On the Hill
The National Military Family Association regularly meets with members of Congress and their staff to discuss issues of importance to service members, retirees, their families, and survivors. Our Government Relations staff is called upon in all stages of legislation. When a Member is considering a bill they may ask us to review the language. We are often asked to participate on panels that testify before Congress. We are invited to roundtables and forums where lawmakers discuss matters with stakeholders from military and veteran organizations. Once legislation is introduced we may write a letter of support to the sponsors of the bill.
We tell the story of military families and we need your input to help tell that story. When we see a problem that is affecting many families we can raise awareness of the issue and ask lawmakers to address it. When we hear that a program is working effectively and answering a need for our families we endorse it and recommend it to the Services to make it available for all military families.
You can tell your own story—members of Congress want to hear from their constituents. Read our testimony for background on issues. It is important to communicate with your members of Congress on issues that are important to you. Issues arise where we may ask you to contact your member of Congress on a bill or subject that the National Military Family Association feels strongly impacts the quality of life for our uniformed service families.
To find out who your members of Congress are visit http://thomas.loc.gov—click on House of Representatives in the left column and enter your zip code or click on Senate and find your state. Use the contact us button to find the form to send an email or mail a letter to the Congressional office.
Tell us about problems affecting military families in your community:
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Thanks for submitting your feedback. If your comment is personal in nature, please email info@MilitaryFamily.org.
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Posted: February 3, 2012
Comment: Cindy: Thank you for your post. We have been talking with Congressional members about this and other proposals to help all our military families with special needs.
Posted: January 31, 2012
Comment: I'm shocked that I can find no mention of HR 2288, The Caring for Military Kids for Autism Act, mentioned ANYWHERE, to include your topics for today. Especially given that over 100 of us are fighting on Capitol Hill for this legislation as I write. This is puzzling and extremely disappointing.
Posted: January 16, 2012
Comment: Why are mothers (single) of service members unable to receive any military benefits? Simple recognition benefits, the ability to shop at the BX. What is a military family? Service members often need the support of their "mothers" long before wives & children. Wives and children often come too soon in these young service members lives, with military benefits often existing longer than the marriage. The statistics are there.
Posted: January 11, 2012
Comment: Shay: Please email us directly at Info@MilitaryFamily.org. Our health care expert would be happy to speak with you.
Posted: January 10, 2012
Comment: my husband served in both the Marines and the Army, he is 100% disabled both with mental and physical, we have applied for the Primary Caregiver Program and have now been denied twice. I was a Surgical Technologist and a Phlembotomist and had to stop working to care for him full time work was so much easier. I dont know what else to do, we just put in our second appeal. I hate feeling like his PCM dont listen to us when we are there and knowing that he is not quailified to answer the mental status part of the questionaire yet he did if baffaling to me. what is my next step if they denie us again, write my congressmen? I wont back down from this, from what we've read and been told he meets the critera.
Posted: January 3, 2012
Comment: Dear ATX: Generally the service member must complete paperwork to add new family members. Is your husband on an unaccompanied tour? I would recommend your husband meet with his command in person, if possible, for clarification on the steps needed to move his family to Japan.
Posted: December 29, 2011
Comment: My husband is a marine. We were married in June 2011. I filled out all the paperwork to get myself and 2 daughters moved overseas to Japan to be together as a family. It's been at least 4 months since the paperwork was submitted, yet I haven't received any word as to how much longer our family is kept apart. My husband has emailed his higher ups and has received no response as well. When I married a marine, I thought the military would fight for us to be together as a family. Instead our needs and questions go ignored.
Posted: December 22, 2011
Comment: SBP is inherently unfair to civilian military spouses of AD service members. They are required to move every 3-4 years with their AD spouse. As a result of constant moves, these spouses cannot (typically) establish a career path, or move-up in the jobs they get while at a given duty station because both they and their employer know the spouse is going to PCS in 3-4 years. Dual AD spouses can continue a career as they move; and a single service member who marries after retirement (e.g., gains a spouse who didn't give-up a career in support of the retired member’s career) can enroll the new spouse within 30-days of being married. (Essentially all of these spouses are treated equally in paying into SBP, yet only one would have given up a potential career to support the moves made with their AD spouse) It seems a better solution should be sought that recognizes the contribution we say our civilain spouses make in supporting the careers of their AD spouse. Either grant them automatic SBP protection, or consider crediting the time the spouse spent being married to the AD spouse (i.e., 25-years of the AD member’s career equates to needing to pay into SBP for 5-years (30-25= 5) to receive the benefit protection). If paying for such a program change is the problem, then implement a pro-rated table (by rank/age of the member) for payments that the service member can participate in while on AD that contributes to SBP for the civilian spouse as a pre-tax (much like a 401k) that's paid while on AD. Dual AD spouses, and/or those married after retirement could continue to enroll under the current 30-year payment plan for coverage.
Posted: December 3, 2011
Comment: Dual military life is becoming incompatible with marriage and family. Couples either deploy and leave their families or deploy out of sequence. If dual military don't have strong family support, they suffer in promotion. Finding childcare for the hours required is nearly impossible.
Posted: December 3, 2011
Comment: Military families need domestic help when their Soldiers are deployed. There are a lot of organizations offering generous donations for entertainment and other things to relieve stress. It would be better to get help to relieve the stressors - childcare, household maintenance , etc. There should be resources readily available that have been vetted by the military. Families have to start from the ground up everywhere they go. There should be a better network of resources that family members can utilize and reasonable costs.