RSS
Nelson Votes For Nebraskans' Views To Be Heard In Health Care Debate
Nelson: Nebraskans' Views Must Be Heard In Health Care Debate
Nelson Posts Health Care Bill On His Website
Nelson Statement on Health Care Motion to Proceed
Read More > >
October 22, 2009 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson applauded the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 by the full Senate, which addresses key personnel concerns and his call for benchmarks to assess progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nelson voted for the legislation, which passed the Senate this evening.
“As Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee I’m pleased to see this bill pass because it fixes several problems that we investigated in subcommittee hearings,” said Nelson. “It fixes problems in the voting process for overseas troops; it includes a continued call for additional measures of progress to help assess the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan; and it keeps reservists and guard members from being stranded on base and away from family due to training cancellation.”
Two particular measures introduced by Nelson earlier this year, TRICARE Gray and Operation Airlift, were included in the legislation. The budget-neutral TRICARE gray measure ensures nearly 225,226 eligible retirees nationwide have the opportunity to purchase coverage under the military’s TRICARE health care program.
Operation Airlift, Nelson’s other stand-alone legislation, arose in response to complications Nebraska service members experienced in December 2007 when 48 members of the 110th Medical Battalion based in Lincoln became stranded at Fort Lewis, Washington, when training was suspended and the base was shut down for the holidays. The defense bill prohibits the military from scheduling mobilization and pre-mobilization training for guard and reserve units if it is anticipated that the training will be suspended unless the Secretary determines that it is in the interest of the national security of the United States and waives the restriction. This would address the problem brought to Senator Nelson's attention and keep mobilized reserve and guard units from being stranded on base during long training breaks.
The legislation also includes Nelson-sponsored language to solve obstacles faced by military and overseas voters. The provision harnesses technology to speed up the voting process by allowing registration and ballot requests to be sent electronically, ensures that military and overseas voters have time to vote by requiring ballots to be sent out 45 days before the election, allows blank ballots to be sent electronically, and provides some flexibility to states who cannot meet the 45-day deadline, as long as they come up with an alternative plan to ensure time to vote. The legislation also requires the Department of Defense to play a more significant role in facilitating voter registration and in collecting and returning voted ballots in cooperation with the Postal Service.
“Voting is a fundamental American right,” said Nelson. “This is a bipartisan provision that solves a persistent problem that has dogged our troops and overseas voters for years. Our military forces serving overseas protect our rights, and today we have helped to protect theirs.”
The bill, among its many benefits to military members and their families, authorizes a 3.4 percent across-the-board pay raise, 0.5 percent above the budget request. It also increased the overall size of the force. The bill also does the following:
•Requires the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a plan by September 30, 2013 to increase the number of military and civilian behavioral health personnel, and to consider the feasibility of additional officer and enlisted specialties as behavioral health counselors.
•To begin to address the capability gaps identified in mental health care, the bill authorizes the service secretaries to add up to 25 officers each year as students at accredited schools of psychology for training leading to the degree of Doctor of Psychology in clinical psychology.
•Requires person-to-person mental health assessments at designated intervals for service members deployed in connection with contingency operations.
•Requires the Secretary of Defense to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of military deployment on dependent children of service members, and a review of the mental health care and counseling services available to military children.
•Expresses the Sense of the Senate on various aspects of State implementation of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and encourages all remaining states to enact the measure.
In addition to measures with regard to personnel, Senator Nelson continued to advocate for measures of progress for the new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which were incorporated into the final bill.
“The American people and the men and women serving in Afghanistan and Pakistan deserve to have a set of objective measures for the U.S. strategy in that region, so we can ensure it is the best strategy to achieve stability and success,” said Nelson.
###
Search: Afghanistan, Defense, Budget, National Security, Troops and Veterans, Press