What's New
| Congressman Mitchell: Pausing to Consider People Who REALLY Matter |
Chairman Harry Mitchell is a Hero to Veterans Nationwide August 20, 2010 (Arizona Republic) - It's been a month since I spoke to Rep. Harry Mitchell about suicides among military veterans and I'm just getting around to writing something. |
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| What Obama Won't Say Tonight About US Withdrawal from Iraq |
| August 31, 2010 (ConsortiumNews) - President Barack Obama’s aides say his speech this evening marking the end of "combat operations" in Iraq will avoid the vainglorious aspects of President George W. Bush’s infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech in 2003. We’ll see. |
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| Lawsuit Update: Prudential's Half-Billion in Dirty Secret Profits |
Families of Dead Soldiers Sue Insurer Over Its Handling of Survivors’ Benefits August 29, 2010 (New York Times) - Vickie Castro’s only child was killed six years ago just before Christmas, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside an Army mess tent in Mosul, Iraq, killing more than 20 people. |
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| Op-Ed: Cost of War Must Also Include Caring for Our Veterans |
Overlooked Cost of Iraq / Afghanistan Wars: Our Veterans' Healthcare and Benefits August 15, 2010 (San Francisco Chronicle) - Two years after an Army specialist saw half his platoon torn apart in Iraq, he hanged himself in a California backyard. |
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| VA Secretary Shinseki's Open Message to Gulf War Veterans |
| August 11, 2010, Washington, DC (VA Press Release) - August 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Gulf War, launched with Operation Desert Shield and followed by Operation Desert Storm. VA honors this milestone with a renewed commitment to improving our responsiveness to the challenges facing Gulf War Veterans. |
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VCS in the News: Troubled VA Agency Will Get a New Chief
Written by James Dao
Friday, 20 November 2009 22:13
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November 20, 2009, Washington, DC (New York Times) — The official responsible for the problem-plagued disability compensation system at the Department of Veterans Affairs will resign early next year, the department announced Friday. The official, Under Secretary Patrick W. Dunne, has run the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) since 2006, a period in which the agency has been swamped by claims not only from wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans but also aging Vietnam veterans. The rise in the backlog of unprocessed claims has fueled bitter complaints from members of Congress and veterans’ advocates. The benefits administration also came under fire this year when it was late issuing payments to colleges and students under the new G.I. Bill. In response, Eric Shinseki, the secretary of veterans affairs, ordered offices to open on a Saturday to make emergency payments to students. In announcing Mr. Dunne’s resignation, Mr. Shinseki said: “Pat Dunne has guided the Veterans Benefits Administration through a number of challenges during his tenure as under secretary. I applaud his service and loyalty to our team and thank him for his unfailing commitment to our nation’s veterans.” A spokeswoman for Mr. Shinseki, Katie Roberts, denied suggestions by veterans’ advocates that Mr. Dunne, a retired Navy rear admiral, had been forced out. “He served the department well,” Ms. Roberts said. Veterans’ advocates say the benefits administration has been slow to modernize. Revamping the department’s outdated computer technology, along with reducing the claims backlog, is one of Mr. Shinseki’s top priorities. “Veterans wait an average of six months for an initial answer on a disability claim and another four to five years while they wait for appeals,” said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. Mr. Sullivan’s group estimates that the backlog is close to one million claims, though the department says a more accurate measure places it at closer to half a million. The benefits administration has separate headquarters from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Shinseki should require the new under secretary to have offices under the same roof so they can work more closely. “They need a battle plan to overhaul the VBA and bring them out of 19th-century paper processes,” Mr. Sullivan said. Ms. Roberts, the secretary’s spokeswoman, said a commission would be assigned the task of recommending a list of potential successors to Mr. Dunne. The post requires Senate confirmation. |









