advertisement

SSN on Facebook SSN on Twitter SSN on YouTube RSS Feed

17 Comments
Politics

Obama Signs Vern Buchanan's Bill to Replace DD-214 With Veterans ID Card Into Law

July 20, 2015 - 7:45pm
Vern Buchanan and Barack Obama
Vern Buchanan and Barack Obama

President Barack Obama on Monday signed U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s Veterans ID Card Act into law. Buchanan, R-Fla., introduced the bill earlier this year. Its purpose is to ensure all veterans receive ID cards from the VA instead of just those vets who served 20 years in the armed forces or are seeking medical treatment for service-related wounds. 

In pushing his bill in recent months, Buchanan has noted veterans are forced to carry DD-214 paperwork, which contains sensitive information including Social Security numbers. He note an ID card would be more convenient and do a better job of keeping their personal information secure.

The House passed the bill last month with 402 representatives backing it and no votes cast against it. In the Senate, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., last month offered an amendment to the bill ensuring all veterans would be eligible for the ID card. The Senate passed the amended bill without opposition, sending it back to the House, which passed it again, this time on a 411-0 vote.
 
During his efforts to pass the legislation, Buchanan insisted his bill was budget-neutral because veterans who opt for the ID card would pay a small fee, which the VA secretary would examine every five years.

“Every veteran -- past, present, and future -- will now be able to prove their military service without the added risk of identity theft,” Buchanan said on Monday night after Obama signed his bill into law. “It’s the least we can do for the brave men and women in uniform who put it all on the line for us.”

The Florida delegation stood in strong support of Buchanan’s measure. U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., the ranking Democrat on the committee, both backed the bill. Other congressional representatives from Florida who co-sponsored the bill include Republicans Ander Crenshaw, Carlos Curbelo, Ron DeSantis, Mario Diaz-Balart, David Jolly, Bill Posey, Dennis Ross and Ted Yoho, and Democrats Ted Deutch and Alcee Hastings. The bill has also won the backing of veterans groups including AMVETS and Veterans for Common Sense (VCS).

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN

Comments

Why is VA to spend money on these ID cards.....a dd214 was issued by DOD!! I am sure that the money could be put towards the needed veteran health care or pay some of the service connected claims that are legitament with evidence but get denied ......guess that is one way to save money to use for ID cards or put in the pockets of the upper ranks.

This has come about from everyone wanting discounts at Lowes and Home Depot. I work in the VA and see people everyday who only want an ID card for just this reason. Most of which don't have honorable discharges. This will start and will be a bust very soon.

Aren't they going to limit the issuance of this to only those with honorable discharges?

Great that this passed. Somebody always have to have a negative thing to say about a good thing. All I can say for those that opposed it. TUFF SHISKIES! I'm glad we get to have a VA ID card like the rest using the VA system. It's just an ID card, not for VA health care. Our tax dollars pay for those using the VA and we must pay for our own ID card. What's the big issue. Get over it. I know about the VFW trying to throw a monkey wrench in it and the Legion was kind of opposed falling short of opposing it. They took no stand for or against it. AMVETS was all for it as was VVA and Veterans for Common Sense. Good on them!

I like the idea of a card! I do keep a copy of my DD 214 in my glove compartment. The VFW was against it, that means I like it!

Can you please provide details on HOW to obtain the ID card.

And just how long do you think it will take the VA before they let us know how we can obtain the card, if at all.

This issue is trivial compared with the thousands of veterans who distrust the VA and won't go near it. Even worse is the situation with the VA Regional office in St. Petersburg. When I asked my attorney for reasons why the VA in that office had done nothing with my successful appeal decided last June (2014)? He said no one can make the St. Pete office do anything; that it is considered the worst managed regional office in the VA system. Meanwhile, my judicially favored application for a VA full pension (filed in 1998) slumbers along with about 5 inches thick of paperwork. The VA pension I currently receive as a service-connected 100% disabled veteran is a grand $44/month. Try living on that Rep. Vern Buchanan! I could care less about getting another VA card (I already carry two).

Hi Tim, I started feeling sorry for you when I read your comment. 1) If you ask for your C-file and you don't have it within 20 days, you can have a federal judge demand it from the Regional Office. I question your attorney when he says NOBODY can make the St. Pete's Regional office do anything ! You can go to facebook's" VA is Lying " and get the telephone numbers for the correct people to help you ! Not my business, but, can you tell me why you are rated at 100% and only making $44 per month ! May God Bles you, Tim and Good Luck

The bill is for us vets that came out of the service in one piece but have no ID to show we served honorably. I do not carry a dd214 to the store. Yes the va is a mess but it is slowly coming around.

I carry, in my wallet, a laminated photo-reduced copy of my DD-214...and in 50 years have never had to show it for ANY reason;...Your Service Number should be the source and solution of ALL inquiries and questions. I'll carry this redundant and useless VA-ID Card ONLY after all voters and ILLEGAL INVADERS in America are issued photo ID's and Licenses. Get on THAT problem, why don't you Vern Buchanan along with the rest of your pandering ilk wandering the halls of Congress ! ! !

There's no service numbers anymore... It's your SSN now.

How many People carry there DD 214'S around ?

Vern Buchanan is a "Fake and a fraud";... This "VA-ID Card nonsense" is just an empty, useless, redundant, hollow "thank you for your service" PLATITUDE (which carries the same hollow empty feeling as the "Save the whales"; "Save the children"; Save the turtles"; "Save the spotted, green three-legged mouse living under the West Texas panhandle bridge" nonsense by a pandering politician). Buchanan was voted, by Judicial Watch, as "one of the 10 most corrupt politicians of 2012"; Buchanan ALSO voted to fund Obama's ILLEGAL AMNESTY. Buchanan, Jeff Miller, Corinne Brown and far too many other pandering politicians have absolutely NO concept of Military Veterans (unless their posturing concerns will afford them some "legup" in their quests to remain securely "suctioned" on the "government mammary" )...VOTE THEM OUT Floridians !!!! Like all toilets, Congress needs to be FLUSHED in order to return it to good working order ! [If you care to learn TRUTH about these phoney politicians in Congress, read: "EXTORTION" by Peter Scweizer

@C Breeze - Do you have any military service? Or are you just using this as an excuse to lambast Mr Buchanan? I have often complained that there was no good way to identify some obvious cheats who attempt to gain "stolen valor". A veteran's national ID card is long overdue; perhaps it will stop those who take advantage of veterans' benefits without ever having serviced. I'm proud of my service and look forward to having a vet's ID card.

Congressional azzwhypes ALL !

Ron DeSantis for senate

Comments are now closed.

politics
advertisement
advertisement
Live streaming of WBOB Talk Radio, a Sunshine State News Radio Partner.

advertisement