111th Congress - Veteran Senate Legislation
Source: http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/111search.html - January 30, 2009

     Following is a listing of the House bills of interest to the veteran community that have been introduced in the 111th Congress.  By clicking on the bill number you can access the actual legislative language of the bill and see if your representative has signed on as a cosponsor. Support of these bills by other legislators is critical if they are ever going to move through the legislative process for a floor vote to become law.

     Of the 785 House and 346 Senate pieces of legislation introduced in the 111th Congress to date by your legislators, the following are of interest to the non-active duty veteran community.  A good indication on the likelihood a bill of being forwarded to the House for passage and subsequently being signed into law by the President is the number of cosponsors who have signed onto the bill. Any number of members may cosponsor a bill in the House or Senate.
     At http://thomas.loc.gov you can review a copy of each bill, determine its current status, the committee it has been assigned to, and if your legislator is a sponsor or cosponsor of it.  To determine what bills, amendments your representative has sponsored, cosponsored, or dropped sponsorship on refer to http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d111/sponlst.html.  The key to increasing cosponsorship is letting our senators know of veterans feelings on issues.
     You can locate on http://thomas.loc.gov who your representative is and his/her phone number, mailing address, or email/website to communicate with a message or letter of your own making:

Senate Bills

S.68: A bill to require the Secretary of the Army to determine the validity of the claims of certain Filipinos that they performed military service on behalf of the United States during World War II.
Sponsor: Sen Inouye, Daniel K. [HI] (introduced 1/6/2009)      Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/6/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.226: A bill to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Havre, Montana, as the Merril Lundman Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic.
Sponsor: Sen Tester, Jon [MT] (introduced 1/13/2009)      Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/13/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.239: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that veterans in each of the 48 contiguous States are able to receive services in at least one full-service hospital of the Veterans Health Administration in the State or receive comparable services provided by contract in the State.
Sponsor: Sen Shaheen, Jeanne [NH] (introduced 1/14/2009)      Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/14/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.246: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the quality of care provided to veterans in Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, to encourage highly qualified doctors to serve in hard-to-fill positions in such medical facilities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] (introduced 1/14/2009)      Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/14/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.252: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the capacity of the Department of Veterans Affairs to recruit and retain nurses and other critical health-care professionals, to improve the provision of health care veterans, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] (introduced 1/15/2009)      Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/15/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.263: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the enforcement of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. [PA] (introduced 1/15/2009)      Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/15/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.315: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the outreach activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI] (introduced 1/26/2009)      Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/26/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

S.347: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to allow the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to distinguish between the severity of a qualifying loss of a dominant hand and a qualifying loss of a non-dominant hand for purposes of traumatic injury protection under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Ensign, John [NV] (introduced 1/29/2009)      Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 1/29/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.