Tikkum Olam Alerts

Tikkun Olam E-Mail Alert
March 3rd, 2008
Jewish War Veterans

Background

On Wednesday and Thursday, March 5th and 6h, the Jewish War Veterans are having their Capitol Action Days in Washington. They have several key legislative goals, which meet the Jewish mandate of justice, justice you shall pursue. They include:

• Expand outreach and intervention programs directed at homeless veterans. Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people, representing roughly 26% of the homeless. This is on the rise, including homeless female veterans;
• A major overhaul of the disability ratings process to provide wounded service members comprehensive and fair disability ratings and benefits prior to their medical separation or retirement from active duty;
• A Total Force Approach to the Montgomery GI Bill. There have been no significant upgrades to the Montgomery GI Bill since prior to 9/11. A weak GI Bill harms recruiting, hurts transition to civilian life, and denies the nation the time-tested benefits of a better educated, higher-paid workforce with military experience.
• Disabled Veterans Tax fairness - For thousands, even tens of thousands of disabled veterans, VA decisions on their appealed claims can take years to resolve. Jewish War Veterans (JWV) is asking Congress to enact “look back” legislation to remove the three-year statute of limitations for filing amended tax returns for veterans who have not received timely disability determinations from the VA;
• Mandatory Funding for VA health care systems, plus an upgrade to polytrauma and specialty care services for vets with multiple trauma injuries, traumatic brain injury, and eye injuries;

Jewish Values and Welfare

Since the earliest days of our nation’s history, Jews have served in the armed forces. While these measures are brought to our attention by Jewish War Veterans, they will better the lives of all of those who have fought for our country. As a movement, the Union for Reform Judaism has expressed profound concern about the current use of our military, but we have always affirmed our nation’s obligation to adequately provide for those who have served.

Action Needed

While you probably are not able to go to Washington on March 5th and 6th, you can contact Senators Casey and Specter and Representative Pitts supporting some or all of the above positions. We do not have specific bills to state but a general comment about your support for fair and increased support of our veterans can be made. Contact information follows.

For more information, go to http://www.jwv.org.

Contact Information

Sen. Robert P. Casey
B-40 Dirksen Senate Building, Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-6324 | Fax: 202-228-0604

or

Harrisburg Office
555 Walnut Street, First Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717-231-7540

Sen. Arlen Spector
711 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-4254

Rep. Joe Pitts
420 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-2411 |  Fax:  202-225-2013

or

Lancaster County Court House
50 North Duke Street, Lancaster, PA 17602
Phone: 717-393-0667 | Fax: 717-393-0924