our 

servicemembers, our veterans, and their families. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Commander James E. Koutz 

Messr. Chairmen, Chairwoman and Members of the Committees: 

Issues & Opportunities 

Members of the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans, families and communities nationwide stand at a crossroads of history as the 112th Congress draws to a close. Troops 

are coming home from war, looking for education, jobs and business opportunities 

worthy of their sacrifices. Defense spending has been targeted for drastic and potentially dangerous cuts. Veterans are waiting in greater numbers than ever for decisions about their VA benefits. Families are trying to adjust to new lives with loved 

ones who have come home seriously wounded, psychologically changed, or both. And 

the flag America flew so proudly after 9/11 remains unprotected against those who 

would burn it in hatred of the freedom it symbolizes. 

The American Legion Family, made up of more than 4 million patriotic citizens 

of this nation, looks to Washington for leadership during this critical period. The 

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pect Washington to act without guidance from the stakeholders of our government’s 

decisions. 

The following pages contain that guidance. Included are top issues identified by 

The American Legion. Thoughtful, effective work by lawmakers and the administration can convert these issues into opportunities, not just for veterans and the military community but for the entire nation. 

Protect Defense and VA from Sequestration 

Where we are 

Last year’s failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction means that 

automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, are scheduled to take effect in 

January 2013 unless Congress finds other options to reverse the deficit. Cuts in 

military spending are projected not only to compromise our national security but 

also increase unemployment by as much as an entire percentage point nationwide. 

The American Legion is deeply concerned about military spending reductions during 

a time of war. The Legion is equally wary about the budget and its potential effect 

on the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Although the administration has stated that VA programs—including health care, 

benefits and education—are exempt from sequestration, The American Legion questions the integrity of such promises when so-called ‘‘federal administrative expenses’’ have already been targeted. As recently as July, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki 

was unable to clearly define ‘‘administrative expenses,’’ leaving the door open to interpretation and possible crippling cuts in VA’s ability to serve our nation’s veterans. Hundreds of thousands of men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan 

now rely on VA for health care. They enter our nation’s VA medical centers, clinics 

and nursing homes at a time when veterans of previous wars are reaching advanced 

ages, in need of VA’s services. These are services they earned, deserve and were 

promised. No veteran should have to wait weeks for appointments nor travel hundreds of miles to see providers. Female veterans should have health-care services 

that meet their needs. Cities such as Orlando, Denver and New Orleans should not 

have to wait years for the construction of long-overdue hospitals. 

The pressure on VA will only mount as defense budget cuts drive down force sizes 

and more of our military personnel re-enter civilian life. DoD and VA must work 

in harmony to ease the transition and help the influx of new veterans get the help 

they need, including timely benefits, access to high-quality health care and careers 

that match their skills. 

Many key veterans programs require coordination with government departments 

such as Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, which enjoy no protection of 

any kind from sequestration. Veterans programs within those departments must be 

protected if they are to succeed. 

Where we want to be 

The American Legion wants Congress to ensure that national security and veterans programs in VA and other departments are not sacrificed in the budget battle. 

Previous legislation, such as the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

Act of 1985 and the Statutory Pay as you Go Act of 2010, included language specifically protecting VA programs from cuts. As the budget deficit widens, similar and 

specific protections are necessary today. 

What we are doing 

Last year, a special American Legion task force met with members of the Joint 

Select Committee on Deficit Reduction – the so-called ‘‘supercommittee’’ – as it deliberated in futility over the ailing federal budget. The American Legion is aggressively pursuing a compromise to ensure our nation’s ability to protect itself from 

harm, provide decent quality of life for members of our armed forces and maintain 

the necessary level of care for those veterans who have answered the country’s call 

in its times of need. The Legion understands the importance of sound fiscal management, but neither the soldier nor the veteran caused the deficit, and neither should 

be required to shoulder an unfair portion of its reduction. 

Reverse the VA Claims Backlog 

Where we are 

When speaking to The American Legion National Convention in August 2010, VA 

Secretary Eric Shinseki declared VA would ‘‘break the back of the backlog by 2015’’ 

by committing to 98 percent accuracy, with no claim pending longer than 125 days. 

Over the past two years, VA has gone backward, not forward, in both of these key 

areas. 

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According to VA’s own figures, over 65 percent of veterans with disability benefits 

claims have been waiting longer than 125 days for them to be processed. In contrast, when Secretary Shinseki made his promise, only 37.1 percent of claims had 

been pending longer than 125 days. The American Legion has found through its 

field research that the problem varies greatly by regional office. While some regional 

offices may have an average rate of 76 days per claim, others take 336 days—a troubling inconsistency. 

Unfortunately, accuracy is also a problem, according to Legion site visits and field 

research. VA has been reluctant to publicly post accuracy figures in its Monday 

Morning Workload reports, but VA’s own STAR reports for accuracy place the rate 

in the mid 80s. The American Legion’s Regional Office Action Review (ROAR) team 

typically finds an even higher error rate, sometimes up to two thirds of all claims 

reviewed. 

VA is hopeful that the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) will eliminate many of the woes that have led to the backlog, but electronic solutions are not 

a magic bullet. Without real reform for a culture of work that places higher priority 

on raw speed than accuracy, VA will continue to struggle, no matter the tools used 

to process claims. 

Where we want to be 

While VA’s stated goals of ‘‘no claim pending longer than 125 days’’ and 98-percent accuracy are admirable, many veterans would settle for their claims being initially processed correctly in a timely manner. The American Legion draws on the 

extensive experience of its service officers nationwide who work within the claimsbenefits system every day; they are best qualified to define a new plan for fixing 

inadequacies of the existing system to adjudicate veterans’ claims. 

The American Legion has long argued that VA’s focus on quantity over quality 

is one of the largest contributing factors to the claims backlog. If VA employees receive the same credit for work, whether it is done properly or improperly, there is 

little incentive to take the time to process a claim correctly. When a claim is processed in error, a veteran must appeal the decision to receive benefits, and then wait 

for an appeals process that may take months to resolve and possibly years for delivery of the benefit. 

The American Legion believes VA must develop a processing model that puts as 

much emphasis on accuracy as it does on the raw number of claims completed. Nowhere does VA publicly post its accuracy figures. America’s veterans need to have 

confidence in the work done by VA, and that requires transparency. 

The VBMS system could allow VA to develop more effective means of processing 

claims, such as the ability to separate single issues that are ready to rate, starting 

a flow of relief to veterans while more complex medical issues are considered. 

Veterans service organizations such as The American Legion are important collaborators with VA in developing solutions to claims-system problems. Only with 

open lanes of communication, in which the input of VSOs is received, acknowledged 

and utilized in long-term planning, will the VA–VSO partnership be able to deliver 

a system that serves needs quickly and accurately. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion’s network of more than 2,500 accredited service officers 

across the nation provides free assistance to veterans seeking their benefits. Training of these service officers is a top priority; knowledge of the VA system is essential 

to successfully navigating the complicated claims process. The American Legion Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission conducts annual training schools in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., bringing in service officers from across the country 

for multi-day intensive education sessions. 

Every year, American Legion service officers assist veterans on more than 850,000 

benefits claims and an additional 150,000 death benefits claims, at no cost to the 

veteran. American Legion service officers help secure more than $885 million in 

earned compensation and pension benefits a year for veterans, and more than $110 

million in survivor benefits for servicemembers’ widows and widowers. 

Improve Medical Transition Process 

Where we are 

Problems with the processing out of active-duty military personnel continue since 

the closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, in 2010, when care 

for seriously injured patients was moved to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. These problems have been identified at Warrior Transition Unit facilities nationwide, as well. 

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As of January 2012, approximately 24,000 servicemembers were participating in 

the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) across all branches of service, 

including National Guard and reserve units. 

Where we want to be 

The American Legion urges improvements in the medical transition process, including: 

• Better oversight to ensure DoD is adhering to the VA rating system, rather 

than simply using it as a guideline. • More uniform implementation of the system across all services and all geographic regions. • More clear and concise explanations of the IDES systems for servicemembers 

and their families, along with implementation of a single point of contact for 

families. • Better use of the Physical Evaluation Board Liaisons, with better-defined responsibilities and scope for those employees. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion’s Medical Evaluation Board/Physical Evaluation Board coordinator is responsible for assisting servicemembers at Washington, D.C., military installations, and has representatives on site at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Joint 

Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., under the supervision of the MEB/PEB coordinator. 

These representatives act as service officers for transitioning servicemembers with 

medical or physical conditions. 

Treat All Veterans Exposed to Hazardous Chemicals 

Where we are 

The American Legion applauds VA for processing nearly 230,000 claims through 

June 2012 that involved the three newest Agent Orange-related conditions. The recent expansion of conditions presumed to be linked to Agent Orange exposure certainly created additional work for VA, which already faces a heavy claims backlog, 

but VA Secretary Eric Shinseki argued correctly that it was the right thing to do. 

Decisions about treating and compensating veterans exposed to deadly toxins must 

never be motivated by whether or not the road will be challenging or costly, but 

whether or not the veteran has suffered and requires treatment because of the exposure. The American Legion supports the establishment of a unified policy to deal with 

the consequences of exposure to hazardous materials in the military. 

Where we want to be 

The American Legion urges continued study of all environmental hazards and 

their effects on servicemembers and veterans. New challenges, such as burn pits, 

must be addressed. Evidence suggests more than 227 metric tons of waste have 

been burned in conjunction with JP–8 jet fuel, releasing countless carcinogens into 

the air that servicemembers have breathed. At the very least, a full accounting of 

exposed veterans through a burn-pit registry or similar means would be an important step forward. 

Agent Orange remains a concern, as thousands of veterans exposed to the toxin 

are left behind when it comes to vital treatment and benefits. The American Legion 

remains committed to ensuring all veterans who served in areas of exposure receive 

recognition and treatment for conditions linked to Agent Orange. Time is running 

out for those veterans not designated as having ‘‘boots on the ground’’ during the 

Vietnam War. Studies indicate ‘‘Blue Water Navy’’ veterans may have experienced 

higher exposure rates to Agent Orange than those who were on the ground, due to 

water desalination systems on the ships; this never has been satisfactorily addressed by VA. The time is now to recognize all Vietnam veterans for their exposure 

to Agent Orange, not just those who had boots on the ground. 

The American Legion urges VA to work with DoD to finally complete the list of 

exposure locations outside Vietnam, including the C–123 K transport aircraft, Thailand and other supporting areas of the Vietnam theater, as well as Korea. 

The American Legion urges continued close scrutiny by the Institute of Medicine 

into Agent Orange, Gulf War illness and other concerns. When problems are identified, VA must act swiftly to ensure current compensation and treatment are based 

on the most recent scientific findings. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion believes in treating the veteran first, funding the necessary 

research, and ensuring that service members are not exposed to chemical hazards 

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again. The American Legion will continue to publicly support, and keep abreast of, 

ongoing DoD and VA research related to environmental hazards and exposures due 

to deployment, such as the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center’s study on 

the effects of deployment as they relate to cardiopulmonary function and the medically unexplained autonomic functions of Gulf War veterans. 

Improve VA Health Care 

Where we are 

The Veterans Health Administration manages the largest integrated health-care 

system in the United States, with 152 medical centers, nearly 1,400 communitybased outpatient clinics, community living centers, Vet Centers and domiciliaries 

serving more than 8 million veterans every year. The American Legion believes 

those veterans should receive the best care possible. 

The needs of veterans continue to evolve, and VHA must ensure it is evolving to 

meet them. The rural veteran population is growing, and options such as telehealth 

medicine and clinical care must expand to better serve that population. Growing 

numbers of female veterans, and a system that has traditionally catered to men 

must adapt to meet the needs of male and female veterans, regardless whether they 

live in urban or rural areas. 

An integrated response to mental health care is necessary, as the rising rates of 

suicide and severe post-traumatic stress disorder are greatly impacting veterans and 

active-duty servicemembers alike. 

Where we want to be 

If veterans are going to receive the best possible care from VA, the system needs 

to continue to adapt to the changing demands of the population it serves. The concerns of rural veterans can be addressed through multiple measures, including expansion of the existing infrastructure through CBOCs and other innovative solutions, improvements in telehealth and telemedicine, improved staffing and enhancements to the travel system. 

Patient concerns and quality of care can be improved by better attention to VA 

strategic planning, concise and clear directives from VHA, improved hiring practices 

and retention, and better tracking of quality by VA on a national level. 

VHA’s budget must be protected in order to ensure improved quality. Critical 

need areas such as construction and ongoing maintenance are already facing reductions, which will prove disastrous and more costly to VA in the long run. The American Legion supports sound investment in the infrastructure of VA to best meet the 

needs of a changing veteran population. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion’s System Worth Saving Task Force regularly travels across 

the country to evaluate VA medical facilities and ensure they are meeting the needs 

of veterans. This past year, the task force focused on rural health care and patient 

satisfaction. 

From November 2011 to February 2012, the task force conducted 25 site visits to 

VA medical facilities and coordinated with VA’s Office for Rural Health VA’s Veteran Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) 1, 15, 18 and 19; VISN Rural Health consultants; Project Access Received Closer to Home (ARCH); and VA community-based 

outpatient clinics. 

The American Legion System Worth Saving Task Force emerged from its field 

work with several concerns, including: 

VA’s definition of ‘‘rural veteran’’ is derived from the U.S. Census Bureau and 

may not accurately reflect the needs of veterans who must travel long distances 

through rural areas to receive health care. The American Legion recommends VA 

expand the U.S. Census Bureau definition to incorporate access and driving times 

to VA facilities. The American Legion also recommends that VA medical centers implement a veterans transportation department that would coordinate all transportation programs for hospitals and their catchment areas. 

Quality of care, as always, was carefully studied by the task force. From April 

2012 to June 2012, the task force conducted site visits at 25 VA medical centers 

and conducted 24 veteran town hall meetings in American Legion posts near the 

VAMCs to assess patient satisfaction and quality of care. The task force examined 

three categories: patient safety, clinical performance, and access and satisfaction. 

Although VA has made many improvements in care, many challenges remain, including recruitment and performance of staff, personal and electronic communication, and delivery of female-specific services. The American Legion will publish a detailed report of the care-quality findings this fall. 

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Better Care for Female Veterans 

Where we are 

A 2011 American Legion study revealed several areas of concern about VA healthcare services for women. Today, VA still struggles to fulfill this need, even though 

women are the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population. Approximately 

1.8 million female veterans make up 8 percent of the total veteran population, yet 

only 6 percent use VA services. 

VA needs to be prepared for a significant increase of younger female veterans as 

those who served in the war on terrorism separate. Approximately 58 percent of 

women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are ages 20 to 29, and they require 

gender-specific expertise and care. Studies suggest post-traumatic stress disorder is 

especially prevalent among women; among veterans who used VA in 2009, 10.2 percent of women and 7.8 percent of men were diagnosed with PTSD. 

The number of female veterans enrolled in the VA system is expected to expand 

by more than 33 percent in the next three years. Currently, 44 percent of Iraq and 

Afghanistan female veterans have enrolled in the VA health-care system. 

What we want 

The American Legion recommends VA conduct a comprehensive study of military 

sexual trauma, in conjunction with the Department of Defense if possible, to develop 

a better plan to counteract the problem. 

VA needs to develop a comprehensive health-care program for female veterans 

that extends beyond reproductive issues. Provider education needs improvement. 

Furthermore, as female veterans are the sole caregivers in some families, services 

and benefits designed to promote independent living for combat-injured veterans 

must be evaluated, and needs such as child care must be factored into the equation. 

Additionally, many female veterans cannot make appointments due to the lack of 

child-care options at VA medical centers. Since the 2011 survey, The American Legion has continued to advocate for improved delivery of timely, quality health care 

for women using VA. 

What we are doing 

The 2011 survey revealed concerns that have led to the establishment of a new 

American Legion Women Veterans Outreach Program whose coordinator is tasked 

with identifying best practices to improve services for female veterans and work 

with Legion departments to establish state coordinators to oversee female veterans 

programs at that level. 

The Women Veterans Outreach Program aims to educate veterans and communities that support them; to collaborate with local, state and federal agencies that 

can provide needed services; and to provide continued oversight of VA’s execution 

of benefits and services. The American Legion’s advocacy efforts seek to ensure that 

the identified needs of female veterans are being met, and, more importantly, that 

veterans are informed on the issues that affect their lives. 

Many states have coordinators and have vibrant programs while other states have 

not yet identified coordinators. Coordinators will be trained and educated on their 

responsibilities and provided the necessary assistance to get their programs up and 

running. 

Repair Problems in Mental Health 

Where we are 

Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury are the signature 

wounds of today’s wars. TBI is defined as a blow or jolt to the head, or penetrating 

head injury, that disrupts brain function. PTSD is a disorder resulting from exposure to a traumatic event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury. 

Both conditions are increasing in number, particularly among those who have 

served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. 

A 2011 Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs survey of 319 VA mental health 

staff revealed that services for veterans coping with mental health issues and TBI 

are lacking. Among the findings: 

• New mental health patient appointments could be scheduled within 14 days, according to 63 percent of respondents, but only 48.1 percent believed veterans 

referred for specialty appointments for PTSD or substance abuse would be seen 

within 14 days. 

• Seventy percent of providers said their sites had shortages of mental ?health 

space. 

• Forty-six percent reported that a lack of off-hours appointments was a barrier 

to care. 

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• More than 26 percent reported that demand for Compensation and Pension 

(C&P) exams pulled clinicians away from direct care. • Just over 50 percent reported that growth in patient numbers contributed to 

mental health staff shortages. 

VHA and, at the request of Congress, VA’s Office of the Inspector General have 

studied the problem since the survey was conducted. On April 23, 2012, the VAOIG 

released the report, ‘‘Review of Veterans’ Access to Mental Health Care.’’ It found 

that VHA’s mental health performance data was neither accurate nor reliable. In 

VA’s fiscal 2011 Performance and Accountability Report, VHA grossly over-reported 

that 95 percent of first-time patients received a full mental health evaluation within 

14 days. However, it was found that VHA completed approximately 64 percent of 

new-patient appointments for treatment within 14 days of their desired date, but 

approximately 36 percent of appointments exceeded 14 days. VHA schedulers also 

were not following procedures outlined in VHA directives, and were scheduling clinic appointments on the system’s availability rather than the patient’s clinical need. 

During a congressional hearing on April 25, VA announced that it would hire an 

additional 1,600 mental health clinicians, as well as 300 support staff across the 

country to address three major areas of improvements: mental health access, staffing and quality. VA has developed a hiring and tracking task force to monitor and 

speed up the staffing effort. The task force also is assisting in the recruitment and 

filling of another 1,500 vacancies in mental health VA had prior to announcing the 

new positions. VHA’s plan is to have most of these new positions filled by fiscal 

2013’s second quarter. 

Where we want to be 

The American Legion believes VA must focus on head injuries and mental health 

without sacrificing awareness and concern for other conditions afflicting 

servicemembers and veterans. As an immediate priority, VA must ensure staffing 

levels are adequate to meet the need. The American Legion also urges Congress to 

invest in research, screening, diagnosis and treatment for PTSD and TBI. As with 

any increases to funding, increased oversight also is necessary to ensure the money 

is going directly to the needed programs. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion Ad Hoc Committee on PTSD/TBI has closely examined 

issues related to these conditions and has begun assembling a set of recommendations for VA and DoD. The committee consists of mental health experts, dedicated 

senior Legion service officers and past national commanders of The American Legion. The committee has found that various alternative treatments may be effective 

but are not recognized by VA, and that some prescription drugs—such as 

Risperidone, which is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of PTSD—are 

often over used. The committee continues to meet to better understand the issue, 

present findings to American Legion groups and share concerns with VA. 

Turn Military Experience Into Careers 

Where we are 

Servicemembers and veterans have attended and graduated from some of the finest technical and professional training schools in the world. Many have experience 

in health care, electronics, computers, engineering, drafting, air-traffic control, nuclear energy, mechanics, carpentry and other fields. Many of their skills require 

some type of license or certificate to qualify for civilian jobs. In too many cases, this 

license or certificate requires schooling already completed through military training 

programs. Unfortunately, the agencies that issue the licenses or certificates do not 

recognize military training or experience. For example, a medic who treated gunshot 

wounds in Operation Enduring Freedom is qualified as a medic but will not be certified as an emergency medical technician in the civilian workforce without additional, redundant schooling. 

The American Legion is a leading voice in advocacy for the unique job skills veterans bring to the table. In 1997, The American Legion commissioned the report 

‘‘Study of Civilian Licensure and Certification for Veterans,’’ which detailed the 

problem while focusing on the areas of aircraft maintenance and health care. In the 

past, barriers to this effort have included resistance from military and civilian sectors alike, but top defense officials now offer support on Capitol Hill for the idea 

of transfering military experience for credits. 

This subject has grown more important as the veteran unemployment rate exceeds that of civilians and has been as high as 30 percent for the youngest veterans. 

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companies joblessness, can become almost unbearable, and contribute to alreadyhigh rates of depression and PTSD. 

Where we want to be 

The American Legion is fighting for a major overhaul of the licensure and certification policies as they relate to military job skills, on the national and state levels 

alike. As demand for qualified workers in a diverse range of occupations continues 

to grow, veterans offer skills, training, dedication and discipline that translate well 

into specialized fields and trades. 

The American Legion is working with credentialing and licensing agencies to help 

veterans receive credit for their experiences, maximize their abilities and move 

quickly into productive careers. While the VOW to Hire Heroes Act and the Veterans Skills to Jobs Act of 2012, are important steps that The American Legion 

strongly supported and helped shape, they are only a good start in a long march 

to improve career opportunities for those who have served in uniform. 

What we are doing 

For over a decade, The American Legion has been a leading voice in the argument 

to provide veterans the opportunity to transfer military experience into credits toward licenses and certification. The case has been made to VA, the Department of 

Labor, DoD, through legislation, and at least one presidential task force. The Legion’s efforts enthusiastically continue with the momentum of legislation passed in 

2012. 

The Legion’s strategy going forward includes: 

• Working with and counseling government agencies about the value of a workforce with military experience. 

• Working with the American National Standard Institute and Solutions for Information Design to advise the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine and identify 

10 credentialing agencies to evaluate their instruction programs. 

• Lobbying successfully for an industry credentialing amendment to the fiscal 

2013 National Defense Authorization Bill. 

• Working closely with Congress on ‘‘The Hire at Home Act,’’ which would amend 

Title 38 to require – as a condition to receive selected veteran employment and 

training funds – that the state ensures that training received by a veteran 

while on active duty is taken into consideration in granting certain state certifications or licenses. 

The American Legion will continue to work with the National Governors Association, the White House, the National Conference of State Legislatures, government 

agencies such as the departments of Defense, Transportation, Energy, Labor, and 

others, as well as congressional representatives, military training commands, 

credentialing boards and the private sector. The American Legion is in the process 

of creating toolkits to assist Legionnaires in advocating on a state-by-state basis to 

address the issue of credentialing. 

Expand VETS Program 

Where we are 

The Department of Labor’s VETS program offers employment and training services to eligible veterans through its Jobs for Veterans State Grants Program. The 

American Legion is eager to see this program grow and would like greater expansion of entrepreneurial-based, self-employment opportunity training. Adequate funding is necessary to allow the programs to increase staffing to provide comprehensive 

case-management job assistance to disabled and other eligible veterans. 

Where we want to be 

For the program to succeed, it needs to: 

• Implement recent reforms to the Transition Assistance Program so veterans can 

be better informed on education, employment and business opportunities as 

they transition into the civilian workforce. 

• Expand outreach efforts with creative initiatives designed to improve employment and training services for veterans. 

• Provide information about military occupations that provide qualifying training 

for required licenses, certificates or other credentials at the local, state or national levels. 

• Eliminate barriers to recently separated servicemembers and assist in the transition from military service to the civilian labor market. 

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The American Legion believes staffing levels for DVOPs (Disabled Veterans Outreach Programs) and LVERs (Local Veterans Employment Representatives) should 

match the needs of the veteran community in each state and should not be based 

solely on the fiscal needs of the state government. VETS should remain a national 

program with federal oversight and accountability. The American Legion seeks legislation that will transfer all DVOPs and LVERs from the state agencies to VETS 

for supervision and oversight to ensure that the individuals employed to serve veterans are not used for other programs. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion is working closely with VA and the Department of Labor 

to ensure this program receives the attention it needs to assist veterans, and continues to grow and thrive through changes and improvements to the programs involved. The American Legion also continues to work with state departments of veterans affairs to improve the delivery of benefits at that level. 

Help Veterans Start Businesses 

Where we are 

Small business is the backbone of the U.S. economy. It has been the mobilizing 

force behind America’s past economic growth. It will continue to be a major factor 

as our nation moves through the current recession. Reports show that businesses 

with fewer than 20 employees account for 90 percent of all U.S. firms and are responsible for more than 75 percent of all new jobs. There are 27 million small businesses in the U.S., and 99.7 percent of all firms are small businesses. 

Where we want to be 

The American Legion urges Congress to establish a direct lending program 

through the Small Business Administration that would offer low-interest loans to 

otherwise healthy veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) having trouble obtaining credit for necessary operating expenses 

or expansion. In addition, The American Legion seeks and supports legislation to 

require a 5-percent goal, with set-asides and sole-source authority for federal procurements and contracts for businesses owned and operated by service-disabled veterans, and businesses owned and controlled by veterans. This includes small businesses owned by reserve-component members who have been, or may be, called to 

active duty, or may be affected by base closings and reductions in our military 

forces. 

Pressures on the federal contracting community likely will result in greater use 

of the General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule Program, and 

while this program holds a higher contracting preference than the small business 

programs, it unfortunately does not allow set-asides for any small-business group. 

The American Legion agrees that expanded use of this program will further diminish opportunities for small businesses, especially those owned by veterans. The 

American Legion makes the following recommendations: 

• Service-disabled, veteran-owned small business set-asides should be allowed 

under the Federal Supply Schedule Program. Without this change, SDVOSBs 

will be limited in their quest for opportunities to compete for federal contracts. 

• Implementation of a coordinated standardized training program for procurement staff that focuses on SDVOSB procurement strategies in their respective 

agencies. 

• President Obama should reissue Executive Order 13–360, ‘‘Providing Opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran Businesses,’’ to increase federal contracting 

and subcontracting opportunities for veterans, and require that its tenets be incorporated into SBA regulations and standard operating procedures. 

• SBA needs to emphasize Executive Order 13–360 and establish it as a procurement priority across the federal sector. Federal agencies need to be held accountable by the SBA for implementing the executive order, and SBA needs to 

establish a means to monitor agency progress and, when appropriate, establish 

a report to identify those that are not in compliance and pursue ongoing followup. 

• To achieve the mandates of Executive Order 13–360, SBA must assist federal 

agencies in developing a strategic plan that is quantifiable and will assist them 

in establishing realistic reporting criteria. 

• The House Small Business Committee should embrace and promote development of stronger policy and legislative language that champions the utilization 

of veteran-owned small business joint-venturing as a ready solution to the 

small-business spending requirements of the stimulus spending initiative. 

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• Agency leadership must be held responsible for meeting the 3 percent congressionally mandated goal. The American Legion recommends the committee 

schedule a hearing with all federal agencies that consistently do not meet their 

federal procurement goals with SDVOBs. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion continues to work closely with business leaders and government authorities to help veteran-owned small business and increase the roles of veteran-owned businesses in communities around the world. Veterans know the value 

of veteran employees better than anyone else, and veteran-owned small businesses 

are one among the best employers of veterans. 

End Veteran Homelessness 

Where we are 

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has promised to devote resources necessary to end 

veteran homelessness by 2015. To fully implement that pledge, VA is going to have 

to work closely with Congress to continue making responsible investments in affordable housing and supportive service programs to help more veterans and their families. Current estimates put the number of homeless veterans at approximately 

76,000 on any given night, down from 2010 numbers of 131,000 or more. 

Where we want to be 

The American Legion recommends providing funding for a broad range of appropriate and effective interventions, including: 

• Appropriation of funds for the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. SSVF funds have been used effectively by community organizations to 

prevent many veterans from becoming homeless and to quickly assist veterans 

who need nothing more than short-term rental assistance and limited case management to get back on their feet. SSVF funds also can be used to pay for employment services, utility assistance, child care costs and other housing-related 

expenses. 

• Congressional support for the homeless veterans Grant and Per Diem transitional housing program. This program provides short-term housing help to 

homeless veterans, allowing them to get connected with jobs, supportive services and more permanent housing, ultimately allowing them to become self-sufficient. Promising new models for using Grant and Per Diem funds – including 

allowing veterans to remain in their GPD housing units once support from the 

program ends – and new programs focused on women veterans are helping to 

ensure that GPD continues to meet the ever-changing needs of returning veterans and their families. 

• Congress should provide 10,000 new HUD–VASH vouchers designed to serve 

homeless veterans (and in many cases their families) who need long-term housing, intensive case management and supportive services. Since 2008, 37,975 

vouchers have been awarded, contributing substantially to major reductions in 

veteran homelessness. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion continues to lead communities by volunteering, fundraising, 

and advocating for programs and resources to help homeless veterans. In addition, 

The American Legion directly provides housing for homeless veterans and their families, including facilities in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Connecticut. One of 

the goals of The American Legion is to help bring federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, faith-based institutions and other stakeholders to the table to discuss best 

practices, along with funding opportunities, so homeless veterans and their families 

can obtain the necessary care and help to properly transition from the streets and 

shelters into gainful employment and/or independent living. 

Ease the Military-to-Civilian Transition 

Where we are 

Successful adjustment from military service to civilian life is a complicated process. It involves culture shifts, career changes, government paperwork to obtain benefits, health-care services that must be understood, and much more. How well a veteran makes the adjustment often determines the rest of his or her life. 

Unfortunately, this transition has been hampered in past years by poor communication and coordination between DoD and VA. Efforts have been made to correct 

the process, which is improving, but too many veterans still slip through the cracks 

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and fail to receive the benefits they earned and deserve or the support they need 

to restart their lives. 

Transition Assistance Programs (TAP) are now mandatory across all branches of 

military service, a change The American Legion commends. While TAP will require 

much fine tuning to accurately deliver what veterans need, implementing the program universally already is a major improvement. 

Current DoD policy requires new inductees to enroll in the eBenefits portal, which 

will help all future generations of veterans. While VA and DoD still try to iron out 

differences in electronic data systems necessary to make the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) effective, the eBenefits portal holds great promise. VLER 

delays are deeply troubling to The American Legion because the program has been 

a major focus of veterans groups, lawmakers and the federal government for several 

years. 

What we want 

Fast-tracking the VLER program to ensure seamless transfer of medical records 

must be a top priority, and necessary funds must be allocated to fulfill it. The delays 

that have plagued this program are inexcusable. The American Legion urges Congress and the administration to work together to put the program back on track. 

While The American Legion is encouraged by the progress made in TAP, the program is still new and will require dedicated oversight and attention to ensure it is 

meeting the needs of the servicemembers it is designed to help. 

What we are doing 

The American Legion is reaching out to servicemembers as they transition into 

the civilian world. American Legion service officers offer free guidance and assistance to any veteran who needs to understand or file for VA benefits. 

During the past year, The American Legion has developed a ‘‘Claims Coach’’ app 

for smart phones and other mobile devices to help veterans better understand the 

disability claims process and compile the necessary data to file complete claims for 

benefits. The American Legion is working to ensure transitioning veterans have access through TAP or other means, such as the Claims Coach app, to successfully 

navigate the transition process and better integrate into the next phase of life. 

Protect the U.S. Flag 

Where we are 

Since the American Revolution, countless men and women have proudly defended 

this nation under the Stars and Stripes. There is hardly a more poignant image of 

the sacrifices made by America’s heroes in defense of this nation than a U.S. flag 

draped over a coffin, the last full measure of respect to those who have made the 

ultimate sacrifice. However, since the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court 5–4 decision in 

Texas v. Johnson, the American people have been denied the ability to make laws 

protecting from desecration this great symbol of our nation. 

Where we want to be 

Surveys have shown that over 80 percent of American citizens support passage 

of a constitutional amendment that would protect the flag, but Congress has repeatedly fallen short of the 66-percent Senate supermajority needed to pass it. 

The House of Representatives has passed the amendment six times by supermajority, only to see it fall short in the Senate—by just one vote the last time it 

made it to the floor. 

Congress must unite in respect of the patriotic will of the American people and 

pass a flag-protection amendment to the Constitution that will once again allow the 

people to live under such laws as they deem prudent and to show proper respect 

and reverence for their flag. 

What we are doing 

Together with the American Legion Auxiliary, The American Legion founded the 

Citizens Flag Alliance, Inc., to garner and focus grass-roots support for the amendment. The CFA now includes 109 member organizations and more than 30 million 

Americans. Through this organization, The American Legion will continue to fight 

for passage of the flag-protection amendment. 

The American Legion is also dedicated to promoting positive flag-related activities, such as promoting education about the U.S. Flag Code, flag etiquette, proper 

disposal and sharing information through a growing email network. 

CONCLUSION 

The American Legion is the conscience of a patriotic nation. It is made up of men 

and women who have served in uniform. Its family extends to spouses and parents 

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who have known the fear and uncertainty of deployed loved ones. The American Legion, the American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of The American Legion and all their 

supporters are connected by a love of country that cannot be compromised. 

Through more than 13,000 local posts around the world, The American Legion 

Family wraps its arms around four pillars of service: Veterans, Defense, Americanism and Youth. 

To learn more about what The American Legion does every day in support of 

those pillars, visit www.legion.org or ‘‘like’’ The American Legion National Headquarters on Facebook. The American Legion can also be found on Twitter and in 

mobile media. Those who really want to help veterans, their families and communities are urged to join The American Legion Family, where they can go to work 

every day on behalf of the nation they love. 

American Legion National Contacts 

Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation 

(202) 263–5759 

var@legion.org 

Economic 

(202) 263–5771 

economicdivision@legion.org 

Legislative 

(202) 263–5752 

leg@legion.org 

National Security/Foreign Relations 

(202) 263–5765 

nsfr@legion.org 

Americanism/Children & Youth 

(317) 630–1203 

acy@legion.org 

Public Relations 

(317) 630–1253 

pr@legion.org 

The American Legion Magazine 

(317) 630–1298 

magazine@legion.org 

The American Legion Online Update 

(317) 630–1272 

eltr@legion.org 

Preamble to The American Legion Constitution 

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY WE ASSOCIATE OURSELVES ?TOGETHER FOR 

THE FOLLOWING PURPOSES: 

To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. To maintain law and order 

To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism 

To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars 

To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation 

To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses 

To make right the master of might 

To promote peace and goodwill on earth. To safeguard and transmit to posterity 

the principles of justice, freedom and democracy 

To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness. 

Æ 

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