Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack recently met with leaders of the Veterans Administration (VA) and told them the concerns he heard firsthand from Iowa's Veterans, military family members, and Veterans service providers. Last week, Loebsack hosted a series of Veterans Forums across Iowa in order to give Veterans an opportunity to speak with the Congressman and seek assistance from his office. In a meeting with Ms. Joan Mooney, Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs and Mr. Danny Pummill, Executive Director, Compensation & Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, Loebsack presented them with a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki of the top concerns he heard from Iowa Veterans, including disability claims, VA health care and job training. A copy of the letter can be found here.
"Last week, I met with Iowa Veterans, military family members, and Veterans service providers across eastern and southeastern Iowa," Loebsack wrote. "I strongly urge you to take my constituents' concerns into account as you work to improve VA services. I look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure that every person who has served our nation in uniform receives the care, benefits, and respect they deserve."
This week, two pieces of legislation, which directly impact Veterans and their families, passed the House of Representatives with unanimous bipartisan support. Loebsack was a strong supporter of both the Veterans COLA and Veterans Skills to Jobs Acts. The Veterans COLA Act increases the amounts paid for veteran's disability compensation and to their survivors for dependency and indemnity compensation by the same amount as the Social Security cost of living adjustment. The Veterans Skills to Jobs Act requires federal departments to help Veterans transition to the civilian workforce by taking the skills and experience they acquired through their military service into account when determining what training and certification requirements they must meet for federal licenses.
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