Senate amendment requires study on veterans healthcare system, several others passed

The Senate passed seven other amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, S. 3254, which funds the U.S military and its operations.

{mosads}Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) introduced Amendment 2888, which ensures $200 for each day of nonparticipation of individuals wrongfully excluded from the Post-Deployment/Mobilization Respite Absence program.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced Amendment 2924, which adds language to the bill providing for the standardization of identification credentials required for eligibility, enrollment, transactions and updates across all Department of Defense installations.

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) introduced Amendment 2949, which extends a temporary increase in accumulated leave carryover for members of the armed forces through Sept. 30, 2015.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced Amendment 2960, requiring the secretary of Defense to conduct a study of the adequacy of mechanisms for the reintegration into civilian life of members of the National Guard and the Reserves following a deployment on active duty in the Armed Forces, including whether permitting such members to remain on active duty for a limited period after “soft landing” depolyments is feasible and advisable for facilitating and easing that reintegration.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) introduced Amendment 2963, which allows the president to issue a posthumous honorary commission promoting to second lieutenant Army Sgt. Paschall Conley, a distinguished Buffalo Soldier who was recommended for promotion under then-existing procedures by Gen. John J. Pershing.

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) introduced Amendment 2991, clarifying the sense of the Senate that “the United States should maintain a triad of strategic nuclear delivery systems and United States is committed to modernizing the component weapons and delivery systems of that triad” as part of the New START Treaty on ballistic missiles with Russia.

The Senate also passed Amendment 3083, but there was no information on the amendment at the time of publication.

The Senate decided not to take up Sen. Kelley Ayotte’s (R-N.H.) amendment, 3003, on establishing a missile defense site on the East Coast, she said, because the House defense bill already includes similar language.

The Senate is schedule to continue amendment work on the defense bill Thursday, with hopes of finishing work by the end of the week.