Special Interest Groups

• WHAT IS ITS MISSION?
• HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?
• PRIMARY FUNCTIONS
• PROGRAMS
• BUDGET INFORMATION
• HISTORY
• CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES
• FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• GROUP RESOURCES
• GROUP PUBLICATIONS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY

ESTABLISHED: December 9, 1944
EMPLOYEES: Not made available
MEMBERS: 250,000
PAC: None

Contact Information:
ADDRESS: 4647 Forbes Blvd. Lanham, MD 20706
PHONE: (301) 459-9600
URL: http://www.amvets.org
NATIONAL COMMANDER: Josephus Vandengoorbergh

WHAT IS ITS MISSION?

Soliders returning home from World War II (1939—45) created AMVETS in 1944. Initially established to give veterans representation and a collective voice in Washington, D.C., as well as to give aid to impoverished veterans, AMVETS sees itself as "veterans helping veterans." As a community of veterans, the organization allows current and former soldiers to maintain ties with each other, learn about issues of concern to veterans, and effectively represent their views to government.

HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?

AMVETS is a nonprofit organization based in Lanham, Maryland. It is led by a national commander who is assisted by a board of directors. These representatives of the organization are elected at the annual AMVETS national convention. The more than 1,300 posts nationwide elect delegates to attend the convention, which serves to decide the direction and policy of AMVETS. Each post sends a minimum of two delegates (total number of delegates depending on the population of the post) to the convention.

The 250,000 members of AMVETS are organized through the local posts. Anyone who has served in the United States Armed Forces after September 15, 1940, is eligible for membership. While not required to have taken part in combat, members must have received an honorable discharge or still be presently serving in the armed forces.

The National Service Foundation (NSF) is the development wing of AMVETS, raising money for AMVETS programs. The NSF runs AMVETS thrift stores and sponsors AMVETS clothes drives. It also administers the White Clover Program, a regular fund-raiser meant to raise money for needy veterans.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

Nationally, AMVETS attempts to represent the concerns and interests of its members to the federal government. AMVETS advocates for favorable government action on issues of special concern to veterans, such as flag desecration, funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), health care reform, and expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However AMVETS does not lobby Congress aggressively with contributions; instead, AMVETS relies on active participation by its members. For example, in 1997 Representative and Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) introduced a mass transit funding bill that would have borrowed from other discretionary spending authorizations, including VA health care. Pennsylvania AMVETS members called and wrote members of Congress protesting the action and shortly thereafter, Shuster removed the bill from consideration.

AMVETS works closely with the VA, the branch of the federal government created to provide benefits, medical assistance, and other forms of aid to U.S. service personnel. It keeps members informed on changes in VA policy, acting as a liaison between the VA and veterans. For example the Department of Defense (DoD) and the VA have used AMVETS to contact veterans who might be suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, a mysterious illness affecting some soldiers who served in the Persian Gulf War.

AMVETS also operates on a more personal level for its members. AMVETS local chapters offer camaraderie, a spirit of inclusion to those who share the common bond of service in the armed forces. AMVETS also offers more tangible services to individual members in the form of veterans benefit information and assistance with VA health care claims. The organization also offers member discounts on a variety of services including hotels, rental cars, and eye care. On a broader level, local AMVETS branches maintain a visible presence within their communities, sponsoring activities and acting as a gathering place, wedding hall, or bingo parlor.

Finally AMVETS engages in community activism. AMVETS collects second-hand clothes for the needy, provides student scholarships for children of veterans, gives out AMVETS medals to students excelling in Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) programs, and sponsors patriotic activities such as parades, essays, and poster contests.

PROGRAMS

AMVETS has created and supported many diverse initiatives. There are several themes to the organizations' activities, but youth and community are the dominant ones. AMVETS college scholarship programs provide financial assistance to the children or grandchildren of AMVETS members, or deceased veterans who were eligible to become a member. AMVETS also sponsors poster and essay contests for younger children, who receive prizes for writing on themes such as patriotism or the perils of drug and alcohol abuse.

White Clover

The NSF raises funds for needy veterans through its White Clover program. The white clover, a small plant with white flowers and three-lobed leaves, is a pasture plant and can be found on battlefields worldwide. It is because of this that the organization used the white clover as its symbol. White Clover volunteers go out on the streets on Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Veterans Days each year to sell small fabricated white clovers. Initiated in 1946, the program has been a reliable and consistent source of support for the organization's efforts to help fund its veterans services, such as programs to solve the problems of homeless veterans.

BUDGET INFORMATION

Not made available.

HISTORY

As wounded and discharged U.S. soldiers returned home from World War II, they formed clubs with their fellow veterans. These clubs provided members with a friendship and camaraderie forged by the common experience of war. Beside emotional benefits, the clubs were practical. Veterans confused over benefits could discuss their problems with other veterans. The clubs provided the power and security of collective political action; as more veterans joined, the organization could use its strength to make politicans aware of veteran issues.

By late 1944, nine states had highly organized World War II veterans clubs. In December of that year, those nine groups met in Kansas City, Missouri, and formed the American Veterans of World War II, or AMVETS. The newly formed organization held its first convention in Chicago in October, 1945. In 1946 the organization applied for a national charter with the federal government. The charter, offering official recognition from Congress, was signed by President Harry S Truman in 1947.

The voting power of AMVETS and other veterans service organizations (VSOs) was soon apparent. There were 500 federal laws concerning veterans enacted after World War II, providing them with a wide variety of benefits and protections. One of the earliest and most famous of these new laws was the GI Bill of 1945. The GI Bill made it easy for veterans to get money for education, to buy homes, and gain access to health care. Another significant legislative occurrence for veterans was the 1948 repeal of the so-called Economy Bill. The Economy Bill was a law passed in 1933 that limited financial benefits veterans were eligible to receive.

AMVETS has amended its membership criteria on several occasions, to keep itself a vital and relevant organization. In 1950 U.S. troops participated in the Korean War (1950–53) under the auspices of the United Nations. AMVETS amended its charter to include Korean War veterans. In 1966 while the United States was engaged in the Vietnam War (1959–75), the AMVETS charter was changed again, and qualifications for membership were altered significantly. AMVETS membership was open to "...any person who served in the Armed Forces of The United States of America or any American Citizen who served in the armed forces of an allied nation of the United States is eligible for regular membership in AMVETS, provided such service when terminated by discharge or release from active duty be by honorable discharge or separation."

Until 1984 AMVETS did not accept membership of those who served in the armed forces after the Vietnam War. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill opening up AMVETS membership to service people who had served honorably after the Vietnam War. AMVETS is now open to anyone serving or who has served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States—including the National Guard and Reserve—anytime after September 15, 1940.

For many years, there was no appeals process for veterans denied benefits by the VA. Often the VA would refuse to even explain why it had denied benefits to a veteran. The only recourse was for the veteran to sue the government and the VA. This was an expensive and untimely way of getting information or securing benefits. AMVETS and other VSOs sought an appeals system that would evaluate the VA's action and force it to explain why a claim may be denied. In 1988 the Court of Veterans Appeals was created to handle these cases. The Court of Veterans Appeals also handles cases of veterans who were also dissatisfied with their treatment by the VA.

In the 1990s the Persian Gulf War (1991) presented a new set of challenges to AMVETS. Some of the veterans returning from this conflict suffered from a mysterious illness known as Gulf War Syndrome. AMVETS encouraged the VA and other federal agencies devoted to health care to examine this issue and suggest methods of treatment. As the 1990s drew to a close, AMVETS worked to get additional federal budget support for the VA as budget surpluses were posted.

CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES

AMVETS dedicates its political activity to the issues that the organization finds crucial. For instance AMVETS and other VSOs, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), lobby Congress for increased funding for the VA. Not only do the VSOs pursue additional appropriations for the VA, they attempt to change the nature of VA allocations. The VSOs want Congress to remove VA supervision from Veterans Affairs Committees and create a new appropriations committee dedicated solely to the VA.

Another long-standing issue of concern for AMVETS is the fate of U.S. prisoners of war (POWs) and soldiers missing in action (MIAs). AMVETS has put political pressure on the VA, congressional veterans affairs committees, and the presidential administration to continue investigations of the fate of soliders who were captured or reported missing during combat in Korea and Vietnam, with the hope of eventually finding and bringing home all U.S. service personnel.

Case Study: Veterans Employment Opportunities Act

In the late 1990s AMVETS made it a priority to convince Congress to strengthen the Veterans Preference program. During World War II, laws were enacted that gave combat veterans a preference when it came to federal government hiring. While not designed in such a way as to allow unqualified veterans to gain positions in the government, it was intended to give them an advantage over other qualified job applicants. In theory, this preference would prevent veterans, who may not have as much work experience as other job applicants because of the time they spent in the military, from being passed over in federal hiring and promotions.

According to AMVETS, the program has not been applied properly in the years since World War II. Because there was no official enforcement mechanism for it however, it was possible for those doing the hiring to ignore it without suffering any penalty. AMVETS held that because of this, veterans were often passed over for positions that, according to the bill, they should have been hired for.

The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1997 was designed to correct this problem through the establishment of an official system for grievances. The act also proposed a number of other changes that AMVETS supported. It proposed an expansion of veterans preference to include veterans who had served various types of hazardous duty, even if they had not been in an official war. It also created of a new kind of preference; while not extending the advantages of veterans preference to veterans who had not seen combat or other hazardous duty, the act proposed allowing any veterans to apply for any federal job, even jobs that would otherwise only be offered to people who already worked for the agency where the opening existed.

AMVETS, as well as the other major VSOs, were all in favor of the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1997. The organization was particularly excited by the proposed greivance system. As AMVETS saw it, this would finally allow veterans to take advantage of the benefits promised them by Veterans Preference, and end what they considered to be hiring discrimination against veterans.

The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act was signed into law in 1998. While AMVETS saw this victory as an end to discrimination against veterans, others saw it as a victory for discrimination in favor of veterans, and against other qualified applicants. That such a proposal would be enacted in 1998, at the same time that debate raged over affirmative action programs that many claimed were unfairly favoring minority groups, demonstrated the strength of AMVETS and veterans organizations in politics.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

AMVETS considers the U.S. flag one of the main symbols of the nation and ideals for which its members fought. The organization feels that the flag should be treated with respect, and be legally protected from disfigurement and desecration. Ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that desecration of the flag, such as burning it, is a form of free speech and is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, AMVETS has been working toward the passage of a flag-protection amendment. Its efforts have not been successful; in 1998 proposed flag-protection legislation expired when the 105th session of Congress adjourned. However, working with the Citizens Flag Alliance, of which it is a member, AMVETS plans to continue introducing such legislation until it passes.

GROUP RESOURCES

Those interested in more information on AMVETS may call the organization at (301) 459-9600. Inquiries may be sent to AMVETS National Headquarters, 4647 Forbes Blvd., Lanham, MD 20706. The AMVETS Web site, containing some information about the group and its activities, can be accessed at http://www.amvets.org.

AMVETS sends its scholarship information to nearly all U.S. high schools. Individuals interested in contacting AMVETS about their poster and essay contests or seeking information about AMVETS scholarships may call (301) 459-9600 or write AMVETS National Headquarters, 4647 Forbes Blvd., Lanham, MD 20706.

GROUP PUBLICATIONS

AMVETS publishes many pamphlets available at individual posts designed to help veterans who are seeking benefits from the federal government. The National AMVET Magazine is a publication available to AMVETS members. It keeps members apprised of events, updated legislation, and service changes. Nonmembers may obtain information about AMVETS publications by calling (301) 459-9600 or by writing AMVETS National Headquarters, 4647 Forbes Blvd., Lanham, MD 20706.