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DEMOCRATIC
PRESS RELEASE
January 9, 2007
Committee Holds Organizational Meeting
Statement from Chairman Daniel Akaka
Good morning and welcome to the Committee's first meeting of the 110th
Congress. I look forward to a productive session for our Committee. Our
obligation, to take the lead in ensuring that those who served in the
armed forces receive the benefits and services they need -- benefits and
services earned by their service -- is a profound one. That is never
more true than now when members of the military are in harm's way in
service to our nation.
Today's session provides the Committee with the opportunity to begin to
set an agenda for the year ahead. I will briefly outline my thoughts on
the issues we might address and then will ask you each to share your
thoughts and expectations.
Our Committee has a strong history of bipartisanship and I intend to do
all I can to maintain and foster that tradition. I value my relationship
with my good friend, Larry Craig, and will work with him as he worked
with me over the past Congress when our roles were reversed.
I do not expect that all members will be in
agreement on all issues, but I do anticipate that when we disagree, it
will be with a respectful regard for the views of all.
I begin with some housekeeping matters.
First, following the pattern set by Senator Craig, I plan to have at
least two events a month for the Committee, either hearings or meetings.
My tentative plan is to schedule these events for the second and fourth
Tuesday of each month, beginning at 9:30AM. Please let me know if this
schedule conflicts with another Committee on which you sit. I know many
of us are serving on a number of committees - I am on six - and finding
a time that accommodates all members may prove difficult, but I would
like to have a time that results in as few conflicts as possible.
In addition to our two Committee events each month, I expect that we
will again have joint meetings with the House Veterans' Affairs
Committee a number of times during the year, to hear the legislative
presentations of veteran service organizations and military
organizations.
Details on this are still being ironed out but
I anticipate that we will have an agreement and a schedule for this
year’s hearings in the next few weeks.
So that those with an interest in the activities of the Committee have a
chance to follow our work, I plan to have materials related to our
meetings and hearings put on the Committee's website as quickly as
possible after an event.
For activities, such as today's meeting, that will not otherwise be
published, I will ask that the transcript be posted after all members
have had an opportunity to correct any transcription errors. I also
encourage you each to provide an electronic version of any statements
you may make during a hearing or meeting so that those may be posted
promptly as well.
One last scheduling issue, related to legislation, that I want to avoid
as much as possible, is the situation we found ourselves in at the end
of last year when we were forced to cobble together a final legislative
package, some of which had been before the Committee for nearly two
years, in 48 hours. While I will always be open to considering
legislation that arises later in the year, I intend to schedule the
Committee's markup of the major legislation for this session by mid-May,
with a goal of Senate action in June. I encourage you, therefore, to
introduce legislation as soon as possible.
Additionally, I intend to continue the Committee's long standing
practice of focused oversight hearings on VA and other departments and
agencies that have a role in responding to the needs and concerns of
veterans.
One particular emphasis for our oversight will be on the state of
cooperation and collaboration between VA and the Department of Defense.
There has been strong interest, dating back at least to the early 1980s,
in improving the ways in which the two departments work together for the
benefit of those who have been in the armed forces and who are becoming
veterans.
One phrase that is used repeatedly in this area is "seamless
transition." I understand this to mean that, for the servicemember, the
shift from DoD to VA should be smooth and efficient.
Achieving this result should always be an important outcome, but never
more so than during a time of war when so many servicemembers need
assistance in dealing with the impact of combat upon their lives.
It is clear to me that the desired level of cooperation and
collaboration between DoD and VA has not been achieved. I plan a series
of hearings to explore the many facets of this issue.
The first hearing, later this month, will focus on what DoD and VA have
agreed upon as goals and objectives for their mutual efforts, how they
plan to meet those goals, how they are monitoring their progress, and
how they are rewarding successes and dealing with failures.
Subsequent hearings will focus on health care
and rehabilitation for returning servicemembers, compensation and other
benefits, education and employment, and other areas of overlap. I have a
particular interest in understanding what is happening for members of
the Reserves and National Guard as they return from deployment.
I plan to schedule other oversight hearings
focused directly on VA and the major operational elements: the Health
Administration, the Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery
Administration, so that the Committee might be able to gauge how each is
doing and address some of the key issues facing VA.
This is particularly important as the Department is called on to respond
to the legitimate needs of veterans from World War II and earlier up to
those now leaving service, especially in this time of budgetary
pressures.
I anticipate that the Committee, directly and through the separate work
of its members, will be deeply engaged in the budget and appropriations
process, both immediately as the Congress deals with VA funding for the
current fiscal year and as we begin the process for Fiscal Year 2008. As
many of you have heard me say, I feel very strongly that the cost of
benefits and services for those who have served must be treated as an
ongoing cost of war.
Even as the Congress debates the appropriate funding for the conflicts
in Iraq and Afghanistan, we must ensure that VA is given the resources
needed to carry out its missions. VA must not be seen simply as another
department or agency, coming hat in hand to seek funding.
When we send our servicemembers into harm's way
on behalf of the nation, we must be prepared to fund VA so that the
department can furnish the needed health care, rehabilitation, and
compensation, among other benefits and services, needed by those who
served.
Anything less is a breach of the fundamental
obligation we owe to those who wear our nation's uniforms.
Again, I look forward to a productive session for the Committee. I now
yield to my good friend, Senator Craig, for his thoughts.
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Larry Scott
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