Sara Samora

Veterans who are not American citizens will have their US military service considered before being deported

Veterans who are not American citizens and are detained by law enforcement officials will now have their U.S. military service considered before they are deported.

President Joe Biden hands a pen to Marine Corps veteran Kate Hendricks' son Matthew after Biden signed a bill named after his late mother during an event in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Two bills that expand mammogram access for female veterans become law

The bill signings came two months after the death of Kate Hendricks Thomas, a Marine veteran who advocated for better health care for veterans exposed to burn pit toxins.

Veteran advocates joined Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on Tuesday to push for the Senate to pass the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, also known as the PACT Act. The bill would expand eligibility for health care and benefits to all veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins.

Senators, vet advocates call on lawmakers to pass burn pits bill

The PACT Act seeks to provide an easy path to health care and benefits for veterans who served near open-air burn pits.

The Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C., is shown in this undated file photo.

Lawmakers urge VA to provide more information about accessibility to its websites for individuals with disabilities

Ten lawmakers wrote a letter Monday to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough urging the agency to improve its websites to make them more accessible to people with disabilities.

Senators urge VA to speed up certifying drivers to help veterans get to doctor appointments

Three senators have written a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough urging the agency to speed up its process for certifying volunteer drivers to assist veterans who need help traveling to health care appointments.

VA secretary sets goals to house more veterans in LA, prevent homelessness

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough says the agency will get more veterans into homes this year in Los Angeles and help prevent homelessness.

World War II Army veteran Ruth Jones, 97, who served as a surgical technician in the Women’s Army Corps from 1945-1947, leaves the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Jones said when she enlisted in the Army, her name and address had been put in the Stars and Stripes because of a contest she took part in to see who could bring in the most newspapers. "Because you salvage them in the war, and I happened to fill the quota of that particular month, and so they put my picture in the Stars and Stripes, and an RAF guy in England saw it and he started writing to me.”

More than 100 women veterans from Florida take part in all-female Honor Flight

It took almost three years to make happen, but 109 women veterans from Florida were finally able to visit the nation’s capital and see memorials that honor those who served.

Vets groups, advocates rally in DC to urge the Senate to pass legislation to help veterans exposed to toxins

Comedian Jon Stewart joined veterans service organizations on urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would expand eligibility for health care and benefits to all veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins.

VA launches $20M challenge to help reduce veteran suicides

Officials for the Department of Veteran Affairs on Wednesday announced a $20 million challenge that invites the public to find ways to reduce the veteran suicide rate.

Bob Workman of Boston, a retired Marine Gunnery Sgt., and past commander of the Boston Police VFW, replaces flags at veteran's graves ahead of Memorial Day on Thursday, May 27, 2021, in the Fairview Cemetery in Boston. After more than a year of isolation, American veterans are embracing plans for a more traditional Memorial Day. After more than a year of isolation, military veterans say wreath-laying ceremonies, barbecues at local vets halls and other familiar traditions are a welcome chance for them to reconnect with fellow service members and renew solemn traditions honoring the nation's war dead. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

VA to host public Memorial Day ceremonies at national cemeteries for first time since pandemic began

The Department of Veterans Affairs will host public ceremonies throughout the United States for the first time in two years since the coronavirus pandemic began.

An airman tosses unserviceable uniform items into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq, on March 10, 2008.

Senators reach agreement on health care, benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins

The PACT Act seeks to provide an easy path to health care and benefits for veterans who served near open-air burn pits, which were used throughout the 1990s and the post-9/11 wars to burn garbage, jet fuel and other materials.

More than a year after after the test of a new records system began in October 2020, a Spokesman-Review investigation found problems with the system continue to threaten patient safety and have left employees at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane exhausted and demoralized, with nearly two-thirds saying in a recent internal survey it has made them consider quitting.

DOD, VA did not do enough to make new electronic health record system work, IG audit finds

A joint inspector general audit of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments found the agencies did not do enough to exchange electronic health records information because interagency program officials did not direct or develop a clear plan for the system to work.

In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, file photo, Secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee Denis McDonough speaks during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on Capitol Hill, in Washington. In an announcement Saturday, June 19, 2021, McDonough said that the Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to offer transgender veterans gender confirmation surgery.

VA secretary says proposed $300B budget would improve, save the lives of millions of veterans

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told House lawmakers Thursday that agency officials are requesting the largest VA budget in history because it will improve or save the lives of millions of veterans.

New electronic records system crashes at VA hospitals as lawmakers question officials about earlier system outages

House lawmakers told officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs this week to halt their launch of the agency’s new electronic health records system at any other facilities until the problems that caused outages at the first two medical centers to use the new system are fixed.

VA opens applications for suicide prevention grant program

The Department of Veterans Affairs has open applications for a new grant program that will allow the agency to provide funds for community-based suicide prevention efforts.

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Sara Samora

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