Final Political Actions for H.R 1544

This past week our nation celebrated Veteran’s Day. A day to honor all those who have served and are currently serving in the armed forces, and to thank them for protecting the liberties that we as Americans hold dear to us. I can’t think of a better way to honor them, than to ensure that they are well provided and cared for.  H.R. 1544 will do just that by ensuring that any veteran who requires mental health services receives it, regardless of previous approval that their illness is “attributable” to the services. If passed, this bill will extend mental health care to thousands of veterans across the country. 

In our previous blog posting, "Our Stance on H.R 1544" we stated the various elements that we intended to carry out in our political action plan. Among, those actions we have successfully fulfilled the majority of them. 

We have spread information about the Veterans Mental Health Accessibility Act to fellow veterans and their families and have even received direct feedback from those citizens, through phone calls and comments on our blog. We have contacted our nursing peers through this blog, word of mouth, as well as major political figures in Virginia like Susan Motley, the CEO of the Virginia Nurses Association (VNA) and Thelma Roach-Serry, the vice president of the VNA. Our group also wrote multiple letters to James Madison University's newspaper The Breeze this past week, in hopes that it would raise awareness about H.R 1544 especially since Veterans Day has just passed. Our most success was met by contacting our local legislators and key stakeholders. We contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs by sending a message to Congressman Jerry Moran, senior member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Also, we contacted different representatives on Subcommittee on Health in hopes to persuade them, more specifically, Congressman  Tom Periello and Representative Michael H. Michaud as well as other representatives for the state of Virginia like Delegate Tony O'Wilt and Senator Mark Obenshain. We received feedback from Aaron Wasserman the representative who covers veterans issues for Congressman Driehaus. 

As well as actions for H.R. 1544 Congressmen Driehaus is a part of a few other bills concerning veterans affairs.  Bill H.R.6230 is meant to exclude bonuses given to military personnel from being used in determining eligibility for assistance or benefits.  The Representative is also part of H.R.303, the Retired Pay Restoration Act, H.R.333, the Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act, and H.R.2698, the Veterans and Survivors Behavioral Health Awareness Act, among several other bills.  All of these bills, cosponsored by Representative Driehaus, will help to improve the lives of our veterans in thanks and appreciation of their service to our country.

Contacting our key stakeholders/legislators

We felt that it was necessary to try and contact the following people for a variety of reasons. 

Susan Motley and Thelma Roach-Serry:  Susan Motley is the CEO of the Virginia Nurses Association (VNA) and Thelma Roach-Serry is the vice president of the VNA.  We decided to contact these two women because they are important members and officers of this particular organization.  The VNA plays a large role in driving policy formation behind our health care system.  Vice President Thelma Roach-Serry is also affiliated with the Richmond Veterans Affairs Medical Center, so we thought that she would find our blog interesting as well as possibly being able to show it to some of her colleagues at the Veterans Affairs Center.

Betty Sutton: she is a cosponsor for our bill, and therefore firmly believes in the bill at hand.  She believes that it is vital to get veterans seen by a professional if they believe they are having problems from active duty combat, whether a physician thinks so or not.  So many of our soldiers need help when they come back from serving our country, and it is vital to make sure we facilitate their transition back to American society after all they have done to serve our country in combat.  We believe this woman will push to have this bill passed and therefore should know we are helping to promote this bill and spread the knowledge of its benefits to others.  

Congressman Tom Periello: Periello is a very important key stakeholder because he is a local representative, representing the 5th district of Virginia, who is in the Veteran's Affairs Committee as well as the subcommittee of Health. Since he is a local representative, there is a better chance of receiving a response from him.  He is most likely already well informed about H.R 1544 and veterans health due to the committees he is assigned.  Also since he has a seat in both the Veteran's Affairs Committee and the subcommittee of Health he has the potential to be very influential on others throughout both relative committees help pass this bill.  

Rep. Michael H. Michaud (ME): As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Rep. Michael H. Michaud has been a key player in passing initiatives that benefit veterans, including passing a provision that increased funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs. His influence in the Subcommittee on Health is vital in passing H.R. 1544. Through email, we have invited Rep. Michaud to visit this blog. 

Group member John Fox: “I have emailed my mother, Maria Fox.  As a child in a military family, with both my mother and father serving in separate branches, I have first hand seen the mental health and psychological effects of service.  If greater access to care was available I believe my upbringing and the family would have been affected for the better, creating a happier, more stable family.  There still may be time for such a bill to have a positive effect on my family, but more importantly, the sooner we act the more it will help other families and the greater military community.  This bill may prevent mental health and psychological problems associated with the burden of service to ones country, or at least help to mitigate its effect on the service person and family.  I believe the continuation and growth of services for our men and women in service is critical to the future as it will ensure a stable foundation for generations to come."

Delegate Tony O'Wilt and Senator Mark Obenshain: are the representatives (legislators) for Harrisonburg in the Virginia State Legislature. Once H.R 1544 has (hopefully) progressed past the Committee Referral Stage, recognition of the act will eventually have to come from these governmental officials as well. Also, the reason it was very hard to contact other key stakeholders on the Veterans Affairs Committee is because a lot of the time one is only allowed to contact legislators from their district. However, making our local delegates and senators aware of this act is just as important in raising it's support.

Steve Driehaus: is the Representative of the 1^st District of Ohio and the main sponsor of our bill.  He is the one that proposed to expand mental health care to our retired veterans.  Therefore, Steve Driehaus has been actively involved in passing H.R. 1544 and we felt that it was of great importance to contact him and politely ask him to view our blog to see the many ideas that we have come up with.

Congressman Jerry Moran:  As a senior member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, improving the quality of life for our nation's veterans has been one of Jerry Moran’s top priorities.  He has been a strong advocate for improving the benefits and health care that veterans of our nation deserve for protecting our country.  Jerry Moran serves on the Subcommittees on Health and on the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. The Subcommittee on Health oversees the health care system for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA).  This man could potentially be a very important influence for the passing of this bill along with the other key stakeholders we have mentioned.