Last week Congress passed several non-controversial bills before they left for their Thanksgiving recess. These bills have all been given to President Obama for his signature, which should happen before the end of his term.
HR 5392: No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered Act
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop a quality assurance document for carrying out the toll-free Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), which shall: (1) outline performance indicators and objectives to improve the VCL, including at backup call centers; (2) include time frames to meet such indicators and objectives; and (3) be consistent with guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget.
The VA shall develop a plan to ensure that each telephone call, text message, and other communications received by the VCL, including at backup call centers, is answered in a timely manner by a person, consistent with the guidance established by the American Association of Suicidology. The plan shall include guidelines for periodic VCL testing.
The VA shall submit the document and plan within 180 days.
HR 3471: Veterans Mobility Safety Act of 2015
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that an eligible disabled veteran provided an automobile or other conveyance is given the opportunity to make personal selections relating to the automobile or other conveyance.
Minimum standards of safety and quality for adaptive equipment shall include that:
– the provider of any adaptive equipment modification services be certified by a certification organization or the manufacturer of the adaptive equipment;
– any individual performing such modification services on an automobile be certified by a certification organization, the manufacturer, or the state; and
– the provider of the automobile or adaptive equipment or the provider of the modification services adhere to specified requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
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This bill was amended to include language permitting the VA to hire licensed hearing aid specialists to fit and repair hearing aids for veterans, instead of requiring them to wait to see one of the few audiologists in the VA system for a procedure that has long been done by hearing aid specialists in the private sector. TREA has supported this issue for almost two full years.
The Senate also passed H.R.4511: Gold Star Families Voices Act, which allows the families of fallen service members to participate in the Veterans’ History Project that is being put together by the Library of Congress.