LEGISLATIVE ALERT
HR 755 / 4923 Grassroots Push
While congress is on break this week and due back next week to DC, I would like for the legislative committee, Divisions, Chapters, and individuals at the grassroots level to call their federal legislators and ask them to support these pieces of legislation.
Lets target 8 - 23 April as our targeted window to make the push to contact all 435 members of Congress for an answer on these bills.
Below is the content of the bills, I would ask those who are making the phone calls to read through these bills, familiarize themselves with it and reach out to their federal legislator and ask for them to sign on to the bills, along with signing the discharge petition on HR 775.
We need feedback from the individuals who are contacting them to let us know who they contacted also let us know when they receive feedback if they are going to sign on or not. We will track it from HQ's and make follow up contact with the DC offices as needed. Have everyone contact me by email milgov1@hqafsa.org
Lastly, we must be polite and say thank you whether they support us or not in this grassroots move.
H.R. 4923 TRICARE Dependent Coverage
H.R. 775: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.775
The Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, was introduced by Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-TX, and serves to give military surviving spouses concurrent receipt of their Survivor Benefit Plan and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation without a reduction in the SBP money. This legislation is of utmost importance because we need to adequately take care of our surviving spouses who have also sacrificed so much.
Since introduction on January 28, 2009, H.R. 775 has gained 325 cosponsors, but has yet to be reported out of the House Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Military Personnel, for a vote. In order to force a vote on this important piece of legislation, Rep. Walter Jones, R-NC, filed a discharge petition on March 15, 2010. Once this petition gains 218 votes, a House Majority, it will come before the House for a vote.
AFSA is working diligently to see this legislation passed. We have contacted many Congressional representatives through letters, phone calls, and office visits asking them to co-sponsor this legislation. We sent a letter to Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, asking her to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. We have also sent a letter to First Lady Michelle Obama, asking her support of this repeal to aid spouses and their families.
So far, only four Congressmen, of the 325 who co-sponsored the bill, have signed on to the discharge petition that will allow this legislation to come out of committee and onto the House floor for a vote. They are Rep. Walter Jones, R-NC; Rep. Joe Wilson, R-SC; Rep. Adam Putnam, R-FL; and Rep. Henry Brown, R-SC.
Therefore, we need you to call your Congressman and ask them to co-sponsor the discharge petition on H.R. 775, so that this important legislation can come before the House floor for a vote! Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 888-762-8760; give them your zip code, and they will connect you to your representative.
You may also call your local State Congressional offices and speak with your Representatives and Senators NOW! For the next two weeks they are in their home district for Easter recess and NOW is a good time to contact them and tell them that we need their VOTES!!!
Ask your Representatives to co-sponsor this legislation and ask your Senators to support the same legislation in the Senate: S. 535.
H.R.4923: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.4923
The "TRICARE Dependent Coverage Extension Act," by Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, to amend title 10, United States Code, to extend TRICARE coverage to certain dependents under the age of 26.
This legislation is important because the new health care law provides that dependents are able to receive health coverage under their sponsors' health care plan until the age of 26. We would like to see the Military Health System follow suit and provide that same eligibility to TRICARE dependents. Especially since the Post-9/11 GI Bill allows dependents to use education benefits until they are 26 years, but at the current time they are not eligible for TRICARE after the age of 21 unless they are a full time student and then they are eligible until their 23rd birthday.
H.R. 4923, if passed, authorizes military dependents, enrolled in DEERS, to continue to receive TRICARE coverage eligibility until 26 years of age. The new health care law has set a precedent for dependent health care and this bill (when signed into law) will ensure that the Military Health system follows suit immediately.
AFSA supports H.R. 4923 and we will do everything we can to see this bill become law. So far we have written a letter to Congressman Heinrich thanking him for introducing this legislation. We are voicing our support for this bill on Capitol Hill. Through our partnership with The Military Coalition we will continue to monitor this legislation and try to gain as many co-sponsors as we can so that this legislation will pass as soon as possible.
We encourage you to contact your Congressional Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor this bill! The Capitol Hill number to call is 1-888-762-8760. Again, please address this issue with your Congressional Representatives in their district offices in your home state over the next two weeks. Your Representatives and Senators are in your home districts NOW and we need you to call them about this issue!
Ask your Representatives to co-sponsor this bill, H.R. 4923, and ask your Senators to introduce a companion bill in the Senate to move this issue forward to a vote!
IMPORTANTLY:
We need you to let us know who you contacted and
if they answered favorably or unfavorably to H.R. 775 and H.R. 4923! By letting
us know this information, we can work on Capitol Hill to make sure that they
co-sponsor this legislation!
V/r,
Bob
SMSgt (ret) Robert (Bob) H. Price
Director, Military & Government Relations
Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA)Office (301) 899-3500 ext 291
Fax: (301) 899-8136
Email: milgov1@hqafsa.org
Address: Airmen Memorial Building5211 Auth Road
Suitland, MD 20746