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REPUBLICAN PRESS RELEASE

March 8, 2007

Buyer: VA chairman downplays VA-DOD seamless transition challenges

Washington D.C. — House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) made the following statement on the refusal of Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) to elevate to a full committee hearing a subcommittee oversight hearing Thursday on seamless transition.

“In refusing my request to promptly hold a full committee hearing on the problems of servicemembers leaving the military and seeking VA care, Chairman Filner turned a deaf ear to the outcry over care for our veterans.

The recent revelations at Walter Reed Army Medical Center about how our wonderful warriors have been housed highlight the importance of seamless transition. We need fully interoperable electronic health records between VA and DoD, military separation physicals that can also function as VA disability physicals, and a disability rating process that provides consistent ratings.

Over the past two years, this committee held more than 10 hearings and conducted at least 15 site visits focusing on the seamless transition of servicemembers from the military to the VA. I believe these issues are of critical interest to all members, and should be reviewed at the full committee level.

Mr. Filner is making some odd choices as he sorts out his priorities. Among his first uses of the committee’s hearing rooms was ostensibly for a movie screening in January on health concerns of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. It turned out to be an anti-war event featuring actress Susan Sarandon and other anti-war protestors.

Last month, Mr. Filner chose to use the limited time available to hold a hearing on benefits for WWII Filipino veterans, rather than hold a timely hearing with the nation’s veterans’ service organizations to get their views on the fiscal year 2008 VA budget.”

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Larry Scott

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