Contacts
Newark
Phone: (973) 639-8700
Toll Free: (888) 398-1642
Fax: (973) 639-8723
Camden
Phone: (856) 338-8922
Fax: (856) 338-8936
Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 224-3224
TTY: (202) 224-2087
Fax: (202) 228-4054
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Standing Up for America's Soldiers and Veterans
- New GI Bill: On May 22, 2008, the Senate passed the new Webb/Hagel/Lautenberg/Warner GI bill as part of the FY08 Supplemental. This bill became law on June 30, 2008 (Public Law No. 110-252). This law updates and improves the current GI bill, which has not kept pace with the rising cost of college, so that veterans who served since 9/11 can become the next “Greatest Generation” by receiving benefits equal to the full cost of college.
- Ending the Military’s “Stop-Loss” Policy: Senator Lautenberg led efforts to compensate service members involuntarily extended beyond their contract because of the military’s “stop loss” policy, and ultimately to end this policy. Based on legislation introduced by Lautenberg (S. 3060), a provision became law on September 30, 2008 (Public Law No. 110-329) to provide a monthly bonus of $500 to troops affected by “stop loss” during FY 2009. In February 2009, Lautenberg wrote to Defense Secretary Gates urging him to promptly and fully distribute these payments. Gates subsequently announced that DOD would begin to disburse these payments and that the U.S. Army would end its “stop loss” policy.
Senator Lautenberg joined Senator James Webb and Representative Robert Scott to introduce the "Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007." The bill would provide veterans of the 9/11 era with educational benefits similar to those provided to service members at the end of World War II. (June 13, 2007)
- Military/Veterans Prescription Coverage: The Senate passed Senator Lautenberg’s amendment in 2006 to prohibit the Bush Administration from moving ahead with its plan to increase co-payments by 67 percent on prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies for military families and veterans covered under the TRICARE program (109th Congress, Senate Amendment No. 4205, adopted on June 14, 2006, Public Law No. 109-364). Senator Lautenberg wrote a similar law for FY2008 preventing increases in enrollment fees, premiums, and pharmacy co-payments for TRICARE (110th Congress, Senate Amendment No.2912 adopted on September 27, 2007 to H.R. 1585, later H.R. 4986, now Public Law No. 110-181).
- Body Armor Reimbursement: Senators Lautenberg and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) were the principal sponsors of an amendment directing the Bush Administration to reimburse the families of military personnel who purchased body armor, weapons, and global positioning devices for their parents, spouses, sons or daughters serving in Iraq and Afghanistan (108th Congress, Senate Amendment No. 3312, adopted on June 14, 2004, by a vote of 91-0, Record Vote No. 112, Public Law No. 108-375).
- Honoring the Fallen: Senator Lautenberg fought to overturn a DOD policy prohibiting media coverage of coffins carrying fallen military personnel returning to Dover Air Force base. On June 21, 2004, Lautenberg offered an amendment (108th Congress, Record Vote No. 132, Amdt no. 2191 to S. 2400) on the Senate floor to instruct DOD to form a new protocol to allow the media to respectfully cover the return of heroes who have died, while preserving the privacy of families. Lautenberg sent a letter on February 9, 2009 to President Obama expressing his concerns and urging a new protocol. On February 26, 2009, Secretary of Defense Gates announced DOD would change this policy and begin to allow press coverage of returning fallen Americans with the consent of their families.
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