| As Reported in Politico |
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H.R. 4816
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Senate to Hold Confirmation Hearing for VA Secretary
Politico's Lauren French reports that the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs will hold a nomination hearing next week for Robert McDonald, the White House's choice to lead the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) the committee chairman, said his panel will hold a confirmation hearing on July 22 for McDonald.
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| The VVA Veteran |
The VVA Veteran: July/August is in the Mail
All members will receive their copies of The VVA Veteran July 28-31.
In "The Aftermath," David Willson, who, several years ago, wrote a review of Vietnam War poetry, this time reviews the poets who have confronted the peace—and its war-generated demons. Mary Bruzzese's "Mission Accomplished" describes the new Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument and the VVA members who turned their vision into stone and bronze.
In the cover story, "Gulf of Tonkin: Ambiguous Push to War," historian John Prados examines how the Johnson administration interpreted, misinterpreted, and reinterpreted the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Vida Volkert's "Darkness to the Blue World" follows VVA's Ed Ryan, who, after forty-five years, traveled to New Mexico's Navajo Reservation to visit the grave of Joe Etsitty, the only man he lost while serving as squad leader with Charlie Co., 2/60 Inf., 9th Inf. Div. In "Walkin' Wichita," Xande Anderer provides a guide on what to see, do, and eat near the Hyatt Regency, site of VVA's 2014 Leadership & Education Conference. Marc Leepson profiles some of the special guests who will be recognized for their accomplishments.
In Membership Notes, read about Pennsylvania Chapter 1008's program to bring a coherent Vietnam War program to area high schools; New Mexico Chapter 1063's many activities, including its color guard and an initiative to bring emergency water relief to an isolated community; and Alabama Chapter 511's ongoing efforts to help the victims of last April's tornado.
For an advance look, go to www.vvaveteran.org |
| As Reported by The Washington Post |
Primetime Hearing: Another VA Scandal, Very Much Like the Last One
In a July 15 article for The Washington Post, Josh Hicks reports that some of the same problems that led to a scheduling scandal for the Department of Veterans Affairs' health network also infected the agency's benefits division, according to VA employees and federal watchdog agencies.
Hicks reports that witnesses at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Monday evening testified that the Veterans Benefits Administration created unrealistic goals, manipulated data to meet its targets, and fostered a corrosive culture in which accountability is scarce and managers punish workers who report wrongdoing. Various official reviews have shown similar problems at VA medical centers nationwide.
To read more |
| As Reported in the Atlanta Journal Constitution |
Whistleblowers Rap VA's "Culture of Corruption"
Jamie Dupree, in a July 14 article for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, reported on the Monday House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on benefits: "It was a familiar story line before the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Monday night—but from a different part of the VA—as another panel of whistleblowers detailed how they raised questions about troubles inside the agency, only to face retaliation for sending their concerns to their superiors.
" 'They were instructing us to change the dates on claims, on any claims,' said Kristin Ruell, a VA employee in the Philadelphia benefits office, a charge that seemed much like the data manipulation dealing with delays in medical appointments for veterans, which in this case would make it look like the VA was dealing with veterans claims more swiftly than what was really happening.
"Ruell said it was very obvious that VA bosses did not appreciate any whistleblowing reports on veterans benefits claims. 'After my last whistleblowing attempt, my name was forwarded to the people I reported,' Ruell said, adding that the next morning, 'my car was dented.' "
To read more
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| HCVA Press Release |
Miller Statement on VA Request for More Funding
After Acting Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs that VA needs approximately $17.6 billion in additional funding for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2014 through Fiscal Year 2017, Chairman Jeff Miller released the following statement on July 16:
"I am committed to giving VA the resources it needs to provide our veterans with the care and benefits they have earned. But if there's one thing we've learned over the last few months, it's that we can't trust VA's numbers. That includes the $17.6 billion in additional funding Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson asked for today. Given that this figure seems to have magically fallen out of the sky today – after years of assertions from VA leaders at all levels that they had nearly every dollar and every person necessary to accomplish VA's mission – it would be an act of budgetary malpractice to blindly sign off on this request. VA has had hundreds of millions more in medical care funding than it could spend every fiscal year since 2010. So if VA truly needs this additional $17.6 billion, that would mean the VA administrators involved in past department resource-allocation decisions are either incompetent, disingenuous, or both."
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| As Reported by The Reno Dispatch |
The Veterans Affairs Crisis: Is it About the Money?
Jamie Reno prefaces his July 16 article for The Reno Dispatch with the following: "Some of my most trusted sources insist that the wait times and many of the embattled agency's other ills are indeed the result of the lack of resources needed to hire enough doctors and other quality healthcare staff. It isn't a popular sentiment these days. But there may be something to it...."
To read Reno's article |
| As Reported in The Navy Times |
Senate Panel Backs 1 Percent Pay Increase
In a July 15 article for The Navy Times, Leo Shane reported that Senate appropriators plan to fund only a 1 percent basic pay raise for troops next year and will go along with a Pentagon proposal to trim housing allowances in an effort to rein in personnel costs. The moves, if adopted later this week, leave troops and families with a mixed message from lawmakers about how much belt-tightening they'll see next year.
To read more |
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| VVA Press Release |
Pat Williams To Deliver Keynote at VVA Leadership & Education Conference
(Washington, D.C.)—Pat Williams, the co-founder and senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic, will give the Keynote Speech at the Opening Ceremonies of Vietnam Veterans of America's National Leadership & Education Conference on Wednesday morning, August 6, at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita, Kansas.
"Pat Williams has been a general manager with three NBA teams, and he led the Philadelphia 76ers to NBA Championship," VVA National President John Rowan said. "Not only that, but Pat's one of the world's best motivational speakers, and I, for one, am really looking forward to what he has to say to our organization's leading advocates as we kick of the conference in Wichita."
Read Entire Press Release |
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