VETERANS
Bill aims to crack down on VA abuses
A bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Johny Isakson, R-Ga., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., regarding abuses at the Veterans Affairs Department is gaining traction on Capitol Hill.
The Veterans First Act combines other pieces of legislation aimed at increasing accountability, including lowering barriers to hire and fire senior executives, expanding healthcare programs, protecting whistleblowers, reviewing the use of prescription drugs, increasing access to disability compensation and expanding access to education.
Senators backing the Veterans First Act say the legislation would address the beleaguered Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act introduced two years ago.
“It hasn’t worked very well, quite frankly, and I’m being generous,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. “This bill is going to take a giant step forward to help to fix the Choice Act. It’s going to make the VA work better for our veterans. It’s going to be much more user-friendly for those veterans who have care outside the VA.
“We need to return to all the things we had before Choice. It was well-intended. But it was non-choice. It created a single entry point called a third-party administrator where you handed the veteran a phone number. I know that doesn’t work,” Tester added.
The bill would designate the VA under the Choice Program to be the primary payer for conditions not related to service. The provision puts the responsibility “back on the VA where it should have been all along,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, called the bill “a positive development.”
“If what Sens. Isakson and Blumenthal are working on passes in the Senate, I look forward to immediately engaging in conference committee negotiations in order to move the VA reform package to the president’s desk,” he said. — Joana Suleiman
GUNS
Lawmaker wants to remove Congress from approval process for ATF director
A bill to give the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives more power to share gun trace data in lawsuits and make changes to the nomination process for ATF director has been introduced by Rep. Donald Beyer, a first-term Democrat from Virginia.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post published on April 11, Beyer wrote: “So what if we didn’t pass new gun safety laws, but instead simply returned to the ATF the authority and autonomy to fully perform its duties? What if this key agency were enabled ‘to protect communities from violence, criminals … the illegal use and trafficking of firearms … [and] acts of terrorism,’ as its mission statement reads, without interference [from Congress]?”
In his ATF Enforcement Act, Beyer would first repeal the Tiahrt Amendment. Implemented in 2003, Tiahrt blocks the use of the contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the ATF’s National Trace Center in state civil lawsuits or in efforts to suspend or revoke a gun dealer’s license.
However, the ATF itself and the Fraternal Order of Police have objected to the release of trace data to outside agencies and the public because it could jeopardize investigations, could be biased and violate confidentiality laws.
In an interview with Guns.com, Lawrence Kean, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said the ATF and law enforcement groups support the Tiahrt Amendment. “The NSSF will oppose this ill-advised legislation which, by permitting the public release of law enforcement sensitive trace data, will threaten ongoing criminal investigations and jeopardize the lives of undercover agents and witnesses,” he said.
The legislation would also give the attorney general the power to make a direct appointment to oversee the ATF’s more than 4,700 employees and $1.5 billion budget, bypassing the presidential nomination for the job, which also forces the nominee to go through the Senate confirmation process. “For years, congressional allies of the gun lobby have blocked nominees by both Democratic and Republican presidents,” Beyer said. — Joana Suleiman
EDUCATION
U.S. schools safer than ever
According to new numbers from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the nation’s K-12 public schools are safer than ever by several measures.
Physical fights, thefts and bullying fell to record lows. Victims of violent or serious violent crimes rose slightly year-over-year, but both are down significantly from 1995. Despite the attention around school shootings, the share of students who fear attack or harm at school is at its lowest point since surveys began in 1995.
Fewer than 2.5 percent of students were victims of theft, violence or serious violence. Fewer than 10 percent were in a fight at school. Just over 20 percent of students reported they had been bullied. Only about 3 percent say they fear attack or harm at school.
The newest data cover the school year of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, 2012-13, where 20 students were killed. As a result, the number of students killed at school rose to 31, its highest point since the 2006-07 school year. Still, the odds of being a homicide victim at school are longer than one in a million. Six students committed suicide at school, up one from the year before. — Jason Russell
