The Senate has passed legislation aimed at helping disabled veterans who live with relatives. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Sununu (R-N. H.), directs the VA to set up a five-year pilot program offering from $10,000 to $50,000 grants to make modifications—such as wheelchair ramps and widened doorways—to private homes. Current law permits a one-time grant to disabled vets, but they must own the home. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee, calls the change a “commonsense approach” since many of the newly disabled vets are in their late teens or early 20s and return home to live with parents. He pledges to work to include the measure in an omnibus veterans bill. For more information on adaptive housing, click here.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
