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WASHINGTON (March 19, 2010) — The nation's largest and oldest major combat veterans' organization will be watching intently this Sunday when the House of Representatives meets to push through a national healthcare bill.
"We have been repeatedly promised by the president and by senior congressional leaders that the healthcare programs provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the military's Tricare system will remain intact," said Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.
"Yet I remain worried because a free press and an even freer Internet continue to fuel speculation that both systems could be lost and/or absorbed into a larger national healthcare plan," said Tradewell, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis.
In congressional testimony March 9 before a joint hearing of the Senate and House Committees on Veterans Affairs, Tradewell told committee members that "America's veterans and military retirees look to you — our champions in Congress — to protect both programs, and to do so vocally at every opportunity."
Doing so today was Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who introduced H.R. 4887 to explicitly state in law that Tricare and other Defense Department nonappropriated fund health plans are protected from any health reforms currently under consideration by Congress.
“Our nation’s military provides us with first-class protection, and it is our obligation to provide them — and their families — with first-class healthcare in return," said Skelton, who received the VFW's 2010 Congressional Award last week.
"Not knowing is what scares people who have worn the uniform," said Tradewell. "Now is the time for the president and the leadership to step up and reiterate their promises to protect the VA and Tricare systems."
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The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is a nonprofit veterans' service organization composed of combat veterans and those who currently serve on active duty or in the Guard and Reserves. Founded in 1899 and chartered by Congress in 1936, the VFW is the nation's largest organization of war veterans and is one of its oldest veterans' organizations. With 2.1 million members located in 7,900 VFW Posts worldwide, the VFW and its Auxiliaries are dedicated to "honor the dead by helping the living" through veterans service, legislative initiatives, youth scholarships, Buddy Poppy and national military service programs. The VFW and its Auxiliaries contribute more than 13 million hours annually in community service to the nation. For more information or to join, visit the organization's Web site at www.vfw.org.
Contact: Joe Davis, Director of Public Affairs, VFW Washington Office, (o) 202-608-8357, [email protected]
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