The House Committee on Veterans Affairs held three subcommittee hearings July 12-16, 2021.

The first was held by the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs and examined “VA APPEALS PROGRAM: EXAMINING THE STATE OF MODERNIZATION EFFORTS.”

AFGE was invited to testify, and Gillian Slovick, a Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) Attorney who has served at the board for 12 years, and is 2nd Vice President of AFGE Local 17, testified. Gillian did an outstanding job in giving her testimony to the subcommittee, and everyone at the NVAC is proud that she is a leader within Local 17, the NVAC, and AFGE.

Please find Gillian’s written statement attached to this Presidents Brief, and a link to watch the hearing here.

Gillian gives her testimony at the 1:09:50 mark in the recording.

The second was held by the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and examined “MODERNIZING THE VA POLICE FORCE: ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY.”

AFGE submitted a Statement For the Record (SFR), and made several recommendations on ways the VA can improve the recruitment and retention for VA Police Officers throughout the nation. In particular, AFGE made an impassioned plea for the necessity of granting full Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) retirement benefits, commonly referred to as “6(c) benefits” to VA Police, and called on the Congress to pass H.R. 962/S. 1888, the “Law Enforcement Officer Equity Act.” In particular, the NVAC would like to thank Andrew Peterson, the President of AFGE Local 1969, Chair of AFGE’s Law Enforcement Steering Committee, and experienced VA Police Officer for all of the leadership and input he provided to both the NVAC staff and to Congress to help shape this hearing.

Please find AFGE’s SFR attached, and a link to watch the hearing here.

In particular, it is worth watching Representative Elaine Luria’s (D-VA) question to the VA from 42:41 to 47:40 regarding LEO retirement benefits, as well as Rep. Jack Bergman’s (R-MI) questions from 37:05 to 38:20 and 1:05:50 to 1:06:24.

If you would like to ask your Representative and Senators to co-sponsor H.R. 962/S. 1888, please click here.

The third hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Health, and was a legislative hearing examining several bills. Most important to AFGE was the inclusion of H.R. 3693, the “VA Continuing Professional Education Modernization Act.”

This bill would both expand the eligibility of who can receive reimbursement for Continuing Professional Education from the VA and increase the amounts for those eligible for the first time in 30 years.

The hearing can be viewed here.

In particular, please note Chairwoman Brownley’s opening statement at 5:19 and Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks’s (R-IA) questions at 1:07:22 and 1:42:20 highlighting the bill.

If you would like to ask your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 3693, please click here.