United We Roll at Stardust Radio

What Is USC, Title 38, 5301
(Part 4, Chapter 53)

Okay, so what is USC, Title 38, 5301? It is part of the USC (United States Code) that protects Disability Pay for a Veteran who was injured while on duty. It states in ...(a) (1) "Payments of benefits due or to become due under any law administered by the Secretary shall not be assignable except to the extent specifically authorized by law, and such payments made to, or on account of, a beneficiary shall be exempt from taxation, shall be exempt from the claim of creditors, and shall not be liable to attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the beneficiary." .....and goes on from there. The full code copied from the house.gov site is enclosed below.

This law goes waaay back and is intended to protect injured service members who are disabled so that they will have the medical care/medicines/treatments they need and so they can keep a roof over their heads and food in the pantry. But, as you can see by the date below, this was also reviewed by the House as late as 02/01/10.

A couple of good sites to see some good explanations of 5301 are:

http://www.vfwwebcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3855.msg20526.html - VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and

http://www.usdr.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=26 - USDR (Uniformed services Disabled Retirees)

As stated in an earlier post, the OFFE/VFVC organizations are following about 40 cases involving both disabled service men and women. Some are being jailed for Contempt if they try to quote 5301 and protect their Disability Pay. A good site to follow this progress is www.offe2008.org and go to the Area 5301 page. YOU can help with each of these cases by contacting the court involved and registering your disapproval of the failure to recognize and follow USC, Title 38, 5301.

Thank You & God Bless You!

http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/38C53.txt - Fed Law 5301 From House Records

CITE-
38 USC Sec. 5301 02/01/2010

-EXPCITE-
TITLE 38 - VETERANS' BENEFITS
PART IV - GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 53 - SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO BENEFITS

-HEAD-
Sec. 5301. Nonassignability and exempt status of benefits

-STATUTE-
(a)(1) Payments of benefits due or to become due under any law
administered by the Secretary shall not be assignable except to the
extent specifically authorized by law, and such payments made to,
or on account of, a beneficiary shall be exempt from taxation,
shall be exempt from the claim of creditors, and shall not be
liable to attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or
equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the
beneficiary. The preceding sentence shall not apply to claims of
the United States arising under such laws nor shall the exemption
therein contained as to taxation extend to any property purchased
in part or wholly out of such payments. The provisions of this
section shall not be construed to prohibit the assignment of
insurance otherwise authorized under chapter 19 of this title, or
of servicemen's indemnity.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, in any case where a
payee of an educational assistance allowance has designated the
address of an attorney-in-fact as the payee's address for the
purpose of receiving a benefit check and has also executed a power
of attorney giving the attorney-in-fact authority to negotiate such
benefit check, such action shall be deemed to be an assignment and
is prohibited.
(3)(A) This paragraph is intended to clarify that, in any case
where a beneficiary entitled to compensation, pension, or
dependency and indemnity compensation enters into an agreement with
another person under which agreement such other person acquires for
consideration the right to receive such benefit by payment of such
compensation, pension, or dependency and indemnity compensation, as
the case may be, except as provided in subparagraph (, and
including deposit into a joint account from which such other person
may make withdrawals, or otherwise, such agreement shall be deemed
to be an assignment and is prohibited.
( Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), nothing in this paragraph
is intended to prohibit a loan involving a beneficiary under the
terms of which the beneficiary may use the benefit to repay such
other person as long as each of the periodic payments made to repay
such other person is separately and voluntarily executed by the
beneficiary or is made by preauthorized electronic funds transfer
pursuant to the Electronic Funds Transfers Act (15 U.S.C. 1693 et
seq.).
(C) Any agreement or arrangement for collateral for security for
an agreement that is prohibited under subparagraph (A) is also
prohibited and is void from its inception.
(b) This section shall prohibit the collection by setoff or
otherwise out of any benefits payable pursuant to any law
administered by the Secretary and relating to veterans, their
estates, or their dependents, of any claim of the United States or
any agency thereof against (1) any person other than the indebted
beneficiary or the beneficiary's estate; or (2) any beneficiary or
the beneficiary's estate except amounts due the United States by
such beneficiary or the beneficiary's estate by reason of
overpayments or illegal payments made under such laws to such
beneficiary or the beneficiary's estate or to the beneficiary's
dependents as such. If the benefits referred to in the preceding
sentence are insurance payable by reason of yearly renewable term
insurance, United States Government life insurance, or National
Service Life Insurance issued by the United States, the exemption
provided in this section shall not apply to indebtedness existing
against the particular insurance contract upon the maturity of
which the claim is based, whether such indebtedness is in the form
of liens to secure unpaid premiums or loans, or interest on such
premiums or loans, or indebtedness arising from overpayments of
dividends, refunds, loans, or other insurance benefits.
(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
Secretary may, after receiving a request under paragraph (2) of
this subsection relating to a veteran, collect by offset of any
compensation or pension payable to the veteran under laws
administered by the Secretary the uncollected portion of the amount
of any indebtedness associated with the veteran's participation in
a plan prescribed in chapter 73 of title 10.
(2) If the Secretary concerned (as defined in section 101(5) of
title 37) has tried under section 3711(a) of title 31 to collect an
amount described in paragraph (1) of this subsection in the case of
any veteran, has been unable to collect such amount, and has
determined that the uncollected portion of such amount is not
collectible from amounts payable by that Secretary to the veteran
or that the veteran is not receiving any payment from that
Secretary, that Secretary may request the Secretary to make
collections in the case of such veteran as authorized in paragraph
(1) of this subsection.
(3)(A) A collection authorized by paragraph (1) of this
subsection shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures
prescribed in section 3716 of title 31 for administrative offset
collections made after attempts to collect claims under section
3711(a) of such title.
( For the purposes of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, as
used in the second sentence of section 3716(a) of title 31 -
(i) the term "records of the agency" shall be considered to
refer to the records of the department of the Secretary
concerned; and
(ii) the term "agency" in clauses (3) and (4) shall be
considered to refer to such department.

(4) Funds collected under this subsection shall be credited to
the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund under chapter 74
of title 10 or to the Retired Pay Account of the Coast Guard, as
appropriate.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, payments of
benefits under laws administered by the Secretary shall not be
exempt from levy under subchapter D of chapter 64 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 6331 et seq.).
(e) In the case of a person who -
(1) has been determined to be eligible to receive pension or
compensation under laws administered by the Secretary but for the
receipt by such person of pay pursuant to any provision of law
providing retired or retirement pay to members or former members
of the Armed Forces or commissioned officers of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or of the Public Health
Service; and
(2) files a waiver of such pay in accordance with section 5305
of this title in the amount of such pension or compensation
before the end of the one-year period beginning on the date such
person is notified by the Secretary of such person's eligibility
for such pension or compensation,

the retired or retirement pay of such person shall be exempt from
taxation, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, in an
amount equal to the amount of pension or compensation which would
have been paid to such person but for the receipt by such person of
such pay.

Severely Disabled Veteran Jailed Again

Yet another disabled Hero of Freedom, who is confined to a wheel chair from duty related injury, is placed back in jail as his disability pay is pulled for use in his divorce settlement. See the following press release received Aug 31st from OFFE and keep up with these court cases at their site - www.offe2008.org in section called "Area 5301".

Joseph Dzuibak of Albert Lea Minnesota is a disabled veteran and very ill man. Dzuibak is also incarcerated in the Freeborn County jail serving a 10 day sentence for contempt of court. The contempt charges stem from Dzuibak’s refusal to use his VA disability compensation to pay court ordered alimony to his ex-spouse.

Dzuibak was arrested in May of this year for the same offense. However, within 48 hours of being jailed Dzuibak was released. According to officials at the jail health and liability concerns were raised by the jail nurse, and a request was submitted to the judge to have Dzuibak released with an ankle bracelet. In addition, numerous phone calls from supporters and members of Operation Firing For Effect were instrumental in getting Dzuibak released and sent home to serve out his 30 days. Apparently, this time Joseph’s poor health was not of great concern. The following video is TV6 News coverage of Dzuibak’s arrest and release.

[Video Note:] KAAL, TV6 News (May 25, 2010), Albert Lea, Minnesota, Disabled Veteran Joseph Dziubak Goes to Jail. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QUqoJfyATg

This time because of his fragile health Mr. Joseph Dzuibak is being held in a holding area away from the general population under constant observation by guards. This is nominally the location in the jail where they keep inmates on suicide watch. Joseph has no TV, or anyone to communicate with. Dzuibak spends 24 hours a day staring at the four walls. Joseph Dzuibak has committed no crime. Yet, he is incarcerated like the most hardened criminal. After 10 days if Dzuibak still refuses to honor the court order, he will go back to jail for 30 days next time. There really is no limit to how long the judge can keep Dzuibak locked up. The danger to Dzuibak is very real; he could suffer another stroke or heart attack or worse.

Dzuibak is among a growing number of disabled veterans choosing to face jail in protest for having their VA disability compensation calculated as ‘income’ and divided with an ex-spouse. Like most veterans, Joseph Dzuibak was taught that his veteran’s benefits were not attachable by any legal means. According to USC, Title 38, 5301, Joseph is correct. This particular Federal law reads as follows; “payments of benefits due or to become due under any law administered by the Secretary shall not be assignable except to the extent specifically authorized by law, and such payments made to, or on account of, a beneficiary shall be exempt from taxation, shall be exempt from the claim of creditors, and shall not be liable to attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the beneficiary”.

Unfortunately, most civil courts do not recognize this Federal law and divorce court judges across the country are routinely stripping veterans of their earned benefits and awarding them to an ex-spouse.

In an interesting side note, several deputies at the jail, who are also veterans, have expressed off the record that they feel Dzuibak is getting a raw deal and shouldn’t even be in jail. But, they also say have a job to do and cannot allow their personal feels affect their job. They must abide by the judge’s orders. The deputy’s names are being withheld to protect their jobs.

The following KWQC News broadcast will illustrate how widespread this problem really is.
[Video Note:] KWQC TV6 (April 2009) News broadcast features Jerry Bohr and members of Operation Firing For Effect, the Veteran’s Advocacy Group. This video provides a thumbnail sketch of the OFFE organization and the 5301 issue in Iowa.
http://www.you3tube.com/watch?v=GJZS96P6dH8

Operation Firing For Effect is monitoring Joseph Dzuibak’s situation with daily calls to the jail. If you wish to call the jail to voice your support for Dzuibak, or to check on his condition, here is the number; (507) 377 5267 and listen for the prompt for the jail. Please be polite when you call.

‘AREA 5301’ is a web page created by Operation Firing For Effect devoted exclusively to the 5301 issue. Operation Firing For Effect is currently the only national organization addressing this issue. http://jerebeery.com/AREA%205301.htm

[Video Note:] WIBW TV13 News (August 2010) broadcast is the latest coverage of this issue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyANu07a0u4

Jere Beery
OFFE National Public Relations Director
jerebeery@aol.com

United We Roll World Tour Show
Stardust Radio www.stardustradio.com
Tuesday 8/31/10 2:00pm – 4:20pm Central (Live)
Wednesday 9/01/10 6:30pm – 8:50pm Central (Repeat)

Welcome Stardust Listeners and thank you for joining us on United We Roll this Tuesday, the 31st day of August, 2010 as we once again take time to honor those who serve our country and who protect our freedom!!

Tomorrow, September 1st of 2010, will mark the changeover in Iraq from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn!

We have four great visits with deployed members who are currently serving overseas. The show will end at 4:20pm Central as we do not edit our interviews to fit within the normal two hour broadcast period. Remember, if you are not able to stay with us through the show this afternoon, it will repeat again tomorrow evening, Wednesday, June 9th at 6:30pm Central. In addition, an MP3 copy will be placed on our show archive site for listening and downloading. You can reach our archive site at www.stardustradio.info or on the United We Roll page at www.stardustradio.com.

(2:08) Speaking of Heroes of Freedom, let's talk about our show. During our first visit today, we will be talking with Army Captain Dustin Eggleston who is currently deployed with HHC, Task Force 2-7, 1-3 AAB , 3rd ID where he serves as the Task Force Engineer.

(2:40pm) Most of the bases and camps hold a variety of events for the deployed members and Transit Center Manas in Kyrgyzstan has recently held another of their Manas Idol contests. Our regular listeners may remember that we were honored to speak with the winner of the last Manas Idol contest. Well, today we are again honored to speak with the current winner, who is A1C Ashley Turnage.

(3:09pm) Our third visit for today is with Army Sgt Mary Katzenberger of the HHC, 3-69 Armor, 1AAB, 3ID where she is about 8 months into her 12 month deployment. As you will hear, Sgt Katzenberger ( an Army daughter, sister and wife) has many experiences to share.

(3:42pm) Our fourth and final visit for today is with Maj Lisa Hess, who is on deployment with the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing. Maj Hess is the SARC Officer and also the base liaison with the Congress of Women from the local community there in Kyrgyzstan.
We would like to thank some folks without whom these visits would not be possible. Our deepest appreciation goes to TSgt Jennifer Buzanowski, Capt Curt Schultheiss and Maj Vinston Porter.
********************************

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED FOR A DISABLED VET WHO IS FACING JAIL ON SEPTEMBER 4TH!
Iowa State Veteran’s Service Officer to be Jailed as Disability Pay Ruled In Part of Divorce Settlement – See the details in our blog at http://stardustradio.info/b2evolution/blog1.php?blog=1

Don't forget to support our Army unit - click the "Like" button for the 1stHBCT, 3rdID on Facebook! The link is www.facebook.com/1HBCT.3ID.

For more news and articles on current happenings, please visit our United We Roll sites:
Stardust Radio – www.stardustradio.com
Stardust Radio Show Archive (MP3 Copies of Past Shows) – www.stardustradio.info
United We Roll Blog – http://stardustradio.info/b2evolution/blog1.php?blog=1
United We Roll Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/UnitedWeRoll
Twitter – www.tweeter.com/JudiBUSA

Ladies & Gentlemen, we wish to thank all of you for joining us today and we hope that you will be with us again next week when we will have more great visits from our Heroes of Freedom.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all of our military members, families, Veterans and to all of our first responders & their families - everyone who puts their lives on hold and on the line for us and our families.

We would like to remind anyone who is interested in health and legislative issues that affect those who protect our freedom to tune in to our other broadcasts – OFFE with Gene Simes and Jere Berry at 8pm Central on Tuesday nights and also with Rick Townsend and Firebase Network Sundays at 6:00pm Central.

May you all have a good and safe week.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL & MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Two press releases dated today (Aug 30) were sent from the VA to address issues dealing with TBI and Agent Orange. Both releases are copied below:

VA Secretary Addresses Traumatic Brain Injury Conference

WASHINGTON (August 30, 2010) - Recognizing the longstanding, integrated collaboration shared by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki gave the keynote address Monday at the fourth annual Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Military Training Conference here.

"We--DoD and VA--simply cannot afford to be less than aggressive in our effort to identify, treat and rehabilitate TBI victims," Shinseki told the approximately 1,000 military, VA and civilian health care workers at the conference sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).

The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center was established by Congress in 1992. DoD and VA together offer clinical care, research and education on traumatic brain injury. DVBIC is the operational component of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

In praise of the collaborative DVBIC model, Secretary Shinseki said it should be replicated for all military personnel transitioning to VA care, and not just for TBI or burn care.

"When it comes to DoD's patients, there is a network of information and hands-on human care," the Secretary said, "that helps a wounded warrior transition from one system to the other-- from the battlefield to our polytrauma centers."

There are DVBIC researchers assigned at each of the four VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (Tampa, Richmond, Minneapolis and Palo Alto) where they gather information regarding care of patients with TBI, analyze and translate this information into recommendations to improve care, and educate providers in implementing those improvements clinically.

DVBIC and VA have shared, and continue to collaborate, on many significant initiatives. Recent examples include developing and
implementing:

* Joint DoD/VA clinical practice guidelines for TBI;

* Materials and information for families and caregivers of
Veterans with TBI;

* Integrated education and training curriculum, and joint
training on TBI of VA and DoD heath care providers;

* A Congressionally-mandated 5-year pilot program to assess the
effectiveness of providing assisted living services to Veterans with TBI;

* The TBI Screening tool used for all Veterans who served in
Iraq or Afghanistan and are receiving care within VA; and

* A specialized Emerging Consciousness Care program at the four
polytrauma centers to serve those Veterans with severe TBI who are also slow to recover consciousness.

# # #
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VA Publishes Final Regulation to Aid Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange

VA Health Care and Benefits Provided for Many Vietnam Veterans

WASHINGTON (August 30, 2010)- Veterans exposed to herbicides while serving in Vietnam and other areas will have an easier path to access quality health care and qualify for disability compensation under a final regulation that will be published on August 31, 2010 in the Federal Register by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The new rule expands the list of health problems VA will presume to be related to Agent Orange and other herbicide exposures to add two new conditions and expand one existing category of conditions.

"Last October, based on the requirements of the Agent Orange Act of
1991 and the Institute of Medicine's 2008 Update on Agent Orange, I determined that the evidence provided was sufficient to award presumptions of service connection for these three additional diseases," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "It was the right decision, and the President and I are proud to finally provide this group of Veterans the care and benefits they have long deserved."

The final regulation follows Shinseki's determination to expand the list of conditions for which service connection for Vietnam Veterans is presumed. VA is adding Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease and expanding chronic lymphocytic leukemia to include all chronic B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia.

In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and who have a "presumed" illness don't have to prove an association between their medical problems and their military service. By helping Veterans overcome evidentiary requirements that might otherwise present significant challenges, this "presumption" simplifies and speeds up the application process and ensure that Veterans receive the benefits they deserve.

The Secretary's decision to add these presumptives is based on the latest evidence provided in a 2008 independent study by the Institute of Medicine concerning health problems caused by herbicides like Agent Orange.

Veterans who served in Vietnam anytime during the period beginning January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, are presumed to have been exposed to herbicides.

More than 150,000 Veterans are expected to submit Agent Orange claims in the next 12 to 18 months, many of whom are potentially eligible for retroactive disability payments based on past claims. Additionally, VA will review approximately 90,000 previously denied claims by Vietnam Veterans for service connection for these conditions. All those awarded service-connection who are not currently eligible for enrollment into the VA healthcare system will become eligible.

This historic regulation is subject to provisions of the Congressional Review Act that require a 60-day Congressional review period before implementation. After the review period, VA can begin paying benefits for new claims and may award benefits retroactively for earlier periods.

For new claims, VA may pay benefits retroactive to the effective date of the regulation or to one year before the date VA receives the application, whichever is later. For pending claims and claims that were previously denied, VA may pay benefits retroactive to the date it received the claim.

VA encourages Vietnam Veterans with these three diseases to submit their applications for access to VA health care and compensation now so the agency can begin development of their claims.

Individuals can go to a website at
http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/AO/claimherbicide.htm
to get an understanding of how to file a claim for presumptive conditions related to herbicide exposure, as well as what evidence is needed by VA to make a decision about disability compensation or survivors benefits.

Additional information about Agent Orange and VA's services for Veterans exposed to the chemical is available at www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange
.

The regulation is available on the Office of the Federal Register website at http://www.ofr.gov/ .

# # #

To keep up to date with VA Press Releases, go to http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel