Nevada has one of the fastest growing veterans' communities in the nation. Today, one in six Nevadans are veterans, and this number will continue to grow in the future. Our soldiers, veterans, and their families deserve nothing but the best from our government, and I have long fought to ensure that veterans receive the retirement and health care benefits that they were promised when they enlisted.
Senator Harry Reid: Fighting for Nevada's Bases, Troops and Veterans (PDF)
Senator Harry Reid: Fighting for Our Troops (PDF)
Senator Harry Reid: Strengthening Our Military (PDF)
21st Century G.I. Bill: A Victory For Nevada’s Veterans
I am proud to have supported the new G.I. Bill by ushering it through the Senate and co-sponsoring the legislation upon which it was based: Senator Jim Webb’s Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007 (S.22).
The new G.I. Bill will help our veterans readjust to civilian life by helping them afford the education necessary for success back home. At a time when two million men and women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and when our troops have had to endure multiple deployments, giving them the opportunity to fuel our future economy is the least we can do. We can never fully repay our veterans for their service, but with the new G.I. Bill, we can fulfill our pledge to continue supporting veterans beyond their tours of duty. To learn more about the G.I. Bill, click here to visit the Department of Veterans Affairs' Web site.
Senator Harry Reid with Nevada veterans of the Women’s Air Service Pilots who were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on March 11, 2010.
Air America
Air America was a top-secret passenger and cargo airline owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War. Despite accepting high-risk missions in the service of our government – 86 Air America pilots and crew members were killed in action -- the veterans of Air America have been denied federal retirement benefits. This is why I introduced the Air America Veterans Act. I was able to include this legislation in the Department of Defense Authorization Act for 2010, beginning the process of providing Air America veterans with federal retirement benefits by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to determine who would be eligible. This study is on-going, and upon completion, these veterans will be much closer to finally receiving the benefits they deserve.
Cold War Heroes
The Cold War is a period of great import in the history of our democracy. In the face of the Soviet threat, brave Americans made significant sacrifices to protect the integrity of the Republic. Lamentably, those who gave their lives in the Cold War have never been properly honored. Perhaps no state in the Union played a more significant role than Nevada in winning the Cold War. Of the 1,149 nuclear detonations conducted by the US as part of its nuclear testing program, 1,021 were performed at the Nevada Test Site. Many Nevadans sacrificed their lives for our country during the Cold War, and our state continues to bear the cost of the Cold War effort. As part of the Omnibus Lands Bill package, we were able to pass the Cold War Historical Sites Study Act, which requires the Department of the Interior to evaluate sites and resources for commemorating and interpreting the Cold War, including the Mount Charleston Plane Crash Memorial. This legislation will provide long-due recognition to our fallen by commemorating the heroes of the Cold War and teaching future generations about this seminal moment in American history.
Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC)
I worked with the CARES commission on veterans health to open a now fully-operational CBOC in Fallon. I am also continuing my efforts to develop new CBOCs in Elko and Laughlin, and four new CBOCs to serve the Las Vegas area.
Concurrent Receipt
I have long fought to ensure that our disabled veterans receive both the disability and retired pay that they have earned. Current law prevents veterans classified as disabled by VA from collecting both disability pay and retirement pay, known as "concurrent receipt," regardless of the fact that they are eligible for both. As a result, Nevada's veterans have faced the obstacle of forfeiting retirement pay dollar-for-dollar if they received disability compensation. In some cases, this practice eliminates the entirety of the retirement pay to which they are entitled. On March 9, 2009, I introduced the Retired Pay Restoration Act (S.546), legislation that will eliminate the remaining obstructions to concurrent receipt so that all disabled veterans will be ensured the full benefits that have so justly earned and deserve. This year, I will again offer the text of this legislation as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in an effort to continue to expand the benefit.
Homeless Veterans
Last year, I worked to provide $420,000 towards funding a homeless veterans’ shelter and a job training program in Southern Nevada. $250,000 has been allocated through the Veterans Workforce Investment Program to address the employment and training needs of eligible veterans and $170,000 has been allocated through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program to reintegrate homeless veterans into the labor force.
New Las Vegas Veterans’ Hospital
I am pleased to report that construction on the new Las Vegas Veterans Hospital and Community Living Center has continued on track for its scheduled opening in 2012. In the last three years, I have secured more than $600 million for this project. When all phases are complete, the new VA Southern Nevada Health Care System Medical Center complex will consist of 90 inpatient beds, a 120 bed Nursing Home Care Unit, an Ambulatory Care Center, administrative and support functions, and space for Veterans Benefits Administration offices.
Nevada Senator Harry Reid filed a Supreme Court amicus brief supporting the family of fallen Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder. After Snyder was killed in Iraq in 2006, members of a Kansas church marred his funeral with ugly, hateful protests. Reid believes that America owes the men and women of the Armed Forces a solemn memorial when they sacrifice their lives to protect America. He was was joined today by Snyder's father and members of the VFW, American Legion, and Military Officers Association of America.
In 2006, members of an extremist Kansas church interrupted the funeral of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder, who was killed serving our nation in Iraq, with ugly and hateful protests. I supported the Senate's successful effort to pass the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act (P.L. 109-228), which prohibits such demonstrations on or near the grounds of military cemeteries. In May of this year, I led 57 of my colleagues in filing an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court to support Lance Corporal Snyder's family. The Snyder family won a judgment against the protestors in a lower court, but this decision was overturned at the appellate level. While the Supreme Court will consider this case in the fall, I continue to strongly believe that America owes the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families the right to a solemn memorial when they sacrifice their lives to protect America.
To learn more about the amicus brief and to read my letter about its filing, please click here.
Support For Wounded Warriors
I was proud to recently usher the passage of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act (S. 1963) through Congress. This sweeping legislation will provide unprecedented levels of support for caregivers of seriously injured veterans, veterans in rural areas, women veterans, and homeless veterans. This will have a tangible effect on the well-being of American veterans and those who care for them: it will fulfill the VA’s obligation to the nation’s wounded veterans by providing their caregivers with training, counseling, support, and a living stipend; it will expand services in rural areas; it will ensure that veterans who are catastrophically disabled or who need emergency care in the community are not inappropriately charged for those services; and it will improve veterans’ access to mental health care.
Supporting Our Mobilized Guardsmen and Reservists
Many of our members of the National Guard and Reserves incur a loss of income when they are mobilized. Deployments are demanding enough on Service Members and their families without the added stress of being placed in financial hardship. This is why I introduced the Voluntary Support for Reservists and National Guard Members Act (S.1166), which helps offset a loss of income as a result of involuntary deployments through the Reserve Income Replacement Program (RIRP).
This bill would allow Americans to designate all or a portion of their income tax refunds to the Reserve Income Replacement Program. The Program is an entitlement that must be paid to all eligible Service Members when they incur a loss in monthly compensation as a result of a mobilization. The funds that volunteers donate will be transferred from the Treasury Department to this program, which was developed specifically to provide payments to eligible members of the National Guard and Reserve who are involuntarily serving on active-duty and who are experiencing a monthly active-duty income differential of more than $50. In 2007, the IRS issued 106 million refunds that totaled $246 billion with the average refund coming in at $2,342. Even a small percentage of this amount could make a significant difference in the lives of these reservist and National Guard families.
If you have lost income as a result of your deployment, please click here.
TRICARE
I have always supported protecting and improving TRICARE beneficiaries’ access to care. For instance, I repeatedly and successfully fought attempts by the previous administration to raise fees for TRICARE beneficiaries and supported defense authorization acts in the last two sessions of Congress that prohibited the Department of Defense from increasing premiums, deductibles, co-payments, and other charges for TRICARE beneficiaries. Most recently, I helped to pass legislation extending current TRICARE physician reimbursement rates, allowing VA doctors to continue see new patients, conduct outreach to rural areas, and allow them to make needed improvements to their practices in order to continue giving the best care possible. I will continue working hard to seek a permanent solution to the TRICARE physician payment problem.
Veterans Benefits Claim Processing
I supported a number of provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5) that will directly benefit our veterans. Given the difficulty many veterans encounter when filing disability claims, I was pleased that this legislation included funding for additional VA claims processing staff and support, which will help get benefits out sooner and more accurately. More than $5 million of this funding went directly to the Reno VA Hospital to improve the quality of care for Northern Nevada veterans.
Veterans Homes
Due to space inadequacies, the residents of the home are currently eating their meals in eight separate locations. This decentralized distribution of both staff and residents has created a safety concern at meal times. As a result, I have called on the Veterans Administration to ensure that the Boulder City Veterans Home would receive a VA state home construction grant to establish a central dining facility.
In addition, I have been working to provide the federal funding necessary to build a new veterans home in Northern Nevada.
Senator Reid's Accomplishments
The Path to College: Resource Guide for Nevada Students
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