National Military Family Assn. - Government and You E-News May 13, 2008

Published May 14, 2008

1. President Honors Military Spouses at White House Event:
President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates paid tribute on
May 6th to about 1,100 military spouses who gathered for a Military
Spouse Day celebration at the White House. NMFA members joined other
metropolitan Washington DC military spouses for the occasion on the
South Lawn, which also served to honor outstanding military family
member volunteers.

President Bush thanked military spouses who stand behind their loved
ones serving the country during wartime. "Whether you signed up for
military life at the recruiting station or at the altar rail, each
person -- each person's a volunteer," he said. "And when you married
your soldier, sailor, airman, Marine or Coast Guardsman, you became
more than just part of a family. You became part of our nation's
military family."

The life of a military family is no easy calling, the President
said. It involves frequent moves, living far from extended families,
and saying goodbye to a spouse who goes off to serve on the front lines
in the battle to secure the United States and spread freedom.

"Being left behind when a loved one goes to war has got to be one of
the hardest jobs in the United States military," President Bush said,
noting the challenges of holding down the home front while praying for
a loved one's safe return.

"In carrying out the burdens, you're serving our country, and its
noble service, and it's necessary service," he said. "The United States
of America owes you a huge debt of gratitude. And so, on behalf of our
people, thank you for what you're doing."

President Bush said he's impressed during his visits to military
bases to see how military families take care of each other. "What I
found is that there's always a close-knit community, people who are
sharing a special bond and people who take time to look out after
people," he said. "It's been an amazing experience to see the fabric of
our military communities firsthand."

Secretary Gates said he makes it a point during his visits to
military facilities to meet with families of deployed troops, most
recently last week at Fort Bliss, Texas. "I'm always tremendously
impressed by your sacrifice, resilience and fortitude," he said.

At the White House Celebration, both President Bush and Secretary
Gates touched on enhancing benefits for military families. The
President said that he hoped Congress would move quickly to pass
legislation that would expand child care, create new authorities to
appoint qualified spouses into civil service jobs and provide
educational opportunities and job training for military spouses. But
the President drew cheers when he spoke about the initiative to allow
service members to transfer GI Bill benefits to their spouses and
children. He said "This legislation is moving. I hope to be able to
sign it as soon as possible. It is the absolute right thing to do. It
should send a clear message that we care for you, we respect you and we
love you." Secretary Gates explained he had heard from spouses at Ft.
Hood, Texas how important the transferability of benefits was to
military families and he urged the President to propose legislation.

NMFA has long supported enhancing education benefits for military
spouses. These can include the transfer of GI Bill benefits, tuition
assistance for spouses and expanded educational opportunities and job
training, and eligibility for in-state tuition. The present Montgomery
GI Bill allows some service members in specific career fields to
transfer a portion of their benefit to spouses in lieu of a portion of
a reenlistment bonus. There are several bills in both the House and
Senate that promote enhancements to the GI Bill. Several call for the
transfer of benefits. NMFA hopes the final crafting of legislation will
recognize the sacrifices that military families make in support of
their service member and the importance of education in recruiting and
retaining service members and families.

(Source: www.defenselink.mil/utility/printitem.aspx?print=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49791

2. New Video Explains Interstate Compact:
For those of you who have been trying to spread the word in your state
about the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military
Children, there is now a video to help you reach out to state and local
leaders and to military families. The Council of State Governments,
with the assistance of DoD, NMFA, and other organizations, has prepared
a video to explain the importance of the compact and provide background
information on interstate compacts to state legislators.

NMFA is pleased that three states, Kentucky, Kansas, and Arizona
have already enacted the compact into state law and pledged their
state's participation. However, the compact does not go into effect
until 10 states have done the same. That is why NMFA is asking for your
help to share this video with community and state leaders, military
leaders, and military families. Please join us in spreading the word
about the importance of this compact for military families!

To view the video, go to: http://www.csg.org/programs/ncic/MilitaryChildrenCompactVideo.aspx; or for more information on the compact, go to: http://www.csg.org/programs/ncic/EducatingMilitaryChildrenCompact.aspx

Please contact NMFA Deputy Director of Government Relations, Candace Wheeler at candace.wheeler@nmfa.org to keep her informed about activities in your state regarding the compact.

3. Senate Passes Veterans' Benefit Legislation:
The "Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007" (S. 1315) was passed
by the Senate last month. S. 1315 will enhance veterans' insurance and
housing benefits and improve benefits and services for service members
transitioning from active duty to veteran status, along with other
benefits. Some of the improvements are:

Includes Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI),

Increases supplemental service disabled veterans' insurance for totally disabled veterans from $20,000 to $30,000,

Provides
a retroactive traumatic injury coverage under SGLI for service members
who received such an injury between 10/7/2001 and 12/1/2005,

Allows SGLI payment to distinguish between the severity of loss of a dominant hand and a non-dominant hand,

Allows for specially adaptive housing benefits and assistance for:
- service members and veterans who reside outside of the United States,
- disabled service members residing temporarily in housing owned by a family member, and
- disabled veterans whose disability is due to severe burn injury,

Establishes
an annual cost-of-living adjustment, by the same percentage as
increases under Title II of the Social Security Act, for the temporary
payment of DIC (dependency and indemnity compensation), and

Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Veterans' and Appropriation Committees on the adequacy of the DIC.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated implementation would
result in discretionary outlays of $178 million in 2008 and $1 billion
over 2008 to 2012. For the CBO's cost estimate go to: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/85xx/doc8580/s1315revised.pdf

(Source:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01315:@@@L&summ2=m&)

4. Second Annual GI Film Festival Opens:
Honor the American GI at the 2nd Annual GI Film Festival featuring fan
favorites, world premiers, and Hollywood stars. Be part of the
celebration May 14th through 18th at the Carnegie Institution in
Washington, DC. For ticket information and show times, visit http://www.gifilmfestival.com/.

Military families may check out the free events at Bolling Air Force Base on Thursday, May 15th!

5. AAFES Sponsors Contest Saluting Military Spouses:
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is sponsoring a Patriot
Family Salutes the Military Spouse Calendar contest from May 11- July
28. Entrants are invited to nominate a military spouse by writing an
essay of 300 words or less explaining what the nominee has done to
support the military community during a deployment.

Twelve winners will receive a $500 AAFES shopping spree and have
their essays published, along with their photos, in a Military Spouse
calendar that will be available at all AAFES BXs/PXs in early November.

A complete description of the Military Spouse contest rules can be found online at AAFES.com http://www.aafes.com/Patriot_Family/videocontest.asp.
The contest is open to all authorized exchange shoppers. Entries must
be postmarked or emailed to Patriot Family at aafes.com no later than
July 28,
2008. No purchase is necessary to win.

6. Summer Workshop Registration Now Open To Teachers:
The U.S. Department of Education is once again offering free summer
workshops for teachers and educators. As part of the Department's
Teacher-to-Teacher (T2T) Initiative, these workshops are designed to
help teachers improve student achievement by supporting their
professional development and keeping them informed about the latest
strategies and research that helps students meet high standards.

First offered in 2004, more than 20,000 educators have participated
in the workshops, held in more than 50 cities across the country. This
year, the workshops will be offered in 12 cities across the U.S. and
are co-hosted by the United States Mint, Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), National Park Service (NPS), National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA), Department of Defense Education
Activity (DODEA), and Department of Energy (DOE).

For more information or to register for the workshops, contact Stephanie Babyak or Jane Glickman (202) 401-1576 or go to: www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative.

7. European PTA Celebrates Golden Jubilee:
In February of 1958, the PTA national organization added its 52nd
branch - the European Congress of American Parents, Teachers, and
Students. The newest congress represented the schools for American
dependants in Germany, France, England, Italy, French Morocco, and
Turkey. These schools provided education for some 60,000 army, air
force, and navy personnel, plus those of American civilians living on
military bases in the areas.

Today, the European PTA is the strongest European organization
working exclusively on behalf of children and youth of schools
operating under the U.S. Department of Defense and its Department of
Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). Over 56 of these 99 schools are
registered with European PTA and they boast over 8,000 individual PTA
members. European PTA continues to:

Advocate for interests that improve the education of children at American schools in Europe,

Train
local school PTA leaders at installations within all of the United
States European Command, to include USAREUR, USAFE, and USNAVEUR,

Represent common interests of local schools to DoDEA, the National PTA, and to United States Congress,

Conduct activities and events that complement the overall DoDEA educational program.

Special events in celebration of this milestone are planned
throughout the week. For details on specific locations visit the
European PTA website at: http://www.europeanpta.org/index.html

8. Marine Parents United Announces Summer Conference:
Marine Parents United, a 501(c)3 charitable organization that was
formed originally to educate, uplift, inspire, and support Marine
parents is preparing to host its fifth annual conference in Chantilly,
Virginia this July.

MPU began as a grassroots organization by Marine moms across the
United States. It sprang from an online yahoo chat group called Marine
Moms and Dads Online: marinemomsanddads@yahoogroups.com.
When their children signed up for the Marines, they were looking for
any and all information about the Marines. To many, it was a surprise
and a shock that their kids joined. They were hungry for information
and support. MPU was born in the hearts of these four Marine Moms.

The MPU mission is to help Marines and their families. In the past
five years MPU has broadened to include other family members and
members from families of all branches of service. For more information
about the conference, visit http://www.marineparentsunited.com/

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