Veterans
We have an obligation to care for and honor America’s servicemen and women, their families, and our veterans for their bravery and sacrifice. The new Democratic-led Congress is keeping our promises to America’s veterans.
Read a progress report on the historic gains for troops, veterans, and military families>>
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law in February, makes key investments for our veterans. It provides incentives for businesses to hire recently discharged unemployed veterans, and expands housing assistance for disabled veterans. The legislation addresses deficiencies at aging military hospitals and VA hospitals and improves claims and benefits processing. It also invests in housing for troops and families, supports reservists in the National Guard, provides assistance to military homeowners, and funds warrior transition complexes to provide services to wounded warriors and their families.
Learn more about the bill's investments for veterans>>
New GI Bill for the 21st Century: Information and Resources
Last year, Congress enacted the new GI Bill for the 21st Century (the "Post-9/11 GI Bill") to restore the promise of a full, four-year college education for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. As of May 1st, veterans can begin to apply for a certificate of eligibility for the new college benefits at the VA website here, which will become available on August 1st.
Read our guide to accessing benefits under the new GI Bill>>
Addressing the Needs of Military Families
In addition to addressing the needs of America’s service men and women, we are also focusing on those of their families. While we salute our men and women in uniform for the courage and bravery that they exhibit in battle, we must also recognize the sacrifices of their families.
In recent years, the Congress has worked in a bipartisan manner to more closely analyze the needs of the family while military personnel are deployed; equally important we need to make certain that the families have the tools they need for transition when loved ones return home. To date we have made progress in the key areas of jobs and the economy, health care, family support, housing and education. More needs to be done as more troops are expected to be return home in the coming years.
Read the report on the 111th Congress' progress for military families>>
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Creating Jobs & Improving Quality of Life for Our Troops and Veterans
As President Obama has often stated, one of the chief goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by the President on February 17, is to create jobs by putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done. The long-neglected infrastructure needs of both our military and veterans’ facilities, as the Walter Reed scandal highlighted, require swift action. That is why this legislation identifies and funds some of the most pressing infrastructure needs of the military and VA. Funding these infrastructure projects will create tens of thousands of new jobs, along with taking another step in keeping our promises to our troops and veterans. This legislation also includes other key provisions – including giving businesses tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans and providing disabled veterans a payment of $250. In addition, it includes other provisions to improve the lives of our troops and veterans, such as funding additional child care centers and warrior transition centers for wounded warriors returning from combat.
Improving the Quality of Life for Our Troops
- Renovating and Making More Energy-Efficient DOD Facilities: Provides $4.2 billion to invest in energy efficient projects and to repair and modernize a variety of Department of Defense facilities.
- Improving the Hospitals for Our Troops: Provides $1.3 billion for rebuild and renovate our aging military hospitals and ambulatory care centers. Many of these facilities are 40 or even 50 years old, and are not suited to current medical standards and practices.
- Providing Assistance to Military Homeowners: Provides $555 million for assistance to military homeowners, including wounded warriors and surviving spouses, who have been impacted by the housing crisis.
- Improving Troop and Family Housing: Provides $335 million to build new barracks and dormitories for our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen as well as to make further investments in quality family housing for military families.
- Expanding Child Care for Military Families: Provides $240 million for new child development centers on military bases across the country. These facilities will help military spouses hold down jobs and will provide employment opportunities for caregivers.
- Establishing Warrior Transition Complexes: Provides $100 million for warrior transition complexes to provide services to wounded warriors returning from combat and their families.
- Constructing Needed Facilities for the National Guard: Provides $100 million for new construction of operations and training facilities to support National Guard units across the country.
Improving the Quality of Life for Our Veterans
- Providing Businesses A Tax Credit for Hiring Unemployed Veterans: Provides a tax credit to businesses for hiring unemployed veterans. Specifically, veterans would qualify if they were discharged or released from active duty from the Armed Forces during the previous five years and received unemployment benefits for more than 4 weeks before being hired.
- Providing Disabled Veterans A Payment of $250: Provides a payment of $250 to all disabled veterans receiving benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. (This $250 payment, which also goes to retirees, SSI beneficiaries and Railroad Retirement beneficiaries, is targeted to those who are likely not to benefit from the Making Work Pay tax credit.)
- Improving the Hospitals for Our Veterans: Provides $1 billion for non-recurring maintenance, including energy efficiency projects, to address deficiencies and avoid serious maintenance problems at the 153 VA hospitals across the country.
- Increasing the Number of VA Claims Processors: Provides $150 million for an increase in VA claims processing staff, in order to address the large backlog in processing veterans’ claims. This backlog has been a key complaint of veterans across the country.
- Improving Automation of VA Benefit Processing: Provides $50 million to improve the automation of the processing of veterans’ benefits, to get benefits out sooner and more accurately.
- Constructing Extended Care Facilities for Veterans: Provides $150 million for state grants for the construction of additional extended care facilities for veterans.
GI Bill for the 21st Century
Last year, Congress enacted the new GI Bill for the 21st Century (the "Post-9/11 GI Bill") to restore the promise of a full, four-year college education for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. As of May 1st, veterans can begin to apply for a certificate of eligibility for the new college benefits at the VA website here, which will become available on August 1st.
Read our guide to accessing benefits under the new GI Bill>>
Educating our nation’s veterans is a cost of war, and it is a promise we should make to our troops for their courageous service to our country. Those Americans who have stepped forward to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan have earned the right to a bright future when they return home.
Watch highlights from the rally for the 21st Century GI Bill>>
Read more about the GI Bill for the 21st Century>>
Read a Progress Report on the 110th Congress for Veterans and Troops>>
60th Anniversary of Integration of U.S. Armed Forces
On July 23rd, 2008, Speaker Pelosi joined with House and Senate leaders in the Capitol Rotunda to commemorate President Truman’s executive order 60 years ago that marked the beginning of racial integration in the armed services. Speaker Pelosi said, “When called on their country to serve, African Americans did so with courage, honor and distinction—just as many do today. When called by conscience to serve the civil rights movement, they provided indispensable moral leadership, defended liberty, and redefined America for the better."
Read Speaker Pelosi's full speech>>
Watch a slideshow of photographs from the ceremony>>
The Largest Increase in Funding for Veterans Health in the VA's 77-Year History
This Congress has proven our commitment by providing the largest increase in funding for veterans health care in the VA’s 77-year history. With the VA expected to treat 5.8 million patients in the coming year—including more than 260,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans—Congress has made it a priority to fund health care and benefits that they were promised and that they deserve.
Congress has voted for historic increases in veterans’ health care and benefits programs, totaling nearly $12 billion, to meet the needs of returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Congress has fought to pass a pay raise for our troops, which the previous administration opposed. President Bush threatened to veto legislation including a 3.5% pay raise for our men and women in uniform, calling it “unnecessary.”
The House has passed legislation that will provide veterans with the health care and benefits they deserve, resulting in the hiring of more qualified doctors and nurses to improve medical services to our veterans and to reduce waiting times for doctor appointments, and provide more to help veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and mental health care issues.
Action on veterans’ health care is crucial - there are significant problems in the military health care system and a significant rise in veterans suffering from mental disorders. More than one-third of the 230,000 new veterans who have applied for medical assistance from the Veterans’ Affairs Department suffer with mental disorders. The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations legislation provides $600 million more than the President’s request for mental health, PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury and makes five polytrauma centers and three Centers of Excellence for Mental Health and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) fully operational this year to care for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, including those with TBI.
Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, Chairman Chet Edwards, and Rep. Nancy Boyda on the largest funding increase in the 77-year history of the Veterans Administration: