BONUS: A look ahead to the next Congress

By Patrick Pellerin
Legislative Director

The midterm elections held in 2002 are historic because it is the first time since 1934 that the party of a sitting President has won seats in both the House and Senate in a non-presidential election year. Following the final results, the Republicans have a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate. In the House, the Republicans now have a 230 to 205 advantage. How will this impact veterans? A look at the chairmen of the two committees and possible legislative initiatives follows.

House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees

It is expected that Christopher Smith, R-N.J., will remain the Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Rep. Smith will be starting his 12th consecutive term in the House of Representatives. He was first elected Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee in January 2001. He was selected to serve as vice chairman of the House International Relations Committee and was Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He also serves as Co-Chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life, Alzheimer’s and Autism caucuses.

Rep. Smith is a native of New Jersey. He studied business administration at what is now the College of New Jersey and studied comparative government as a visiting student in Worcester, England. He served as executive director of New Jersey Right to Life and worked in the sporting goods business.

He is a strong advocate for veterans, as indicated by the bills enacted into law during the 107th Congress.

On the Senate side, with the Republicans taking power, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., will take the chairmanship from Sen.John D. Rockefeller, D-W.V. Sen. Specter was first elected to the Senate in 1980. Prior to that, he was the first Republican elected to public office in Philadelphia in more than a decade when he became district attorney at age 35. His performance as district attorney led to his appointment to the Warren Commission investigating President Kennedy’s assassination.

He has been a strong supporter of veteran’s issues for years.

In addition, there will be several new members of the Committee, because many Senators retired and one died at the end of the last Congress. Final committee assignments will take place in early January.

Regardless of the final make-up of the two committees, there are a number of veterans issues that will be debated in the next Congress:

Tax Fairness

The Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act of 2002 died in the last Congress after getting very close to passage. The final version would have exempted the full $6,000 death gratuities for active-duty deaths from income taxes. The bill also would have allowed Reserve and National Guard members to deduct up to $1,500 a year in travel and lodging expenses when attending weekend drills.

And, the bill would have allowed service members extra time when their military orders prevented them from qualifying for tax exemptions on the gain from selling their homes.

Many expect this bill to be put high on the agenda for the next Congress.

Back-Ups at VA Medical Centers

The problem of lengthy waits for initial doctor visits at Veterans Affairs Medical Centers continues. It is estimated that more than 300,000 veterans are waiting for appointments at VA health care facilities, and VA predicts that another 600,000 veterans will enroll in its health care system by the end of 2003. VRNA will support any legislative measures that might come in the next Congress to alleviate this growing concern of all our veterans.

Defense Spending

President Bush has indicated that he wants to increase defense spending by about $14 billion in the coming year. This would raise total defense spending to $378.5 billion in fiscal-year 2004, which begins on Oct. 1, 2003.

According to news reports, the proposal would not eliminate any major new weapons but would reduce purchases of a new Army helicopter and a new Air Force fighter jet and impose conditions on the Navy’s construction of a new aircraft carrier. It is reported that it would boost spending for unmanned aerial vehicles and Special Operations Forces that have proved important in the counterterrorism war.

Education Center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and 63 co-sponsors would allow the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to construct an underground center to display pictures and stories of the veterans whose names are on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, known as “The Wall,” in Washington, D.C.

One senator put a hold on the project despite overwhelming support from other senators and the veterans community. That senator has retired, so there is renewed hope that this project can get underway quickly.

This center would allow the site’s more than 4.4 million annual visitors to learn about the memorial, as well as encourage young people to learn more about the Vietnam War as they tour Washington, D.C. The education center would serve as a facility to collect written and digital remembrances of those whose names are inscribed on the memorial, helping to remember those who served while healing the deep societal divisions resulting from the Vietnam War.

VRNA fully supports the development of this much-needed center.

With the House and Senate both Republican, initial indications are that the White House and the Republican leadership in Congress are going to push for a number of key items impacting not just veterans, but all our citizens, including:

Health Care

• Pass a Medicare overhaul that adds a prescription-drug benefit provided through private insurers and injects more competition into the system
• Create refundable tax credits to purchase health insurance
• Resurrect the Republican version of the patient’s bill of rights legislation that will include association health plans
• Expand the availability of medical savings accounts

Tax Cuts and Economic Policies

• Enact legislation to make last year’s $1.35 trillion tax cut permanent. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., slated to take either the Budget Committee chairmanship or a position in the leadership of the Senate, is an outspoken supporter of making the tax cuts permanent.
• Speed up and make permanent the repeal of the estate tax
• Accelerate income tax rate-cuts scheduled for 2004
• Pass an economic package that includes new investment tax breaks for businesses (increasing capital loss limits, for example), higher limits on retirement savings account deposits, reducing taxes that individuals pay on corporate dividends and increasing the amount of stock losses that can be deducted from taxes

Social Policy

• Extend welfare reform legislation with tougher work requirements.
• Approve the President’s judicial nominees.
• Ban “partial-birth abortion.”
• Approve legislation allowing the federal government to provide aid to “faith-based” charities.

Energy

• Open more of the Western United States to oil and gas exploration.
• Support legal protections that might pave the way for resuming the construction of nuclear power plants.
• Open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.
• Promote the building of new pipelines and electricity transmission lines.

Social Security

• Promote a plan to allow younger workers to steer some of their payroll taxes into private investment accounts

When the new Congress convenes in early January, the first order of business will be to finish with the appropriations bills that were left hanging at the end of the last Congress. This will probably be completed through one Omnibus bill that will include appropriations for all the government agencies not covered by legislation passed prior to the end of the last Congress.

Throughout this next Congress VRNA will continue to stay on top of all legislative matters that impact veterans. And, we will be calling on our members to join in the continuing effort to protect and preserve the rights of the many men and women who gave their blood, sweat, tears, time and energy to the defense of this great country.

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