Washington, DC:
NEW YORK - Matt Cary, President of Veterans and Military Families for Progress, called the recent resignation of Department of Veterans Affairs James Nicholson an opportunity for the president to show he truly does value veterans more than party loyalists by naming a veteran's advocate that is strong and proven to deal with the serious and pressing issues facing that agency today.
"Secretary Nicholson failed to anticipate the healthcare needs of returning veterans in terms of total numbers and failed to secure the financial resources needed to do the job," said Cary, who was not surprised at the news of Nicholson's resignation from the massive agency that employs some 235,000 workers and cares for America's 26.5 million veterans. "There was a lack of planning as to the length of this war and lack of resources to handle the volume of injured soldiers with trained medical personnel to address physical injuries and mental health conditions such as traumatic brain injury and PTSD."
Staffing shortages at some VA Healthcare Centers have caused up to 18-month waits for hip-replacement surgeries of some of America's older veterans. Veterans needing prosthesis for limb loss are on a waiting list or are transferred to facilities in other states four to eight hours away from families.
The embattled VA faced a series of scandals under Nicholson including the loss of sensitive personal data on tens of thousands of patients, and Congressional scrutiny over the Department's approximately $3.8 million in bonuses awarded to senior career officials within the VA in the last year while the agency was presented with a backlog of 400,000 cases and a deficit of $1.3 billion.
Cary noted Nicholson did begin to address the mental health issue which was a step forward for the agency. Those efforts are going to be needed since recent Department of Defense estimates that 40% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But as a former head of the Republican National Committee, Nicholson was not in a strong position to advocate for increased funding for veterans' needs from an administration that granted three rounds of tax cuts to the highest wage-earners.
A Vietnam-era veteran, VMFP's President and several members of the Capital Region Chapter of the national organization attend most Congressional Veterans Affairs Committee meetings and bill markups, ensuring VMFP's constituents are well-served.
"Our presence in these meetings has definitely brought the issues of veterans, those currently serving, and our military families front and center within both houses of Congress, and several pieces of legislation we have endorsed are receiving favorable consideration or have already been passed," Cary said. "It helps when they know we are watching, and when our efforts to elect lawmakers who sign onto our mission - which all can agree is above partisan politics - are successful."
In a late-June appearance before the House Armed Services Committee, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Richard A. Cody summed up why the president's next nominee to head the DVA is so crucial:
"Our Nation cannot ask our Soldiers and their Families to make these sacrifices and not ensure that their medical care and overall quality of life is at least equal to the quality of their service and sacrifice. We cannot ask them to endure the rigors of combat and then endure an under-resourced or bureaucratic system when they get home."
