WASHINGTON, DC – On Friday, the Las Vegas Sun posted an editorial praising Senator Jacky Rosen’s leadership in standing up for veteran’s benefits and resources following the introduction of her bipartisan Veterans Assistance Helpline Act. The bill with Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) would permanently maintain a helpline for veterans to quickly obtain information and assistance with all services from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Las Vegas Sun: EDITORIAL – Congress can show commitment to veterans by following Rosen’s lead
Key Points:
- Kudos to Nevadas own U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, who this week introduced the Veterans Assistance Helpline Act. The bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to permanently maintain a toll-free telephone help line that connects military veterans, their immediate family members and their caregivers to VA services and benefits available in their area.
- The VA established 800-MyVA411, a limited version of the hotline, in 2020, but it was never codified and thus both the hotline’s existence and the services it provides are subject to annual political and budgetary whims. Rosen’s bill seeks to change that.
- It’s the third time Rosen has teamed up with Deb Fischer, R-Neb., to introduce a version of this bipartisan bill. Previous iterations died in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. That cannot happen again.
- We’re calling on committee chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., and ranking committee member Jerry Moran, R-Kan., to follow the example set by Rosen and Fischer and move the bill forward this year for the well-being of our nation’s veterans.
- The Senate should move swiftly to pass Rosen and Fischer’s bipartisan legislation, starting with the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee which has no excuse for their previous failures to move the legislation forward.
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