Congressional hearing in Bentonville aimed at heading off problems for veterans
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Daily Record photograph by Charles Fowler U. S. Congressman John Boozman, R-Ark., and Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S. D., opened the meeting at Northwest Arkansas Community College for the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on Monday.
BENTONVILLE - At a congressional field hearing in Bentonville on Monday, two members of Congress and some expert witnesses looked at problems encountered by veterans and took suggestions about how to solve or avoid them.
The Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity met Monday at Northwest Arkansas Community College, with the hearing chaired by U. S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S. D.
The ranking member on the committee is U. S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark.
The hearing was about legislation, including the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
The former, USERRA, is intended to minimize the disadvantages that occur for an individual when that person needs to be absent from his or her civilian employment to serve in the nation's uniformed services, Boozman said.
The latter, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, SCRA, expanded and improved the former Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act.
The act provides a wide range of protections intended to postpone or suspend certain civil obligations to enable servicemembers to devote full attention to duty and relieve stress on the family members of those deployed servicemembers.
Some outstanding credit-card debt, mortgage payments and taxes are among examples of those civil obligations that may be suspended.
Appearing before the subcommittee were Paige Smith, the spouse of a member of the National Guard, Family Support Group for the Brigade; Michael Merritt, member, Arkansas National Guard; Capt. Thomas A. Lee, staff judge advocate, Arkansas Military Department; Maj. Gen. William D. Wofford, the adjutant general, Arkansas National Guard; Capt. Thomas A. Lee, judge advocate general, Arkansas National Guard; Herb Lawrence, center director, Arkansas Sate University, Arkansas State Small Business Development Center; William Vines, commander, Post 31 of the American Legion, Department of Arkansas; James P. Mitchell, chief of staff, U. S. Office of Special Counsel; and John McWilliam, deputy assistant secretary, Veterans Employment and Training Service, U. S. Department of Labor. Smith, the spouse of a member of the National Guard, said her employer had been generous in giving her time off when her husband returned home near the end of his tour. Still, a provision allowing for spouses to get the time off they need would help returning vets and their families, she said.
Many employers want to support employees in the service, but even so, there's not much knowledge of USERRA requirements among employers and others, Merritt said.
Communication, education and exchange of information by both civilians and the military establishment are promoted by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, Morrow said.
He, Sandlin and other members of Congress will review testimony and consider ways to strengthen veterans' rights and opportunities, but he doesn't expect major legislation to be offered anytime soon, Boozman said.
Just bringing attention to USERRA, which may be little understood in some quarters, is a major goal of the hearing, Boozman said after the hearing.
"The good thing about the hearing is, you provide publicity as to what's the proper thing to do as far as jobs, people returning (from service ) and things like that. When you get these witnesses testifying, … they really do offer a lot of good suggestions," he said.
Sandlin said legislation might be required to have the government pay some attorney's fees under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
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