Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 78

Introduced by Senator Nielsen

June 30, 2015

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 78—Relative to veterans.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 78, as introduced, Nielsen. Veterans: Team AMVETS.

This measure would commend AMVETS Department of California, also known as Team AMVETS, for providing benefits and services to veterans, and for playing an important role in the community for 70 years.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The unprecedented call to military service
demanded by World War II led to a record number of returning
war veterans in need of assistance and support; and

WHEREAS, The roots of AMVETS-National can be traced
back to a gathering of 18 veterans in Kansas City, Missouri, on
December 10, 1944, who named themselves “The American
Veterans” of World War II; and

WHEREAS, This group sought to provide more comprehensive
assistance than was currently available from the organizations run
by veterans of earlier wars and those operating on college campuses
during that time; and

WHEREAS, On July 23, 1947, AMVETS-National became the
first World War II organization chartered by Congress when
President Harry S. Truman signed Public Law 216 (H.R. 1888),
giving AMVETS a federal charter under Title 36 of the United
States Code and status as a 501(c)(19) nonprofit veterans service
organization; and

WHEREAS, In honor and recognition of the sacrifices made by
all veterans, membership in AMVETS is open to anyone who is
currently serving or has honorably served in the United States
Armed Forces, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines, as well as
the National Guard and reserve components; and

WHEREAS, On October 20, 1945, the AMVETS Department
of California was established and today has over 12,000 members
and over 50 local posts in California’s communities; and

WHEREAS, AMVETS Department of California is also known
as “Team AMVETS” to reflect its mission to serve at the forefront
of community and veterans’ services for the State of California,
and that any patriotic citizen can be a part of Team AMVETS
through volunteerism and donating used clothing and household
goods to the Team AMVETS Thrift Stores; and

WHEREAS, Team AMVETS is involved in many aspects of
service to veterans and the community. In 2014, AMVETS service
officers assisted California veterans in filing 16,365 claims, which
resulted in new and retroactive claim payments of almost $39
million for California veterans; and

WHEREAS, Team AMVETS has a partnership between the
federal Department of Veterans Affairs and the AMVETS
Department of California Service Foundation called the Welcome
Home Program, which offers furnishings and household items to
homeless veterans who receive HUD assistance throughout the
state and supports the federal Department of Veterans Affairs’
goal to end veteran homelessness by 2015; and

WHEREAS, Team AMVETS is active in advocating on behalf
of veterans and their dependents before the Legislature, the state
Department of Veterans Affairs, and state and local agencies, as
well as supporting California’s National Guard; and

WHEREAS, Team AMVETS sponsors legislation, supports and
monitors approximately 100 veteran-related bills per legislative
session, and actively monitors aspects of the state budget process,
which affect such issues as veterans’ homes, CalVet, National
Guard, County Veterans Service Officers, and veterans’ outreach
programs; and

WHEREAS, The Team AMVETS military funeral honor guards
average 4,000 military funerals a year, comprising an average of
20,000 volunteer hours, to veterans’ families across the Golden
State, at no cost; and

WHEREAS, The federal Department of Veterans Affairs
Voluntary Service was founded in 1946 to provide for veterans in
federal Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities. The
federal Department of Veterans Affairs’ Voluntary Service is the
largest volunteer program in the federal government, with more
than 350 national and community organizations involved in support
of its mission. Volunteers assist patients by augmenting staff in
end-of-life care programs, foster care, community-based volunteer
programs, hospital wards, nursing homes, and veteran outreach
centers. AMVETS serves as one of the 60 major veteran, civic,
and service organizations that comprise the Veterans Affairs
Voluntary Service National Advisory Committee. Nationally, every
year, AMVETS volunteers provide nearly 200,000 hours of service
at VA facilities across the country through the volunteer program.
AMVETS volunteers have provided about $3.5 million worth of
services each year helping to provide quality care to our nation’s
heroes; and

WHEREAS, Team AMVETS operates six thrift stores in El
Cajon, Fresno, Spring Valley, Long Beach, Oakland, and San
Diego. These Team AMVETS Thrift Stores solicit donated goods
from the public, then pick up those goods and sell them to the
public to raise revenues to fund programs for veterans. Team
AMVETS Thrift Stores also give furniture and household goods
to homeless veterans seeking to transition into a home; and

WHEREAS, The AMVETS-National Youth Leadership
Conference is held annually at the Freedoms Foundation at Valley
Forge, where students get to experience four days at the Freedoms
Foundation’s facility and are schooled in constitutional law with
respect to the balance between liberty and security. These students
participate in leadership building activities and visit sites in
Philadelphia and Valley Forge. TEAM AMVETS sends about 60
students each year to the conference from California; and

WHEREAS, The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
(JROTC), a federal program that seeks to instill in students
attending secondary educational institutions the values of
citizenship, service to the United States, and personal responsibility
and a sense of accomplishment, has faced funding challenges.
Team AMVETS has, in recognition of the value of this program,
sponsored JROTC scholarships, events, challenges, exhibitions,
drills, and competitions to augment the program; and

WHEREAS, Team AMVETS is continually searching for new
ways to serve veterans and their families, such as public policy
and legislative advocacy related to, among others, employment
and training, mandatory funding for government-provided health
care, and other entitlement benefits, as well as participating in
hospitalized veterans’ visits, honor flights, Veterans Homes
assistance, scouting, stand-downs, blood drives, and patriotic
community programs; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That Team AMVETS, since 1945, has
exhibited leadership, advocacy, and service for California’s
veterans and their families; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature commends AMVETS Department
of California, also known as Team AMVETS, for providing
benefits and services to their fellow veterans, as well as playing
an important role in the civic life of their communities for 70 years;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.