Troop Reintegration

SENATOR COLEMAN IS GETTING THINGS DONE FOR OUR TROOPS AND THEIR FAMILIES

The National Guard and Reserve are being called on to serve in record numbers, and Senator Coleman strongly believes that we need to give our troops and their families the support they need both while they are deployed and when their return. He continues to fight hard to ensure that serving reservists get the healthcare and other benefits they need, and has worked on initiatives to make sure returning troops receive adequate support when they come home from deployment.

• Senator Coleman succeeded in getting the Defense Department to waive the 60-day “hands off” policy for the Minnesota National Guard on a pilot basis. The DOD is committed to studying the results of the program for consideration as a model for the national reintegration story.
• Senator Coleman introduced the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program Act of 2007. The legislation creates a nationwide program for the reintegration of returning National Guard soldiers and is based on the highly successful program originated by the Minnesota National Guard.
• This year, the Senate passed an amendment by Senator Coleman’s to the Defense Authorization bill that responds to a recent decrease in TRICARE reimbursement rates. The Coleman amendment gives the Secretary of Defense the ability to increase mental health reimbursement rates for TRICARE if rate reductions negatively affect the delivery of mental health services to our troops and their families.
• The Senate Appropriations Committee recently passed a Coleman provision that will release $4.4 million to fully fund Minnesota’s National Guard Reintegration programs. The program helps soldiers and their families through all phases of their deployment cycle.
• This year, the Senate passed a Coleman amendment to the 2008 Budget Resolution that would extend a provision giving veterans access to mortgages at lower interest rates, similar to those offered to first-time homeowners.