Thursday, January 22, 2015

Senator Barbara Boxer Swan Song Still Tone Deaf

This is from Barbara Boxer's website as a press release without any corrections done.

How important is this to her if she sends out a press release with all those errors? Lord knows I make a lot of mistakes too but since I am by myself and usually have my head exploding with frustration, it is a lot different than having staff to check.
Boxer Introduces 'Homeless Veterans Welcome Home Act' to Provide Suupport For Veterans Transitioning Intro Permanant Housing

Bill is Based on Successful California Program that Provides Homeless Veterans with Critical Household Items and Assistance to Help in Transition to Permanent Housing
Wednesday, January 21st 2015
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today introduced the Homeless Veterans Welcome Home Act of 2015, legislation that would establish a national pilot program to provide furniture, household items, and other assistance to help homeless veterans as they transition into permanent housing.

“When many homeless veterans finally obtain permanent housing, they arrive with few or no possessions,” Senator Boxer said. “This grant program will assist veterans by providing them with basic household items – such as a bed or utensils– to help them successfully make the transition to civilian life.”

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), approximately 40,000 homeless veteran families receive permanent housing through VA housing assistance programs each year. However, most veterans who receive housing do not have the means to pay for critical household items and typically move into empty apartments. These veterans often have no means to cook or enjoy the basic comforts of a furnished home.

In 2012, the non-profit California Department of AMVETS partnered with the West Los Angeles VA to create an innovative “Welcome Home” program that provides homeless veterans transitioning into permanent housing with furniture, appliances, and other necessary household items. The program has since expanded to serve Long Beach, San Diego, Orange County and Fresno communities and has provided household items to over 1,450 formerly homeless veterans.

The Homeless Veterans Welcome Home Act of 2015 is modeled on this successful public-private partnership, and will help fill an important gap in our assistance to homeless veterans by addressing their immediate move-in needs.

Specifically, the Boxer-Feinstein bill would:
Establish a 3-year pilot program to award grants to eligible organizations to facilitate the delivery of furniture, household items and other assistance to homeless veterans who qualify for housing under the VA’s housing assistance programs.
Require the VA to prioritize communities with the greatest need of homeless services and fair geographic distribution when awarding grants.
Cap the maximum amount awarded per grant at $500,000, and the maximum amount of assistance provided to an eligible veteran at $2,500.
Authorize $5 million for 3 years to be appropriated for the program.

This bill is endorsed by the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Swords to Plowshares, and the California Department of AMVETS.

Far from the first time Senator Boxer has introduced bills and far from the first time it has included errors as well as omissions.

In 2008 military suicides had her attention.

Bill Addresses Military Suicides
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
March 27, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) recently introduced legislation requiring the Defense Department to establish a detailed database on suicides and attempted suicides among U.S. troops.

Last year, 121 soldiers committed suicide and another 2,100 attempted suicide, Boxer said on her Web site. She noted that the 2,100 attempted suicides represents a six-fold increase since 2002 (when the U.S. was not at war).

In addition to requiring a comprehensive database, the Boxer-Lieberman legislation (formally, The Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act of 2008) would require the individual investigation of all suicides across the Armed Forces, and it would require the Pentagon to provide Congress with regular updates on military suicides.

A second bill, The Armed Forces Mental Health Professionals Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act of 2008, would increase the number of uniformed mental health providers serving service members and their families. (Lieberman noted that the troops have a strong preference for uniformed, rather than civilian, providers.)

"This legislation will help ensure that the Defense Department and Congress are getting an adequate picture of the state of mental health within our Armed Forces," Boxer said in a news release.

Earlier that month she had this to say
We have a big problem ... that is only going to get worse if we don’t do something big now,” Boxer said as she and military medical officials testified before the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee.

“We need to ensure we have adequate numbers of uniformed mental health providers who can train and deploy with our troops and be there when they are needed,” she said, noting that treatment does no good if it is not available quickly.

“When we do this right, it is going to help our military in the long run,” Boxer said.

And when will that be? After all the bills done the "big problem" became worse because the "something" they did right away and often repeated did not work and they just did it all again!

What kind of a game are they playing with the lives of our veterans and troops? We've heard it all so long now that the swan songs of members of congress have proven they are still tone deaf!

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