More Bad News For Sick & Disabled Veterans!

[Gimpy]

Why doesn't Rep. Steve Buyer (Republican/Ind.) want the veterans' service organizations to have a loud and clear voice in Congress when it comes to testimony on the VA budget?


Maybe he knows something about the VA budget for FY 2007 that we don't! Also, he wants to stifle dissent and avoid remarks that might be embarrassing to the White House.


So, once again, veterans get caught in the political shuffle!


Some history here..........................


Recently, Buyer, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, changed the dates that service organizations present VA budget testimony on Capitol Hill...effectively ending the joint House and Senate hearings. That story here...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20news...-10-2005-3.htm

Buyer's original press release here...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/housecvane...ws11-08-05.htm


This generated the following article for Military.com and OpEdNews.com...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/milcom/itsbuyerbeware.htm


Then, House Democrats threatened to hold their own budget hearings...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20news...-17-2005-2.htm


Former VVA President says Buyer is gagging the troops...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20news...11-25-2005.htm


Eight military service organizations petition House Speaker Hastert to stop Buyer's madness...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20news...-16-2005-6.htm


Buyer's second press release saying that "Veterans will have a greater voice."...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/housecvane...ws12-16-05.htm


And, VA Secretary Nicholson commented on the situation...

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20news...-19-2005-2.htm


That brings us up to today....


And this press release from the DAV...

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=59594


We now know that the VSOs will testify before the House ONLY, instead of the usual joint House/Senate hearings, on February 8. They must submit testimony in writing by noon on February 6. Then, later on the 6th they will be briefed on the White House's VA budget figures. But, remember, their testimony has already been submitted so they will not have the White House figures to use in their testimony. Then, on the day of the testimony, they only get three minutes to speak out.


This sounds like something that would happen in a dictatorship and not in the United States!

Rep. Steve Buyer is a very real danger to veterans, veterans' benefits and the democratic process that has allowed, for 50 years, our VSOs to appear before a joint session of the House/Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs.


DAV press release is printed below:


-----START-----


House VA Panel Hearing Plan Mutes Veterans' Voices, Says DAV


1/23/2006 9:55:00 AM


To: National Desk


Contact: David E. Autry of the Disabled American Veterans, 202-314-5219


WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- An overhaul of legislative hearings announced by the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee seems deliberately designed to marginalize the influence of the nation's veterans on funding levels for the Department of Veterans Affairs and other important public policy issues, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).


Last November Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) decided to end a decades-long tradition that gave veterans groups the opportunity to present testimony regarding a wide range of legislative priorities before a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. The DAV and other organizations tried, unsuccessfully , to get Rep. Buyer to reinstate those joint hearings, which they viewed as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America's veterans.


When the new schedule of hearings and their format were announced in January proved to be even more disappointing to veterans, DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson sent a letter of protest to Chairman Buyer.


The first of those hearings is scheduled for Feb. 8, just two days after the anticipated release of the President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2007 on Feb. 6, and copies of written testimony from veterans service organizations must be submitted to the Committee by noon that very day . The Chairman also imposed a three-minute limit on oral remarks by representatives from veterans organizations, each of which could invite no more than five persons in the audience.


"Both the timing of the hearings and the absurdity of a three-minute limit for oral remarks make it all too clear that Chairman Buyer is not interested in a meaningful dialogue with the veterans community," said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson.


"How could the Chairman expect us to analyze and comment on the President's budget request before it is even made public? Or is it his intent to blunt criticism and suppress diverse points of view regarding funding levels and policy initiatives in the President's budget? " Commander Jackson said.


"The revised schedule for hearings and the change in format amount to a slap in the face of individual veterans as well as the groups that represent them in the public policy arena. Chairman Buyer has slammed the door in the face of America's veterans," Commander Jackson said.


The 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation's disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation's disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization's Web site:

http://www.dav.org

----END----


Better get that BIG JAR of 'vaseline' ready guys and gals, cause it's OBVIOUS that WE are about to get SCREWED ONCE AGAIN!


These folks like Buyer and his kind are going to DESTROY the VA as we know it and further REDUCE and UNDERMINE Veterans benefits before we can get them out of office!

[locksly]

I just heard on the news that the V.A. will cut benifits for more well to do veterans. What that means is well get ready.