This month, First Lady Jill Biden made moves toward reviving the Joining Forces initiative, a program to support military service members, veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, naming Rory Brosius as executive director of the initiative. Biden and then-First Lady Michelle Obama originally launched the program in 2011, focusing on three areas: employment, wellness, and education.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After weeks of threatening to block the major military spending bill, President Trump vetoed the 2020 National Defense Authoritzation Act. The $740 billion bill is the major vehicle for funding the U.S. military and passed both the House of Representatives and Senate with veto-proof majorities. The 2020 bill includes a provision that would redesignate military installations currently named after prominent Confederate military and political leaders.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Last night, a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee was quietly removed from the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol. The statue was one of two statues in the collection representing the Commonwealth of Virginia. The other statue depicts George Washington. Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Virginia would seek to replace the Lee statue with a statue to civil rights activist Barbara Johns, who as a teenager led a student boycott against school segregation.
Albany, N.Y. -- The New York State Division of Veteran Services has appointed Lt. Col. (retired) Aaron Leonard to co-lead the task force charged with implementing the state’s recently enacted Outdoor Rx Act. Leonard currently serves as a Sierra Club Military Outdoors campaign representative. The law, originally sponsored by Assemblymember Didi Barrett and Sen. Brian Benjamin, seeks to remove barriers that prevent New York veterans from accessing the state’s public lands to heal from service-related injuries and trauma.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors (AVRO) Act was signed into law as part of the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment (COMPACT) Act (H.R.8247), a package of bills addressing healthcare and suicide prevention for veterans.
Albany, N.Y. -- Today, November 11, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Outdoor Rx Act into law. The bill seeks to removes barriers that prevent New York veterans from accessing the state’s public lands to heal from service-related injuries and trauma. The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Didi Barrett and Sen. Brian Benjamin, passed both houses of the New York State Assembly in February. In response, Lt. Col. (retired) Aaron Leonard, Sierra Club Military Outdoors Campaign Representative, released the following statement:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Tonight, the United States Senate passed the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors (AVRO) Act as a provision of the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment (COMPACT) Act (H.R.8247), a package of bills addressing healthcare and suicide prevention for veterans. The House of Representatives passed the bill September 23, and it now awaits the president’s signature.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, September 23, the House of Representatives passed the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment (COMPACT) Act (H.R.8247). The package’s nine provisions aim to reduce veteran suicide and improve overall mental health and wellbeing for veterans. Included is the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors (AVRO) Act, which would begin the process of removing barriers that prevent veterans from accessing public lands to heal from service-related trauma. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This week, a memo came to light detailing the Pentagon’s shuttering of the Stars and Stripes military newspaper effective by September 30. The Pentagon’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 slashed the $15.5 million in federal funding for the newspaper. Stars and Stripes has provided objective news coverage for servicemembers since the Civil War.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, July 21, the House of Representatives voted to approve the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, this year’s $740 billion annual military spending bill. A provision within this year’s NDAA requires the Pentagon to change the names of ten military installations currently named after Confederate military leaders within three years. It would also remove Confederate likenesses, symbols and paraphernalia from defense facilities nationwide within the same timeframe.