Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-21-08

1. Advocacy Groups, VA Said To Be Working With Congress On Potential Changes To New GI Bill. 
2. VA To Renovate Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC.  
3. Several Names Suggested As Possible VA Chief In Obama Administration.  
4. Iraq Veteran Recovering From Injuries With Help Of VA.  
5. Advocates: Vets Were Not Shocked By News Of Document Shredding. 
6. Beckley VAMC Hosts Annual Health Fair.  
7. Ground Broken On Washington Crossing National Cemetery.  
8. Akaka To Remain As Chairman Of Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  
9. Former Detective Pleads Guilty To Lying About Purple Heart.  
10. Louisiana VA Secretary To Address DAV Conference.  

1.      Advocacy Groups, VA Said To Be Working With Congress On Potential Changes To New GI Bill.   CQ Today (11/19, Rogin, Johnson) reported, "Less than five months after Congress cleared the largest expansion of veterans’ educational benefits since World War II," Veterans Affairs committees "are working on revisions to the new law, with plans to push those changes early next year." The new GI Bill provisions "have not taken effect yet," but "committee aides have been working behind the scenes with the Veterans Affairs Department and independent veterans’ groups to address both technical and substantive issues. Veterans’ groups have a long list of changes they want and recently stepped up their lobbying effort on Capitol Hill," but the VA "has warned the committees that major changes could complicate a plan to institute information technology and human resource systems ahead of the expected onslaught of new claims."
      Student Veterans Await New Benefits As Lawmakers Express Concern About VA Readiness.   The Kansas City infoZine (11/20, Peterson) reported, "Along with other veterans at colleges and universities," 24-year-old University of Maryland student Justin Payne "said he will welcome the additional money to pay for school" that will be provided by the new GI Bill. Some members of Congress, however, "question if the VA will be prepared to start this program on Aug. 1, especially after officials announced the VA will partner with military agencies to create the automated system to handle benefits claims rather than use a private company." 

 2.      VA To Renovate Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC.   The AP (11/21, Daly) reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday it will spend $71.4 million to renovate the aging VA medical center in Walla Walla, Wash., that serves veterans from three states." The VA’s announcement "followed years of lobbying by Northwest lawmakers to upgrade the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center, which was once slated for closure. ‘This is a major victory that veterans in southeast Washington, northern Oregon and Idaho have waited a long time for,’ said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. ‘Thousands of veterans rely on the Walla Walla VA, and today they can look forward to a new era of quality, expanded local care.’" The AP adds, "Thursday’s announcement moves up the timetable for construction by at least two years. Northwest lawmakers personally lobbied" VA Secretary James Peake "to support the project and move it higher on the department’s priority list." 

3.      Several Names Suggested As Possible VA Chief In Obama Administration.   In continuing coverage, US News & World Report (11/20, Ruggeri) said, "It may not be one of the most headlined positions in the cabinet, but for 20 percent of the American population-veterans and their dependents-the question of whom President-elect Barack Obama will pick" as the secretary of Veterans Affairs "is a big one. Obama has made ambitious promises to veterans, including reforming" the VA, "launching programs against homelessness, and improving mental health treatments. Veterans’ organizations say they also expect him to tackle the problem of some 800,000 backlogged disabilities claims and to focus on effective implementation" of the new GI Bill. So Obama will "need someone who can shake up a notoriously slow-moving bureaucracy. Insiders say he’s particularly looking for an up-and-comer on the youthful side who can bring change to the VA." One possibility, US Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX), "took himself out of the running." Other names falling into the "most talked-about" category include Illinois VA Director Tammy Duckworth, Max Cleland, "former administrator of the VA," current VA Secretary James Peake, Paul Rieckhoff, "founder and director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America," Arnold Fisher, "former chairman of the Fisher House Foundation," US Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), a "decorated Iraq war veteran," and attorney Phillip Carter, the Obama campaign’s "top veterans adviser," also an Iraq veteran. 

4.      Iraq Veteran Recovering From Injuries With Help Of VA.   On its website, KRIV-TV Houston, TX (11/20) profiled Steven Schulz, who suffered massive brain trauma "when an improvised explosive device hit the vehicle he was commanding" In Iraq. The blast left him "partially paralyzed and without the use of an eye." But in the "three years since returning home," Schulz "has taken on a new mission — regaining as much physical function as possible. I’m doing very well for myself, I’m back walking again,’ Steven insists." KRIV added, "With the help of specialists" at Houston’s DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center "and a special pair of prism eyeglasses," Steven "has also succeeded in regaining once lost portions of his field of vision. The procedure literally retrains a patient’s visual and motor systems."

5.      Advocates: Vets Were Not Shocked By News Of Document Shredding.   In continuing coverage, the Army Times (11/20, Maze) reported, "Doubts were raised Wednesday about whether the Bush administration can do anything to restore confidence in the Veterans Affairs Department following the discovery last month of almost 500 key benefits claims documents in shredding bins at regional offices. But the problem, initially discovered by teams" of VA auditors, "didn’t exactly shock the veterans’ community. Veterans have complained for decades about VA losing or destroying claims documents," and veterans advocates "attending a roundtable discussion arranged by the House Veterans Affairs Committee said VA’s admission of mishandling documents is a sign of the fundamental problems that veterans have seen for years."    

Shredded Documents Audit Leads To New VA Procedures.  

In the second story in his Frederick (MD) News Post (11/20) "Military Intelligence" column, Justin Palk reported, "Following an Inspector General’s audit that found benefits paperwork for some veterans among papers headed to the shredder, the Veterans Affairs Department is giving new protections to veterans whose paperwork has gone missing." These "new procedures apply to documents submitted between April 14, 2007 and Oct. 14, 2008. Veterans can resubmit missing applications or evidence from this time period and the VA will process the documents as if they were originally submitted on the date identified by the claimant. Veterans have until Nov. 17, 2009 to refile previously submitted documents under these" procedures.
 

6.      Beckley VAMC Hosts Annual Health Fair.   On its website, WVVA-TV Beckley, WV (11/20) reported, "Patients, family, and friends gathered for a health fair" Wednesday afternoon at the Beckley Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The "annual health fair…requires roughly half a year of planning."

7.      Ground Broken On Washington Crossing National Cemetery.   In continuing coverage, Pennsylvania’s Advance Of Bucks County (11/20, Ciferri) reported that "around 350 veterans and families" attended an official groundbreaking ceremony Sunday at the future site of the Washington Crossing National Cemetery. The ceremony featured "local, state and national officials," including VA Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs William Tuerk, who "told project organizers ‘the community owes you big time.’"

8.      Akaka To Remain As Chairman Of Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.   The AP (11/20) reported US Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) "will retain the chairmanship" of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee after Senate Democrats "agreed to a resolution that allowed" Sen. Joe Lieberman to continue leading the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

9.      Former Detective Pleads Guilty To Lying About Purple Heart.   The Tulsa (OK) World (11/20, Hylton) said 30-year-old Kris Ledford, a "former Muskogee police detective charged with possessing stolen firearms and falsely claiming to be a Purple Heart" recipient, "pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday. In a plea deal with the United States," Ledford "will spend about three to five years in prison, based on federal sentencing guidelines." The World noted that Ledford told Magistrate Judge Kimberly E. West "that he has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and severe depression and has been treated for the past five months," including "an in-patient stay" at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Muskogee. 

10.    Louisiana VA Secretary To Address DAV Conference.   The Alexandria (LA) Town Talk (11/21) reports, "Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Lane Carson will address veterans during the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Mid-Winter Conference on "Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Best Western Inn and Suites Conference Center in Alexandria." Carson "is proud to show his support for the Disabled American Veterans and the Disabled for Life Memorial, according to a news release by Alainna Giacone, DAV spokesperson. The DAV Mid-Winter Conference promises a veterans benefits briefing for chapter service officers, a joint memorial service by chaplains Hamilton and Ward, an auction, a Saturday night dinner with featured speaker Mary Bencivenga, and a Sunday morning all-faith service, the release states."