Congress can show commitment to veterans by following Rosen’s lead
Kudos to Nevada’s own U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, who this week introduced the Veterans Assistance Helpline Act. The bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to permanently maintain a toll-free telephone help line that connects military veterans, their immediate family members and their caregivers to VA services and benefits available in their area.
The VA established 800-MYVA411, a limited version of the hotline, in 2020, but it was never codified and thus both the hotline’s existence and the services it provides are subject to annual political and budgetary whims. Rosen’s bill seeks to change that.
It’s the third time Rosen has teamed up with Deb Fischer, R-neb., to introduce a version of this bipartisan bill. Previous iterations died in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. That cannot happen again. We’re calling on committee chairman Jon Tester, D-mont., and ranking committee member Jerry Moran, R-kan., to follow the example set by Rosen and Fischer and move the bill forward this year for the well-being of our nation’s veterans.
America’s service members volunteer to risk life and limb for the sake of the country. As a result, many veterans return home with physical and emotional scars that can make finding and maintaining stable housing, employment, health care, legal services and other support services challenging. Rosen’s bill would address these problems by ensuring that veterans have a reliable single phone number, staffed by professionals, that serves as a hub connecting veterans to government agencies, nonprofits, health care and support services that are local and have experience meeting the unique needs of those who wore the uniform.
The legislation comes at a time when it is needed more than ever. Decades-long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan injured hundreds of thousands of American soldiers both physically and emotionally. Both wars were different than those of past conflicts because of the extensive use of improvised explosives to attack our troops.
A 2020 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that around 41% of post-9/11 veterans have a service-related disability, compared with 25% of pre-9/11 veterans and just 13.5% of the American population generally.
Even veterans without disabilities face unique challenges related to effectively communicating transferable skills, overcoming discrimination and obtaining access to educational opportunities, good-paying jobs and sustainable long-term housing.
The rate of homelessness among military veterans is approximately 30% higher than among the general American population and, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2023 Point-intime (PIT) Count, at least 35,000 veterans are unhoused in the United States today.
Connecting veterans to support services and assisting them in navigating the complexities of government bureaucracy so they can access the benefits they’ve earned is the bare minimum we can do to serve those who served the country.
Under the guidance of President Joe Biden, who is himself the father of a combat veteran, the VA took a significant step forward last year, when the department implemented a policy allowing veterans in acute suicidal crisis to receive emergency care at no cost. The policy covers emergency room care, inpatient or crisis residential care for up to 30 days, and outpatient care for up to 90 days. Nearly 50,000 veterans took advantage of the life-saving program in its first year, according to a statement from the VA.
The legislation enabling the policy change, the Veterans COMPACT Act, included a proposal by Rep. Susie Lee, D-nev., requiring that the VA contact veterans who have not had contact with VA in two or more years to ensure that every veteran is aware and has access to the comprehensive medical services provided by the department.
While the leadership of officials like Biden and Lee has helped ensure access to physical and mental health care, Rosen’s bill seeks to ensure access to a wider array of veterans services, including those designed to assist veterans with access to employment, housing, temporary financial assistance, child care and educational opportunities. Naturally, that benefits not just the veterans but their families as well.
One example is in the arena of housing. Research shows that veterans are often unaware that they have access to veteran-specific housing assistance programs. Those who do often face discrimination from landlords who don’t want tenants who use vouchers to pay rent, even if the voucher is based on military service.
In those situations, talking to a lawyer with expertise in veterans benefits can mean the difference between finding sustainable long-term housing or living on the streets.
A 2016 survey by the VA found that, among the top 10 most important unmet needs identified by homeless veterans, four of them required legal expertise. The survey of 6,000 homeless veterans found that while most veterans secure access to food and medical services, for problems that require legal assistance such as fighting evictions, upgrading military discharge status or restoring a driver’s license, legal aid feels largely out of reach.
Other needs identified in the same survey would also be addressed by Rosen’s bill and subsequent service hotline, including connecting veterans to substance abuse centers, credit counseling programs, family reconciliation programs and local STI testing.
In short, Rosen’s bill is a simple, straightforward and necessary step for ensuring that veterans can access the programs they have earned through their service. Creating a one-stop shop and clearinghouse for services and aid programs will make finding and navigating these programs easier for veterans, their caretakers and their survivors alike.
The Senate should move swiftly to pass Rosen and Fischer’s bipartisan legislation, starting with the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee — which has no excuse for their previous failures to move the legislation forward.
America’s men and women in uniform deserve our support both on the battlefield and when they return home. Nevada is fortunate to have Democratic lawmakers in both chambers of Congress who take their commitment to veterans seriously. It’s time for the rest of the legislative branch to get on board.