Helping Unemployed Veterans Find Work

Dear Friend,

This week it was announced that unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60 can now apply for new benefits to cover education costs for up to one year through a joint Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Labor program that focuses on retraining 99,000 veterans for high-demand jobs.  I urge Memphis veterans who are eligible to take advantage of this federal program.

Helping Unemployed Veterans Find Work
Glen Campbell and Alzheimer’s Disease
Ending the Afghanistan War
National Defense Authorization Act
Sports Fans Coalition Award
Tennessee Walking Horses
Helsinki Commission
Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Ending Violence Against Women
Free Photo Identification
Grant Announcements

Helping Unemployed Veterans Find Work

Starting May 15, unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60 can now apply for new benefits to cover education costs for up to one year through a joint Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Labor (DOL) program that focuses on retraining 99,000 veterans for high-demand jobs.  As part of a provision of the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, the Veteran Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) allows qualifying veterans to receive up to 12 months of assistance equal to the full-time Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty rate, currently $1,473 per month.

Eligible veterans can apply on a first-come, first-serve basis for VRAP beginning on May 15, 2012, for programs that begin on or after July 1, 2012.  Assistance under this benefit program ends on March 31, 2014.  For more information on VOW, VRAP, high demand occupations, and how to apply, eligible veterans may go to the website at www.benefits.va.gov/VOW or call VA’s Call Centers toll free at 1-800-827-1000.

Glen Campbell

This week Country Music Hall of Famer Glen Campbell was in Washington, D.C. with his family to perform and join the Congressional Taskforce of Alzheimer’s Disease – of which I am a member -- in urging Congressional action to combat the debilitating disease.  Glen Campbell has Alzheimer’s disease but is doing a farewell tour and a documentary on his life is being produced by award winning actress Jane Seymour (pictured below) to help focus attention on the disease.  President Obama recently announced the National Alzheimer’s Plan which charges the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to secure funding and research for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease by 2025.  Yesterday I spoke on the House floor about Glen Campbell, Alzheimer’s disease and NIH.  Click here to see my remarks.

Ending the Afghanistan War
On Wednesday I joined a bipartisan group of House members at a news conference in support of expedited withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.  We also joined together to send the President a letter discussing this important topic.  Earlier this month President Obama visited Afghanistan to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement.  As he stated at Bagram Air Base, “this time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end.”

The core of al Qaeda has been greatly reduced in size and ability to attack Americans. Our brave men and women in uniform have done everything that we have asked of them. With over 17,000 dead and wounded U.S. servicemen and women, and long term costs estimated at $4 trillion for the past decade of unfunded wars, an overwhelming majority of Americans want to bring the war in Afghanistan to an expedited end.

While many of us would prefer an immediate full withdrawal from Afghanistan, there is broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress and across America that it is time to accelerate the transition from U.S. to full Afghan control.  And since President Obama will soon be attending the NATO summit in Chicago, we have asked him to announce an accelerated transition of security responsibility to the Afghan government and security forces as soon as possible.

National Defense Authorization Act
Today I voted against the National Defense Authorization Act because I agree with President Obama that the cumulative effects of the bill would impede the ability of the Administration to execute the new defense strategy and to properly direct scarce resources.  The bill authorizes $642.7 billion for defense programs in FY 2013 -- $3.6 billion more than the request and $8 billion more than the cap for defense set by last year’s Budget Control Act.  Also, we need to cut defense instead of cutting important social programs such as SNAP, Medicare, Medicaid and women’s health programs.  President Obama said he would veto the measure should it reach his desk.

Sports Fans Coalition Award
This week I was named “Most Valuable Policymaker” for my efforts to help bring about a true college football playoff.  It is an honor to be recognized by the Sports Fans Coalition for my work to bring a playoff system to Division I college football.  College athletes and fans both deserve to know who the best team is and the only way to truly know that is by having a playoff.  I look forward to continuing my work to create a playoff in college football that creates millions of dollars in new revenue for our public universities and creates a true national championship.

Tennessee Walking Horses
Yesterday I issued a statement on the ABC Nightline investigation that uncovered how Tennessee Walking Horses are being tortured to produce the high-stepping gait that wins championships.  The Nightline footage of Tennessee Walking Horses being tortured is heartbreaking.  In Tennessee, soring horses is illegal and unacceptable. Those responsible for abusing these horses should be punished severely and banned from the sport.  How we treat animals is a direct reflection of our character, both as individuals and a nation.  There is no ribbon, no prize nor championship worth the price of one’s humanity.

Helsinki Commission

This week I participated in a Helsinki Commission briefing entitled “Political Prisoners in Central Asia.”  Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have some of the highest numbers of political prisoners or prisoners of conscience in the former Soviet Union.  Repressive regimes in the region use restrictive laws to arrest dissidents, political opposition, human rights activists, journalists, and members of certain religions, or fabricate other vague charges.  One of the witnesses who testified, Sanjar Umarov, lives in the Memphis area and was a political prisoner for four years.  He discussed having been a political prisoner in Uzbekistan and the terrible treatment he received while in detention.  I worked with Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker to get Umarov out of prison and out of Uzbekistan.

I also participated in a Helsinki Commission hearing on the Ukrainian parliamentary elections that will be held in October.  Under President Victor Yanukovych, Ukraine has experienced democratic regression, including the unjust imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko and other senior members of her government.  There are widespread concerns that the upcoming elections – in contrast to the four previous national elections – will not meet international standards.  Experts from three key organizations working in Ukraine discussed their work with political parties, civil society and domestic observers ahead of the elections, the electoral framework, as well as the broader political context.

Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Last night I spoke on the House floor in opposition to a motion to include poison pill Keystone XL pipeline language in the surface transportation reauthorization bill.  This country needs a transportation bill that will put millions of Americans to work improving our infrastructure.  Unfortunately, this critical legislation is mired in debate about an oil pipeline that does not belong in the transportation bill.  We cannot allow Keystone proponents to hold the transportation bill hostage in order to score another payday for Big Oil.

Ending Violence Against Women
This week the House voted on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  Since its original passage in 1994, Congress has worked in a bipartisan basis to not only reauthorize VAWA -- which helps investigate and prosecute violent crimes against women -- but to improve its ability to protect victims and ensure that law enforcement has the tools it needs to prosecute abusers.  It is alarming that Republicans failed to include the Senate’s improvements, like protections for Native American and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims.

The GOP version that passed actually rolls back longstanding, bipartisan protections for immigrant victims of domestic and sexual violence while also repealing critical law enforcement tools needed for the prosecution of offenders.  The history of previous VAWA Reauthorizations shows that Congress, whether under Republican or Democratic control, has always acted in a bipartisan fashion to improve on the promise of the original VAWA.  The Senate continued this tradition last month by strengthening protections with a bipartisan supermajority.  It’s a shame the GOP has decided to abandon this tradition.

Domestic violence is a problem afflicting women and communities of all kinds.  Instead of improving the provisions that address those problems, Republicans have chosen to advance a bill that not only omits protections for vulnerable groups but also rolls back protections already in current law.

Free Photo Identification
Shelby County driver service centers are no longer open on Saturdays but if you or someone you know still needs a photo ID for voting purposes you don’t have to wait in line. If you only need to get an ID for voting purposes, you can still visit any driver’s license renewal station in Shelby County during regular business hours and there is a special line to serve your needs.  And if you are a Veteran who needs ID you can get free government-issued photo IDs at the Veterans Administration.  To learn more about the new voter ID laws, visit my website here.
 
Grant Announcements
Each week I release a list of grant announcements from federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, and others.  These federal funding opportunities are available to faith-based and neighborhood associations, nonprofits and other community organizations in the 9th district. The announcements are updated weekly on my website.

Wishing you a happy and safe weekend,

As always, I remain,

Most sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress