This month, President Obama signed a bill authored by Representative Lois Capps that makes support, counseling, and breastfeeding supplies available to military moms covered under the federal insurance plan for active and retired servicemen. Through the Affordable Care Act, such benefits are already required in private health insurance plans; this measure brings parity to families using TRICARE, the health-care program for those in uniform and their families.
Part of the National Defense Authorization Act, the TRICARE Moms Improvement Act marks the fifth Capps bill signed into law. Also that week, Obama signed Capps’s bill to designate a post office in Lompoc as the Federal Correctional Officer Scott J. Williams Memorial Post Office Building.
Among more than 80 bills signed into law the week before last, the president signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill to keep the government open until next September. According to GovTrack.us, the 113th Congress has enacted 296 new laws, which is the second fewest dating back several decades. The final count will be available at the end of December.