At 9:30 a.m. on March 3, 30 minutes before VFW Commander-in-Chief Carol Whitmore was set to give her testimony to members of Congress, office staffers began to dig through nearby storage rooms for additional chairs. The G50 room of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., was filled with members of VFW, ready to amplify Whitmore’s message: “Honor the Contract. Pass the Major Richard Star Act now.”
The Major Richard Star Act, designed to ensure all veterans who sustained injuries from combat receive full, earned benefits from the Departments of Defense (DoD) and VA, would be blocked later that day by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), after the bill was brought to the Senate floor. His reasoning: “We simply cannot afford it.”
VFW Department of Illinois National Legislative Committee member Staci Boyer, right, explains the exploitative nature of predatory claims companies, or “claim sharks,” to Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) on March 4 in Washington, D.C., in her office in the Longworth House Office Building.It is this outcome that drives VFW to continue its decades-long legacy of advocating for veterans on Capitol Hill at the VFW Washington Conference.
VFW members around the country come together to share their personal stories with lawmakers about bureaucratic roadblocks they have encountered as veterans, in hopes that a solution can be found so that others will not have to encounter them.
This year, VFW consolidated its message to lawmakers into the following talking points:
- Community Care Reform (Veterans’ Access Act of 2025 and Foreign Medical Program Modernization Act of 2025)
- Concurrent Receipt Reform (Maj. Richard Star Act)
- Suicide Prevention (Written Informed Consent Act and Veteran Suicide Prevention Act)
- Brain Health Care (Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025, Blast Overpressure Research and Mitigation Task Force Act, Precision Brain Health Research Act of 2025 and Veterans National Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act)
- Other areas of concern include cracking down on predatory claims companies, transition from service, Post-9/11 G.I. Bill book stipends and emerging toxic exposures.
‘I CAME HOME WITH INJURIES YOU CAN’T SEE’
In 2003, VFW National Legislative Committee member and past VFW Department of Louisiana Commander Matt West was involved in an ammunition dump explosion that resulted in traumatic brain injury. In 2005, while serving in Iraq, West’s vehicle was hit with an IED that resulted in further brain injury.
“Like a lot of veterans from those wars, I came home with injuries you can’t see,” West said during the general session, before VFW members began their visits to Capitol Hill.
West, along with other VFW Department of Louisiana officers, met with Louisiana legislative assistants and policy staff in a joint meeting inside the U.S. Capitol. There, they shared stories relating to each of VFW’s talking points and to communicate their frustration with the Major Richard Star Act being blocked.
“We need the Major Richard Star Act passed,” West said. “What happened today is an injustice for all veterans. We are not going to stop this fight.”
West also shared his story of sustaining brain trauma from his experiences while serving, calling on a need for coordinated brain health care and continued investment into brain trauma research.
“Modernizing VA brain health care is not about bypassing modern scientific standards,” West said. “It is about ensuring the VA has the research infrastructure and clinical capacity to successfully evaluate veterans.”
‘WE’RE ALL OVERMEDICATED’
VFW National Legislative Committee member Staci Boyer of Illinois has long been an advocate for women who served. Boyer, along with VFW Department of Illinois Commander Eugene Blackwell and VFW National Council of Administration member Matt Clausen, visited the offices of Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) and Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) Boyer, Blackwell and Clausen were all greeted by Ramirez in her office, where they had a chance to share their stories and VFW’s objectives one on one.
The group also met one of Underwood’s staffers, Danielle Floyd.
Boyer praised Underwood’s dedication to veterans by being a co-sponsor of the Major Richard Star Act, as well as being very familiar with one of VFW’s objectives: written informed consent.
“We’re all overmedicated,” Clausen expressed to Floyd. “Before you know it, you’re taking 20 pills a day that are all interacting with each other. We’re asking that veterans are notified, by written consent, to know what the benefits and risks of the drugs are.”
Air Force veteran and VFW National Legislative Committee member Eric Dudash of Alabama represents one case of a veteran who could have benefited greatly from written informed consent.
“For 30 years on active duty, I lived by a simple principle: trust the experts,” Dudash said during a group meeting. “I trusted the men and women beside me to do their jobs, just as they trusted me to do mine. So when I began seeking medical care, I carried that same mindset with me.”
Dudash was continually prescribed medication from doctors, evolving from 10 pills a day into 20 pills and, eventually, into 32 different medications.
“One night, and I hadn’t even realized it, I was so sedated my wife had to wipe drool off my face,” Dudash explained to Alabama legislative aide Stone Griffin. “Written informed consent will make it clear how each pill might affect you, and how each pill might affect each other.”
COVERAGE FOR ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS
In her meetings with Illinois legislative staff, Boyer stressed the importance of alternative treatments for veterans being covered by the VA.
“We need the VA to cover the benefits of having alternative treatments, not just pills,” she said.
VFW Department of Alabama Senior Vice Commander Colt Drouillard explained how he benefited greatly from Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) shots, which are minimally-invasive treatments that help reduce the “fight-or-flight” response, one alternative treatment to PTSD.
“It was a game-changer for me,” Drouillard explained to Grif f in. “I wouldn’t be here talking to you today if I hadn’t taken that shot. It’s FDA approved, very simple to have done and should be covered under VA.”
The VFW Washington Conference gives veterans the platform to have their voices heard. Each day during the conference, VFW legislative members from each of the 50 states met with their respective House and Senate members, sharing stories similar to that of West, Dudash and Drouillard. According to VFW Auxiliary member and Gold Star wife Gabriella Kubinyi, it is the stories that have the power to move lawmakers the most.
This article is featured in the 2026 May/June issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Danny Cook, senior writer for VFW magazine.