Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans Storm Capitol Hill

The folks at the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have sent a bunch of delegations to Congress this week; the effort is dubbed Storm the Hill.

The idea is get programs together to genuinely support the troops. They were successful in getting the new GI Bill passed, despite opposition from the previous administration. However, there’s a lot more support that’s needed.

Check out their Community of Veterans, the online community and support group.

Finally, take a look at the blog of Perry Jeffries, who’s part of the team:

I’ve spent the last two days with nearly two dozen committed, skilled, and motivated Veterans and supporters from all walks of life. We’ve all arrived in Washington D.C. with at least one goal in common — to introduce the 2009 Legislative Agenda from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. We are also engaging in what is, if not the first, then uncommon exercise of near-real-time communications with the public and the donors that helped us get here. …

It is a privilege to be a part of this extraordinary effort and to discuss our agenda with busy lawmakers and staffers that see us. Our prime target this year is to secure a concept known as “advanced appropriation” for the VA budget. Last year we helped push through the 21st Century GI Bill — an 87 billion dollar bill that will positively affect an entire American generation. Although advanced appropriations is a more difficult concept to grasp — it has a price tag easier for the Congress to swallow — it is FREE. The problem is that it can be difficult to explain and the idea of a group coming to Capitol Hill from all over America to ask for something that costs nothing is pretty alien here.