VFW IN D.C.

Veterans’ voices like yours can easily be drowned out in our nation’s capitol. The VFW isn’t afraid to stand and be heard on your behalf. We’re an organization of veterans helping veterans. If we don’t speak for you, who will?

NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE

We don’t wait to hear how legislation will affect veterans, service members and their families; we help shape it from the beginning. We actively lobby Congress and the administration on current veterans issues and needs. LEARN MORE

VFW NATIONAL VETERANS SERVICE

You fulfilled your commitment; now it’s the government’s turn. That was the belief upon which VFW was founded and the basis upon which we operate today. Each year NVS assists more than 120,000 veterans nationwide garnering over a billion dollars in compensation benefits. LEARN MORE

VFW’S NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

We fought in uniform to keep our country safe. Today we continue that fight through our National Security and Foreign Affairs (NS&FA) program. Simply put, NS&FA works to maintain the integrity of our great nation. LEARN MORE

ACTION CORPS

The VFW’s Action Corps is the grassroots lobbying effort of the VFW. Its members — spanning the world — work to inform and educate veterans and service members on the initiatives and policies that affect them. LEARN MORE

PRIORITY GOALS

KEY VICTORIES

The VFW’s legislative initiatives center on quality of life and health initiatives for all the nation's veterans, past and present. The list below details VFW’s 2012 legislative priority goals. You can also access our Priority Goals brochure here.

VA HEALTH CARE

Insist Congress provide sufficient funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs so it continues providing the highest quality care to wounded, ill and injured veterans.
Ensure Congress provides sufficient funding for VA research into the identification, prevention and treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injuries, and other wounds to the mind, exploring alternative treatment options.
Urge Congress to keep women’s issues at the forefront of legislation to continually improve availability and access to VA programs, services and specialists.
Oppose all efforts to eliminate or reduce presumptive service-connected conditions for wounded, ill and injured veterans, as well as to defeat any proposal that would lock out or increase fees on VA Priority Group 7 and 8 veterans.
Provide adequate funding to maintain current building structures and reduce the backlog of critical infrastructure gaps.

Suicides & Homelessness

Address the national crisis where 18 veterans commit suicide every day by ensuring that Congress properly fund DOD and VA awareness and support programs.
Push Congress to properly oversee and fund homeless programs by increasing per diem rates, providing education and career training opportunities and making available substance abuse and mental health services.
Ensure available permanent housing solutions for all homeless veterans—especially female veterans with children.

VA BENEFITS & COMPENSATION

Urge Congress to use its funding and oversight authority to require the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to reduce the claims backlog while improving the overall quality of ratings decisions.
Call on Congress to require VA to install an IT infrastructure that will help transform VA into a 21st century agency. A timely, accurate claim should be what every veteran, service member and eligible family member receives.

SEAMLESS TRANSITION

Demand the creation of one integrated electronic medical and service record that will follow service members from the time they raise their right hands to the time they are buried in a VA cemetery.
Urge Congress and the Administration to improve Transition Assistance Programs to help new veterans successfully transition into civilian life.

MILITARY QUALITY OF LIFE

Oppose all proposals that will damage morale and decimate the all-volunteer force.
Call on Congress to remain fully committed to improving the quality of life for all active duty and Reserve Component members and their families.
Support efforts to lower the Reserve Component retirement pay age to 55.

EDUCATION & EMPLOYMENT

Urge Congress to address the highest unemployment rates among veterans in recent history.
Fight to sustain G.I. Bill benefits; ensuring veterans receive the opportunities they have earned.
Insist on legislation in Congress to strengthen USERRA and reverse legal decisions that tended to favor employers and undermine the employability of our National Guard and Reserve forces.
Ensure Congress mandates that all federal agencies reach the 3-percent government-wide procurement goal for Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses.

DEFENSE & HOMELAND SECURITY

Fully support U.S. troops and their mission to prosecute the war on terrorism, as well as to protect our nation’s citizens and interests around the world.
Ensure defense funding fully supports personnel Quality of Life initiatives, troop end strength requirements, and needed weapons systems development and replacement programs.
Halt the development and/or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, while continuing to develop and deploy a ballistic missile defense system to protect the U.S. and our allies.
Secure U.S. borders, shorelines and all ports of entry against foreign nationals’ intent on doing us harm.

POW/MIA

Achieve the fullest possible accounting of U.S. military personnel missing from all wars.
Ensure the U.S. Government keeps the POW/MIA issue elevated as a national priority.

The VFW has played an instrumental role in nearly every piece of veterans legislation dating back to 1900. Below are a few highlights.

1980 — VFW calls for an investigation into Agent Orange exposure with connection to Vietnam service, leading to the passage of the Agent Orange Act in 1991
2007 — VFW calls for VA/military health care system review after Walter Reed outpatient debacle
2008 — G.I. Bill for the 21^st Century becomes law

View a complete list of VFW’s legislative victories (pdf).

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY

VFW officials continually testify before congressional committees to represent the VFW’s position on related issues. Check out our recent Congressional Testimonies.