Date:  June 30, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               NATIONAL CONTACT:

Matt Cary, President

(202) 841-1687

president@vmfp.org

Vets Enter the 21st Century with New GI Bill!

Washington, D.C.:

It has been a long and arduous road, but veterans can finally say America is living up to its promise, thanks to the efforts of Sen. Jim Webb, Congress, and groups like Veterans and Military Families for Progress.     

For the past 17 months, VMFP National President, Matt Cary, Stefan Stent, President of the Capital Region Chapter of VMFP, and other members of VMFP worked closely with members of the House and Senate Armed Services, Veterans Affairs, and with individual legislators to ensure passage of Webb’s Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act which President Bush signed into law today. 

“This is an historic day for our veterans, and our country” Matt Cary said, “like the 1940s version it was modeled after, this new G.I. bill will spark economic growth and expansion as it did during the post-World War II era.  Moreover, it will have a positive effect on military recruitment and offer America’s veterans a more positive readjustment experience and give them opportunities they would not have otherwise had.”

“My sons joined the military knowing the GI Bill would be their only hope for paying for college,” Maura Satchell, VMFP member and mother of two Iraq war veteran sons.  “They realized all too quickly the previous version fell way short of easing their burden.  Webb’s bill is a Godsend, and we’re so grateful Congress saw fit to pass it this year.”

VFMP was one of a large number of veterans organizations advocating for the bill’s passage, fulfilling its mission to ensure that the rights and needs of veterans, active-duty service members and their families are understood by the American public, endorsed by our elected officials, and  protected by legislation, regulation, and public policy initiatives.

Veterans and Military Families for Progress is a 21st Century Veterans organization, recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The 501(c)(4) not-for-profit organization is based in Washington, D.C. and is made up of members from across the country, and from across the breadth of rank and military services, who served, are serving, are members of the National Guard or Reserves, or are members of families of those who have heeded the call to serve their country in the U.S. military.

June 13, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATIONAL CONTACT:                                               

Matt Cary, President, VMFP                                      

Tel: (202) 841-1687                                         

caryassoc@verizon.net                                   

After Tough Battle, Wounded Warrior Bill Becomes Law

Washington, D.C.:  

It took an act of Congress, literally, to ensure America’s injured veterans received the care and consideration they deserve after serving their country, but the Wounded Warrior Act was finally signed into law by President Bush when he approved the Defense Authorization Act in January.  

Attaching the measure to the Pentagon Budget was the only way sponsoring lawmakers felt the legislation would get approved since Bush signaled preference of similar legislation that fell short of addressing the needs of combat-injured members of the National Guard and Reserves.

“To see this kind of opposition to something so important was stunning!”  Matt Cary, president of Veterans and Military Families for Progress said. “We issue a blank check for this administration and the Pentagon to execute the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but when it comes to addressing the ‘coming home’ issues of our veterans, the administration wants to pinch pennies?  You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Based in D.C., Cary and other members of VMFP’s Capital Region Chapter lobbied Congress for more than a year to ensure passage of the act which:

·       Creates the Wounded Warrior Resource Center to serve as the single point of contact for service members, their families, and caregivers to report issues with facilities, obtain health care, and receive benefits information;

·       Requires semi-annual inspections of housing facilities for recovering service members;

·        Requires the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to jointly develop a comprehensive policy on the care and management of members of the armed forces, including the development of fully interoperable electronic health records;

·        Mandates the establishment of new standards for: processing disability evaluations to reduce discrepancies between the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, training for disability evaluation personnel, rating disabilities that take into account  all medical conditions, as well as requiring a pilot program for improving the disability evaluation system;

·       Mandates the establishment of new standards for processing medical evaluations, training and qualifying those performing the evaluations, and assigning independent medical advisors to assist recovering service members and families;

·        Requires a comprehensive policy to address traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other mental health conditions, establishing DOD Centers of Excellence on PTSD and TBI to improve treatment, research, training and rehabilitation, requiring enrollment and registry of TBI patients to ensure continuity of care, guaranteeing veterans  a VA mental health assessment within 30 days of request, expanding hiring to address shortage in mental health professionals, and strengthening DOD training for better detection of PTSD; and

·       Requires a DOD study of the support services provided to families of recovering service members, and a National Academy of Sciences study on the physical and mental health needs of those deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

VMFP, along with partners-in-advocacy Ralph Parrott and Paul Sullivan, directors of Empowering Veterans and Veterans for Common Sense respectively, frequent the halls of Congress and attend most Veterans Affairs and Armed Services committee meetings to remind lawmakers that veterans, service members and their families have a 21st century voice in Congress.

VMFP mentored four other pieces of much-needed legislation for veterans into public law in the first session of the 110th Congress and has a list of some 20 other bills it intends to see passed in the future, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill which won overwhelming bipartisan victories in the House and Senate and is in the final stages of preparation for submission to the President for his signature.

In addition to sponsoring legislation, VMFP endorses and works to elect candidates who support its mission to educate and legislate on behalf of veterans, those currently serving, and military families.  During the 2006 election cycle, the organization saw 16 of its endorsed candidates elected to the House or the Senate. 

Veterans and Military Families for Progress (www.vmfp.org)  is a 501(c)(4) non-partisan, not-for-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.  This 21^st Century organization is made up of members located in all parts of the country, and from across the breadth of rank and military services, who served, are serving, or are family members of those who have heeded the call to serve their country in the U.S. military.

VMFP President Matt Cary will appear on the Pacifica Radio Network on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26th at 10AM Eastern time. Those in the Washington DC Metro Area can listen live on FM Station 89.3.  The program will be accessible to listeners in the DC, Maryland and Northern VA areas, and can be streamed elsewhere from the DC station's website at WPFW.org.  (Click on WPFW Live Radio)

Appearing with Matt will be Retired Col. Richard Klass of the Veterans for Alliance and Security (VETPAC) organization. The discussion will focus on Memorial Day and what it means to our veterans.

There will also be a discussion of the Coming Home Issues for Veterans and their families. 

Getting Aid for Wounded Warriors and Pay Raises for Troops Shouldn’t be Political – or This Difficult

Washington, DC:

Americans sleep soundly in their beds because our troops volunteer to serve and some veterans pay the price for years after. Yet in return for their patriotic sacrifice, President Bush is preparing to veto the National Defense Authorization Act passed in the House and Senate with overwhelming support earlier this month. The bill provides a much-needed pay raise to those serving, and offers security, peace-of-mind, and improved conditions for America’s wounded warriors.

VMFP President Matt Cary Speaks to Coming Home issues on Special Pacifica Radio Veterans’ Day Edition

Joined by VETPAC, MFSO Directors on the one-hour program

Washington, DC: 

Veterans and Military Families for Progress, founded in early 2005, has been at the forefront of calling legislative and public attention to the "Coming Home" issues facing the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Today on Pacifica Radio, at 10AM Eastern, VMFP President Matt Cary will participate on a special one-hour Veterans Day edition recorded live in the Washington, D.C. radio station WPFW, 89.3 FM.  The program will be accessible to listeners in the DC, Maryland and Northern VA and can be streamed elsewhere from the DC station's website at WPFW.org.

The Program's focus will be on the current status of veterans and the coming home issues. Appearing on a Panel with Matt are Dick Klass, Retired Col. U.S. Air Force (a director of VETPAC) and Ann Wright, Retired Col. US Army, Director of MFSO.)

The program will be moderated by DC Radio celebrity Acie Byrd a veteran and VETPAC member. If you do not reside in the Washington, D.C. area you can listen in on your computer live by entering www.wpfw.org. Questions will be taken by the listening audience by dialing 202-588-0893. Please identify yourself as a Veteran with your Branch of Service or a Military Family person.

For more on VMFP, visit its website, or view videos from some of its members and on topics including PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury gathered from its national conference held in late Sept. posted under the "vmfporg" name on YouTube.

The TENNESSEAN

Friday, 10/19/07

Smooth The Process Between Federal Departments
 

By MATTHEW CARY, President

Veterans and Military Families for Progress

The recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have exposed serious bureaucratic problems inside the federal agencies charged with handling the rating of disabilities and the amount of benefits for our wounded soldiers returning home. This is impacting the health-care needs physically and mentally of our veterans and their families being handled quickly and with parity.

Read the Editorial

Wounded and Waiting

A slow medical evaluation process leaves many injured troops in limbo

Kelly Kennedy, Staff writer

The Marine Corps Times

Tuesday Feb 20, 2007

Leaning over the sink in an almost-clean barracks bathroom across the street from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Pvt. Robert Van Antwerp, 20, quickly sheared the hair of his new roommate into a fresh crew cut.

“This is what my dad does when he really wants to get to know someone,” Van Antwerp said, referring to Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp, head of the Army’s Accessions Command. “He cuts hair. Now it’s a family tradition.”

Read the Article

VMFP Calls on President, Congress, & Candidates to Rise Above Differences for Veterans

Washington, DC:

Ellen and Randy Omvig channel the grief they suffer into service to other military families. Their son Joshua took
his own life following a second tour of duty in Iraq, three days before Christmas, 2005. To make sense of the 22-
year-old’s death, the pair work to spread the message of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the illness that,
as much as the handgun, deprived their son of life. The Iowa couple’s ultimate goal is to see the Joshua Omvig
Veteran Suicide Prevention Act get signed into law this year.

“A single Senator is holding it up,” Tom Howe, mentor of the bill for Veterans and Military Families for Progress
said. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has reservations about the bill sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and
co-sponsored by 31 other Senators, and which passed through the House

Veterans Group Calls on President to Show Support for All Wounded Veterans by Signing S-1606 Promptly

Washington, D.C.:

Annette McLeod’s peace of mind is in the hands of Congress and President Bush right now.

Her husband, Dell McLeod, was injured while serving with the U.S. military on the Iraqi border in an accident which left him with several fractured vertebrae and traumatic brain injury.

Now, nearly two years later, the man who gave 19 years to the military was discharged and sent on his way, cane in hand and reliant on Annette for the simplest of things. Annette was even forced to leave her work to care for her dependant spouse. 

Invites President to Show Real Support for Veterans by Naming a Proven Advocate with Strong Leadership Skills to this Cabinet Position

NEW YORK – Matt Cary, President of Veterans and Military Families for Progress, called the recent resignation of Department of Veterans Affairs James Nicholson an opportunity for the president to show he truly does value veterans more than party loyalists by naming a veteran’s advocate that is strong and proven to deal with the serious and pressing issues facing that agency today.

Washington, DC: 
Veterans and Military Families for Progress has quickly captured the attention and the respect of the United States Department of Veteran Affairs. In recognition of the group’s outstanding efforts on behalf of veterans and military families, it has been included in the 2007 VA National Directory and website, gaining approval as an officially endorsed resource more quickly than any organization in the publication’s history.

Washington, DC:

Veteran and Military Family Organization Congratulates Candidates it Endorsed and Welcomes to Congress Those Successful in Their Elections. 

While we celebrate the success of a large number of these campaigns, we especially commend their willingness to place themselves “once more into the breach”, and we thank all of those endorsed for their heroic efforts to help change the direction of this country. We look forward to the service of these endorsed candidates who succeeded in this mission and will be serving in the 110th Congress, as noted below:

Veterans and Military Families for Progress (www.vmfp.org), is honored to endorse the following candidates for U.S. Congress and Senate in the upcoming November general elections. (The list of candidates and their respective seats is attached at the end of this press release.)

I am enthusiastically informing you and your office of the newly-formed Veterans and Military Families for Progress organization. Our mission is to ensure that the rights and needs of veterans, active-duty service members, Guard and Reserve personnel and their families are understood by the American public, endorsed by our elected officials, and protected by regulation and public policy initiatives. VMFP held a Press Conference on May 17th, 2006 at the National Press Club to announce our organization to the public.

Statement of Matthew J. Cary - President
Veterans And Military Families For Progress
National Press Club, Washington, DC
May 16, 2006 12 Noon

Members of the Press, Thank you for attending the first Press Conference of our new 21st Century Veterans and Military Families for Progress Organization. We were formed in February of 2005 at a meeting of veterans and military family members from across the country who were concerned about public policy that has led to the erosion of veterans’ benefits. We decided to create an organization that is dedicated to ensuring that the rights and needs of veterans, active-duty service members, and their families are understood by the American public, endorsed by our elected officials, and protected by public policy initiatives, legislation and regulation.