Last week the Secretary of the Department of Veteran's Affairs issued a public warning of the effects of the current government shutdown on veterans. It seems the upper echelon officials in Washington didn't get the message.
As such, The Military Coalition, a group of veteran and military service organizations has organized a massive protest to be held in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday to make the message more clear.
According to The Military Coalition's protest event website, it is calling on American veterans, their famliies, friends and all allied American citizens "to unite to end the government shutdown." Registration is still open for the protest, which will be held on Tuesday October 15 at the National WWII Monument and will run from 9:45 a.m. EST to 11:00 a.m. EST.
"Join us in telling Washington: End this shutdown now. Stop hurting veterans and their families," the invite implores.
CNN reports that among the major groups that will be represented at Tuesday's protest are: The American Legion, Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Air Force Sergeants Association, National Military Family Association and Jewish War Veterans.
The American Legion has created a website to report on the impacts of the government shutdown crisis on the veteran community.
"America's veterans are at the fulcrum of a federal spending standoff that has shut down most of the United States government," the site reads. "The American Legion demands that veterans not be made pawns in this debate."
The shutdown has already led to a number of negative impacts on the American veteran, associated with both life and liberties.
"VA claims are stalled. GI Bill education payments are suspended. Veterans have been denied access to monuments. Disability payments are threatenend," the Legion said.
Among the more harmful impacts to date, according to the Legion:
The Veteran's Benefits Administration (VBA) furloughed almost 8,000 employees this week. Veteran's Affairs has been forced to suspend mandatory overtime for disability claims processing, forcing a marked increase in the disability claims backlog.
Vocational rehabilitation and education counseling for veterans have been negatively impacted as well. The Veteran's Employment & Training Service at the Department of Labor can no longer provide state funding to support veteran employment and counseling services.
Many veteran's business centers have also been closed as a result of the decidedly non-diplomatic drama going down in Washington. For example, the Small Business Association has closed 10 Veteran's Business Outreach Centers nationwide, as well as over 1,000 veteran business-related centers responsible for providing needed assistance.
On a more personal level, the shutdown is hurting one of the most vulnerable popualations of veterans: the homeless. Because of the current political impasse, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is no longer able to issue new housing vouchers to homeless veterans.
"If America hits the debt ceiling and defaults on our existing bills, virtually all cash on hand will have to be diverted to paying the interest on the debt...This may halt virtually all pay and benefits and further shut down the government," said a representative for the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America. "As Congress remains gridlocked and plays games with the budget, there remains a great deal of confusion and uncertainty for veterans."
What is known, according to the American Legion, is that "within the next two weeks, VA will exhaust benefits funding, after which claims processing for compensation, pension, education, vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits will be suspended due to lack of funding...Over $6 billion in disability, compensation, pension and education to millions of veterans will stop."
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