WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today wrote to U.S. TRANSCOM Commander General Paul Selva with a series of questions regarding TRANSCOM’s announcement that it would continue to use International Auto Logistics (IAL), a DoD contractor that misplaced or lost thousands of service members’ cars, to ship troops’ personal vehicles to and from overseas assignments.

“I appreciate that TRANSCOM and IAL continue to work to meet the 98% required delivery date standard, and that you and IAL are hopeful that the upcoming peak shipping season will be better, but I request that you brief me as soon as possible on the concrete actions IAL has taken to improve performance and why you believe their new plan will be successful,” wrote Sen. Warner today.

TRANSCOM officials recently announced that IAL briefed military officials on Feb. 12 regarding changes the contractor is making to rectify widespread problems reported by thousands of service members whose vehicles had been shipped by IAL, which included late deliveries and misplaced or damaged vehicles. Following that meeting, TRANSCOM announced that IAL “demonstrated significant performance improvement” and had made the changes necessary to prepare for peak moving season, which will begin in May.

Sen. Warner wrote, “Since this problem emerged last summer I have worked with you and your staff to assist several hundred service members locate their cars when they could not get accurate information from the contractor. I do not believe it should be TRANSCOM’s, or a U.S. Senator’s job, to do the work for a contractor who is getting paid by the taxpayers to provide a service.”

In October, Sen. Warner met with Gen. Selva to express serious concerns about IAL’s substandard performance. The meeting followed series of letters from Senator Warner after TRANSCOM and the contractor were unable to show improvement in correcting on-going problems locating the vehicles of hundreds of Sen. Warner’s constituents.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are spearheading a bipartisan effort to ensure volunteer firefighters and first responders can continue protecting communities that rely on them.

The senators are introducing a bill which codifies IRS regulations prohibiting volunteer emergency responders from being counted as full-time equivalent employees for the purpose of determining the employer mandate.

“The Obama Administration has already agreed that volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel should not be counted as full-time employees under the Affordable Care Act,” said Sen. Warner. “This sensible, bipartisan fix will ensure that the law permanently and properly distinguishes between full-time, paid emergency responders and volunteers so that emergency response agencies can continue focusing on keeping our communities safe.”

“From small cities to rural communities, Pennsylvania has the largest number of volunteer fire departments in the country,” said Sen. Toomey.  “These dedicated men and women, who volunteer to risk their lives for their fellow citizens, have enough on their plate without having to worry about whether excessive Washington red tape will close their station.  The House has already passed this bill and I urge the Senate to do the same.”

In December 2013, following a similar effort spearheaded by Sen. Toomey and Sen. Warner, the IRS issued guidance stating that volunteer firefighters and emergency responders would not be counted as full-time employees under the president’s health care law.  However, absent Sen. Toomey and Sen. Warner’s legislation, the IRS could still reverse course. 

Approximately 750,000 volunteer firefighters serve in 20,000 all-volunteer and 5,000 combination career-volunteer fire departments throughout the United States.  In most cases, volunteer first responders maintain other full-time employment and choose to volunteer.  Not surprisingly, emergency response agencies which rely almost entirely on volunteer assistance do not have the resources to provide benefits.

Sen. Warner and Sen. Toomey's legislation has been co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators including:

Sens. Manchin (D-W. Va.), King (I-Maine), Portman (R-Ohio), Cotton (R-Ark.), Coons (D-Del.), Donnelly (D-Ind.), Murkowski (R-Alaska), Grassley (R-Iowa), Ayotte (R-N.H.) , Kaine (D-Va.), Flake (R-Ariz), Bennet (D-Colo.), Wicker (R-Miss.), Isakson (R-Ga.), Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Tester (D-Mont.), Murphy (D-Conn.), Merkley (D-Ore.), Moran (R-Kan.), Scott (R-S.C.), and Franken (D-Minn.)