U.S. Representative Mary Jo Kilroy today announced an easier process for Veterans seeking health care and disability compensation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), with the publication of a final regulation in the Federal Register by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki....
....Under the new rule, VA would not require corroboration of a stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity if a VA doctor confirms that the stressful experience recalled by a Veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the Veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor. This science-based regulation relies on evidence that concluded that a Veteran’s deployment to a war zone is linked to an increased risk of PTSD.....
.....Kilroy’s bills include:
- Sponsor of H.R. 5056, which would authorize and request the President to award the Medal of Honor posthumously to central Ohioan Major Dominic S. Gentile for acts of valor during the World War II.
- Cosponsor of HR 333, the Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act
- Cosponsor of H.R.1308, Veterans Mental Health Screening and Assessment Act
- Cosponsor of H.R.270, the TRICARE Continuity of Coverage for National Guard and Reserve Families Act of 2009
- Cosponsor of H.R.775, Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act
- Cosponsor of H.R.2583, the Women Veterans Access to Care Act
- Cosponsor of H.R.3441, which would provide for automatic enrollment of veterans returning from combat zones into the VA medical system
Thank you, Mary Jo, for keeping your promises to our military.
Then, we have the voting record of John Kasich. Have you looked at some of the previous votes of John Kasich? When he was in Congress, (see Dispatch 7/7/10) Kasich:
• Voted against raising the minimum wage, and his budget plan would have slashed food stamps and children's nutrition programs.
• "Fought to reduce the Earned Income Tax Credit ...a tax rebate for people who punch in, work hard and don't hide their assets in tax shelters and offshore accounts."
• Supported a 1990s "tax loophole that allowed American billionaires and other really wealthy people to evade taxes by renouncing their American citizenship."
• "Voted repeatedly to increase the cost of college loans ... He wanted to gut the Small Business Administration, with his budget seeking billions in cuts to programs that help fuel the growth and job creation of small businesses."
• Proposed cutting $7 billion from veterans programs, quadrupling veterans' prescription costs, and "cutting benefits for veterans who suffered head wounds and mental traumas and could no longer care for themselves independently."
Kasich had big plans in the 1990's when he was in Congress. He wanted to provide tax cuts for the wealthy, at the expense of poor women and children. For example, Kasich wanted to slash the WIC program (the federal program for Women Infants and Children), which helps provide poor women with formula for infants, and nutritious, healthy food for young children. Luckily, Kasich's cuts did not get through and pass because President Clinton and many Republicans thought Kasich was being too harsh.