ALA Advocacy

The American Legion Auxiliary supports the legislative priorities adopted by The American Legion.

ALA Legislative Program

In local Congressional Districts and in Washington, D.C., American Legion Auxiliary members work to keep veterans' issues in front of legislators, strengthening our mission to serve veterans, servicemembers and their families.

While we may think that one voice may not make a difference on its own, that one voice added to the voice of others quickly becomes a collective power of influence that can impact the decisions of our elected officials. Joining together, Auxiliary members can and do make a difference when they advocate for veterans, servicemembers and their families.

The American Legion Legislative Action Center

The American Legion Auxiliary supports the public policy positions of The American Legion. The American Legion regularly adopts and renews legislative intent resolutions. The resolutions reflect the will of the membership and serve as instructions to Legion officers and staff as to which legislative issues to monitor and what positions to take. The American Legion publishes and disseminates a range of public policy material to communicate its public policy positions, including legislative intent resolutions, legislative priority sheets, legislative point papers, and congressional testimonies. 

These materials are available at the Legion’s Legislative Center at www.legion.org/legislative.

Legislative Priorities

Legislative issues recurring for The American Legion Family include the following:

Veterans Program Funding

  • Veterans Affairs Funding: Provide adequate funding for programs and services of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
  • Housing and Urban Development Funding: Provide adequate funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s permanent supportive housing program for homeless veterans (HUD-VASH).
  • Labor Funding: Provide adequate funding for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (VETS).
  • State Veterans Homes: Provide adequate funding for veterans long-term care facilities .

Veterans Healthcare

  • Availability of Care: Ensure modern and geographically distributed VA facilities and care in the community.
  • Quality of Care: Monitor the quality of healthcare provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 
  • Treatment for Women Veterans: Ensure adequate and qualified staff and settings for treating women veterans .
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Traumatic Brain Injury; Military Sexual Trauma: Improve veterans’ access to mental health and substance use services, including services for PTSD, TBI, and MST .
  • Wounded Warrior Care: Provide health and rehabilitation support for returning wounded servicemembers .
  • Caregiver Support: Expand current caregiver benefits to veterans of all eras .

Veterans Disability

  • VA Benefits Claims: Eliminate the backlog in processing of claims and appeals for veterans benefits.
  • Concurrent Receipt: Eliminate the deduction of disabled veterans’ disability pay from their military retirement pensions.
  • Medical Record Sharing: Expedite the implementation of an information system for electronic sharing of medical records between the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Education and Employment

  • Education Benefits: Ensure proper administration and veterans’ utilization of VA education benefits.
  • Credentialing: Incentivize states to recognize education and skills gained during military service as sufficient for state occupational credentials .
  • Federal Preference: Monitor federal agency application of veterans’ preference in hiring and contracting.

Troops and Family Support

  • Defense Funding: Provide adequate funding for the nation’s military operations, equipment, maintenance and facilities, servicemember pay and benefits, and retiree healthcare.
  • Housing: Ensure the Basic Allowance for Housing keeps pace with housing costs .
  • Transition Assistance: Ensure opportunities for servicemembers and families participating in pre-deployment, pre-separation, and transition assistance briefings and services.

Americanism

  • Flag Protection: Seek constitutional amendment to allow Congress to protect the flag.
  • Pledge of Allegiance: Permit recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at public events and in schools .

"I remember going down to the Legion post with my grandfather [World War II U.S. Army veteran Howard Schlitter], and hearing him say things like, “You’ve got to take care of the veterans. You’ve got to be there for them and help them out.” None of that really resonated with me until after he was gone. Then, I realized I have to be his voice."
- Mike Monserud, ALA member of Auxiliary Unit 37 in Ames, Iowa

READ MIKE'S STORY

 

   

 

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