This week in NewsBytes:
Budget Resolutions Approved
TBI Legislation Moves Forward
Streamlining Military Voting Discussed
New Deployment Support and Reintegration Office
Wounded Warriors Polled on Care They Receive

Budget Resolutions Approved
Before leaving on their two-week spring recess, the House and Senate passed their respective versions of the FY 2009 Budget Resolution (H.Con. Res. 312, S. Con. Res. 70). Both Resolutions include:

· Rejection of TRICARE and VA health care fees for specific non-disabled veterans (Priority Groups 7 and 8);

· More dollars for VA health care;

· Additional money for MGIB improvements;

· Language expressing support for improving benefits for disabled retirees and widows.

If both chambers agree on a final budget resolution, it will be used as a blueprint in developing an FY 2009 budget. The FRA Legislative Team is monitoring the progress of the resolutions particularly with regard to their impact on the FRA legislative agenda.

TBI Legislation Moves Forward
The Senate has approved "The Reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act" (S. 793), sponsored by Senator Orin Hatch (Utah). The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the House companion bill (HR 1418), sponsored by Rep. Bill Pascrell (N.J.) which authorizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide state grants for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) to enter treatment and rehabilitation programs. The law expired in 2005, but appropriators have continued to fund the programs. The measure would also require the CDC to monitor brain injury incidents and create a reporting system to track the condition. The CDC also would study treatment techniques, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be directed to conduct basic research to improve treatment. Furthermore, the bill would authorize a study on improving access to care for veterans with TBI.

An overriding FRA priority is ensuring that wounded troops, their families and the survivors of those killed in action are cared for by a grateful Nation.

Streamlining Military Voting Discussed
Members of FRA's Legislative Team (ADLP Ed Dockery and DLP John Davis) met this week with representatives from the Pew Charitable Trusts at FRA NHQ to discuss streamlining voting procedures for active duty military, especially for those serving overseas. FRA's concerns are included in the 7 February, 2008 testimony (page 6) submitted to the House Armed Services Committee Personal Subcommittee in conjunction with NED Joe Barnes' testimony before that panel. The statement also addressed FRA's 2008 Legislative Agenda. The Association supports the introduction of legislation that will improve military voter participation in Federal elections and expedite the military mail processing of overseas ballots.

New Deployment Support and Reintegration Office
The Department of Defense this week announced the creation of the Deployment Support and Reintegration Office within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.

Mandated by the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, the office is an integral part of the DoD's Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program intended to provide support and outreach services to Reserve Component service members, their families and communities throughout the deployment cycle.

This program places particular emphasis on preparing service members and their families for the stresses associated with separation and deployment, and educating about resources available to assist them, and connecting members to service providers before and during deployments. The focus shifts to reconnecting service members with families and communities for successful reintegration following deployment.

Reintegration program capabilities are already underway with services provided through the Joint Family Support Assistance Program and are currently being tested in 15 states. DoD plans to expand this program beyond the pilot phase to all 54 states and territories. The Deployment Support and Reintegration Office can be reached at: 1-866-504-7092.

Wounded Warriors Polled on Care They Receive
Zogby International polled 435 service members wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan who are members of Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) and receiving care in military treatment facilities or through TRICARE. In their responses, seventy-seven percent said they believe the military is doing all it can to meet their health care needs. Fifty-eight percent said that since they began receiving medical treatment their trust and confidence in the system has increased, and a majority of them said their expectations for recovery have increased since they returned from their deployment.