Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Section 5) - All Filers Are Required to Complete This Page

9. Check if this filing amends a previously filed version of this report

LOBBYING ACTIVITY. Select as many codes as necessary to reflect the general issue areas in which the registrant engaged in lobbying on behalf of the client during the reporting period. Using a separate page for each code, provide information as requested. Add additional page(s) as needed.

15. General issue area code VET

16. Specific lobbying issues

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY GOALS FOR VETERANS: [See Next Page]
Contacts made on the following legislative initiatives:
HR 23 -- Belated Thank You to the Merchant Marines of WWII Act would grant a $1,000 monthly benefit to individuals who served in the Merchant Marines between 12/07/41 and 12/31/46; HR 249 --The Tax Relief and Fulfilling Our Obligation to Patriotic Soldiers Act by not taxing enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, legislation would enhance bonuses that attract new recruits into military specialties that are in high demand; HR 819 -- legislation which provides Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits to surviving spouses of former prisoners of war (POW), which also seeks to extend the receipt of DIC benefits to surviving spouses of former POWs who died on or before September 30, 1999 and will ease the financial strain left on survivors of POWs who do not currently qualify for DIC benefits; HR 1168 -- The Veterans Retraining Act would provide veterans with the training they need to seek meaningful employment; HR 1169 -- legislation that would amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the amount of assistance provided by VA to disabled veterans for specially adapted housing, automobiles and equipment; HR 1209 -- The Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Act; HR 1295 -- The Service Members' Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension Act would ensure that members of the Armed Forces are not denied the first-time homebuyer tax credit granted to them under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as a result of theircurrent station outside of the United States; HR 1681 -- The Veterans Transitional Assistance Act would rationalize the transition process from DOD to VA; HR 1701 -- The PTSD/TBI Guaranteed Review for Heroes Act; HR 1821 -- The Equity for Injured Veterans Improvement Act to give rise to many befeficial improvements tot h Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) assistance program by providing childcare assistance to single-parent veterans with children and extendining the period of eligibility from 12 years to a more adequate 15 years; HR 2017 -- legislation that would grant the Military Officer Association of America (MOAA) a federal charter; HR 2082 -- The Military and Overseas Voting Enhancement Act to improve voting access and absentee ballot accountability for members of the armed services; HR 2126 -- The Correspondence With Our Heroes Act would allow active duty Armed Forces members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as service members who are hospitalized due to injury or disease incurred in Iraq and Afghanistan, to receive one piece of mail per month free of charge to the sender; HR2243 -- The Surviving Spouses Benefit Improvement Act would raise the amount of VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to an amount equal to 55% of VA disability compensation for a 100% disabled veteran; HR 2352 -- The Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act would expand the Small Veteran Business Center program within the Small Business Administration to serve as an outlet and resource for veteran business owners; HR 2379 -- The Veterans Group Life Insurance Act would allow those covered by Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI) to purchase additional coverage once every five years; HR 2393 -- The Military Voting Protection (MVP) Act would ensure that the ballots cast by service members stationed overseas are delivered to the appropriate state election officials by the jurisdiction's statutory deadline, while safeguarding voter privacy and ballot secrecy; HR 2410 -- would increase the likelihood that qualiofied individuals would become employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State; HR 2456 -- The Veterans Education Tuition Support Act; HR 2562 -- Service Members Home Ownership Act would extend the first-time homebuyer credit to members of the Armed Forces who are deployed during 2009; HR 2874 -- Helping Active Duty Deployed Act would discharge the student loans of students called to active duty.


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S. CON. RES. 20 would honor the World War 1 (WWI) veterans by permitting the last WWI veteran to lie in the rotunda of th Capitol upon his death; S. 263 -- the Servicemembers Access to Justice Act would close several loopholes and strengthen the protections in current law to ensure that servicemembers' and veterans' employment and reemployment rights are effectively enforced under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA); S. 315 -- The Veterans Outreach Improvement Act would increase congressional oversight of the VA's outreach activities and authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to work with state, local and community-based organizations to perform outreach; S. 407 -- The Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act alows our disaled veterans and their dependents to keep pace with the rising costs of goods and services; S. 514 -- The Veterans Rehabilitation and Training Improvements Act would require the amount of subsistence allowance paid to a veteran for a month n which the veteran participates in a VA rehabilitation program to be equal to the national average of the basic allowance for housing paid to a member of the Armed Forces in pay grade E-5; S. 663 -- The Belated Thank You to the Merchant Marines of WWII Act would amend Title 46 USC to provide benefits to certain individuals who served in the Merchant Marines during WWII; S. 691/S. 746 -- to allow the VA to establish national cemeteries in Eastern Nebraska and southern Colorado; S. 728 -- The Veterans Insurance and Benefits Enhancement Act addresses a broad range of veterans benefits and improves services for both young and old veterans; S. 820 -- would improve the lives of the the nation's most seriously disabled service-connected veterans; S 842 -- provides needed foreclosure protection for military families; S. 847 -- would allow those receiving Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits to be exempt from the 48-month total educational benefits restriction; S. 1015 -- would enhance disability compensationf or disabled veterans in need of aid and attendance for residuals of tramatic brain injury and for disabled veterans with difficulties using prostheses; S. 1106 -- Selected Reserve Continuum of Care Act would provide medical and dental treatment for members of the Guard and Reserve to guarantee medical readiness.

17. House(s) of Congress and Federal agencies Check if None

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, U.S. SENATE, Veterans Affairs - Dept of (VA), Defense - Dept of (DOD)

18. Name of each individual who acted as a lobbyist in this issue area

19. Interest of each foreign entity in the specific issues listed on line 16 above Check if None

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Information Update Page - Complete ONLY where registration information has changed.

20. Client new address

21. Client new principal place of business (if different than line 20)

22. New General description of client’s business or activities

LOBBYIST UPDATE

23. Name of each previously reported individual who is no longer expected to act as a lobbyist for the client

ISSUE UPDATE

24. General lobbying issue that no longer pertains

AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS

25. Add the following affiliated organization(s)

Internet Address:

26. Name of each previously reported organization that is no longer affiliated with the registrant or client

FOREIGN ENTITIES

27. Add the following foreign entities:

28. Name of each previously reported foreign entity that no longer owns, or controls, or is affiliated with the registrant, client or affiliated organization