Hillary Clinton Unveils Plan to Help Military Families

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton released her plan to assist military families. The plan unveiled today builds upon a previously introduced plan to build upon the Department of Veteran Affairs and ensure veterans receive proper support after they have left the military. The plan includes provision that will not only ensure that the members of our military are supported, but their spouses and children will as well. You can read the full details of the plan on The Briefing, and an outline of the plan is below:

• Realign the Demands of a Military Career in Service to the Nation to Accommodate 21st Century Family Realities While Maintaining a Strong Force
• Ensure that family leave policies meet the needs of our military families
• Increase access to child care for all service members in the Active Duty and Reserve who need it
• Let service members and their families take a knee
• Create the ability to serve in different ways
• Officially include life-cycle and family considerations in permanent moves
• Back Military Spouses as they Pursue Education, Seek Jobs, Build Careers and Secure their Finances
• Enhancing opportunities for military spouse employment and breaking down antiquated rules, such as onerous state credentialing, that lead to military spouse under-employment
• Reforming the assignment process to better support dual-military couples
• Standing side-by-side with families through transition out of the military
• Enhance military families financial planning and protection
• Creating flexibility around military moves
• Ensure Military Children Receive a High-Quality Education and the Resources to Succeed
• Keep Defense Department schools strong and focused
• Elevate public schools with high number of military children
• Preserve and protect the Post-9/11 GI Bill, making it a lasting part of the nation’s social contract for those who serve and their families
• Enhance the Exceptional Family Member Experience
• Bring Key Resources for Military Families in to the Information Age
• Move resources into higher gear with on-line technology
• Increase virtual access and information for families and surrounding communities
• Champion efforts to care for our military members and families
• Ensure continued focus on mental health for military members and families
• Remain committed to extended leave policies
• Continue to support Gold Star Families
• Continue and Build on the Obama Administration’s Effort to Elevate Military Families in the White House and Across Government
• Create a standing President’s Council on Service Members, Veterans, and Military Families
• Establish “Joining Forces” as a permanent part of the Executive Office of the President
• Direct senior White House and Department of Defense civilian and military leadership to conduct a series of town hall meetings to hear directly from service members and their families about their needs
• Personally request and receive a thorough report and 12-month implementation plan on priority areas for improvement based on these town halls

Meanwhile, Clinton attended two fundraisers today. The first was in East Brunswick, New Jersey and included a conversation with Clinton and Senator Cory Booker. In New York City, Clinton attended an event at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. The event included a conversation with her, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and actress Julianna Margulies.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The Briefing

Clinton Unveils Plans for VA

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets audience members following a veterans roundtable discussion with the Truman National Security Project at the VFW Hall in Derry, New Hampshire November 10, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

On Tuesday, Hillary Rodham Clinton attended a round table event with the Truman National Security Project in Derry, New Hampshire. During the event, Clinton outlined her plans to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a department that has been heavily scrutinized for its outdated practices and massive backlog. Clinton said, “These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable. They need to be fixed and they need to be fixed now.” She made it clear that the VA and its processes would not be privatized, but modernized in a way that honors the commitment of the veterans it serves. Clinton then spoke to veterans in attendance and answered to their questions while listening to their concerns. A video from the event will be posted when/if available.

Clinton’s plan is complex and contains multiple facets. The Clinton campaign released a full outline of the plan, and key points are below. CLICK HERE to read the full plan.

• Ensure that Veterans have access to timely and quality health care
• Create a new framework for heath care delivery by the VHA
  • Refocus as a veteran-centric provider of service-connected care
  • Synchronize and coordinate VHA benefits with other programs
  • Strategically purchase private-sector care
  • Establish a VHA Strategic Oversight and Governance Board
• Ensure better communication between the Department of Defense (DoD) and VA
  • Streamline the DoD-VA health care footprint
  • Synchronize procurement to find cost savings
  • Streamline VA and DoD IT Systems
• Improve healthcare for women at the VHA
  • New funding to ensure women equal and respectful access to health services
  • Requiring the provision of reproductive services
  • Broadening initiatives to provide childcare at VA medical facilities
• End the veteran suicide epidemic
  • Increase funding for metal health providers and training
  • Expand programs targeted at providing effective mental heath treatment
  • Promoter better prescriber and treatment practices
  • Ensure that Military Sexual Trauma is acknowledged as a valid form of PTS
  • Encourage state VA departments to include mental health programs
  • Provide proper legal assistance to review and upgrade other than honorable discharge categorizations for those separated from service due to service-connected mental health and cognitive issues, such as TBI, PTS, and addiction
• Continue to identify and treat invisible, latent, and toxic wounds of war
  • Maintain presumptions of service for latent and invisible connected wounds from the Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq war, and Afghanistan war
  • Expand the current VA burn pit registry
  • Dedication research funding and provide mechanisms for collaborative efforts to improve veteran treatments
• End disability benefits and appeals backlog
  • Streamline and simplify the claims process
  • Improve the VA’s partnership with the DoD
  • Launch an Innovation Initiative to develop innovative solutions for sustainably managing the claims and appeals process
• Bring sustained and focused White House leadership to attention
  • Create a standing President’s Council on Veterans
  • Conduct an end-to-end evaluation to optimize the full scope of benefits afforded to our veterans
  • Convene a White House Summit on Veterans
  • Continue to engage private and philanthropic sectors
• Support and broaden initiatives that provide educational benefits, job training, and support for veteran entrepreneurs.
  • Make the post-9/11 GI Bill part of the nation’s social contract with those who serve
  • Expand tax credit for veterans’ employment
  • Improve concurrent certification and credentialing programs
  • Strengthen veteran entrepreneurship programs
  • Create pathways and platforms for service member to enter growing career fields
• Protect veterans
  • Fight back against schools that prey on veterans and the GI Bill
  • Enforce zero tolerance for firms that overcharge service members and veterans
  • Strengthen non-discrimination laws
• Move decisively to end veteran homelessness
  • Increase funding for reducing homelessness while expanding public-private partnerships
  • Expand complementary programs and services
  • Address the needs of homeless women veterans and homeless veteran families
• Support Veterans Treatment Courts nationally
• Recognize the honorable service of LGBT veterans
• Create a culture of accountability, service, and excellence
  • Hold every employee accountable for their performance and conduct
  • Revamp the performance evaluation system
  • Bolster critical whistleblower protections
• Provide budgetary certainty
• Ensure our veterans are buried with the honor, distinction, and integrity they deserve
• Support smart compensation and benefits reform
  • Ensure reforms to military compensation and retirement benefits improve readiness for quality of life
  • Modernize the military health system
• Adopting modern and inclusive personnel policies
  • Attracting millennials to military service
  • Zero-tolerance for Military Sexual Assault and Harassment
  • Welcoming women to compete for all military positions
  • Supporting the DoD policy review on transgender service
• Promote family policies
  • Increase access to child care
  • Create flexibility around military moves
  • Expand military spouse employment initiatives
• Champion efforts to care for our military members and families
  • Ensure continued focus on mental health for military members and their families
  • Remain committed to extended leave policies
  • Continue to support Gold Star Families

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: The Wall Street Journal, The Briefing