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UPDATE: STAND BY YOUR MAN -- House and Senate
Vets' Chairs
stand by VA Secretary Nicholson. This is a
surprise?
Nicholson
Buyer
Craig
Background here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%
20AUG%2006/newsflash08-09-2006-1.htm
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
has called for the resignation of VA Secretary Jim Nicholson.
He points to the VA data loss debacles
(plural).
Now, the loyalists have come to
Nicholson's defense.
Steve Buyer (R-IN), Chairman of the House
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Larry Craig (R-ID), Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, have both blasted Senator Reid.
All of this "stand by your man" nonsense
aside...we need a change at the VA!
Steve Buyer has often said he wants the
VA run like a business. OK. Then, the CEO (Nicholson) is
responsible for this mess and he must take responsibility.
Nicholson's bumbling has become an
embarrassment. We don't need a fourth-rate political hack at the
head of the second largest agency in our government.
Nicholson is a political appointee.
The President can do better than Jim Nicholson. The Republican
Party can do better than Jim Nicholson.
And, veterans deserve better than Jim
Nicholson.
We have two press releases.
House press release here...
http://vawatchdog.org/housecvanews/
housecvanews08-08-06.htm
Press release below:
---------------
Buyer: Senator Reid off-target, should join to
help Nicholson reform VA
Washington, DC — House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Steve
Buyer (R-Ind.) today issued the following statement in connection with a
call by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for the resignation
of Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson.
“Secretary Jim Nicholson inherited an information management system that
has been festering over the years with inherent cultural problems. He
has accepted responsibility and is taking action to both develop a
system worthy of the veterans it serves and to reform the dysfunctional
culture at VA.
Senator Reid’s call for resignation is off-target. I call on Harry Reid
and his colleagues to join with the House and help Senator Craig in a
bipartisan effort to give Secretary Nicholson what he needs to provide
veterans the care and benefits they have earned.
Otherwise, Senator Reid, your words are hollow and mere partisan
politics.”
---------------
Senate press release here...
http://vawatchdog.org/senatecvanews/
senatecvanews08-08-06.htm
Press release below:
---------------
CHAIRMAN CRAIG SAYS CALL FOR NICHOLSON'S
RESIGNATION "OVER THE TOP"
(Washington, DC) Sen. Larry Craig, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee
on Veterans’ Affairs, today issued the following statement concerning
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson:
"It is clear that there is a systems problem with VA data security which
must be fixed. Jim Nicholson and his staff have received that message
from me, and they have received that message from other members of the
committee. They are working hard to put systems in place so that
incidents like these don’t happen again.
"But calling for Secretary Nicholson’s resignation is over the top. It
does not and will not solve the problem.
"A computer was stolen from a private contractor’s highly secured office
building. I am fairly confident that Jim Nicholson did not break in and
steal that computer. A criminal did. The FBI and local police are
working to solve that crime and the contractor is working to provide a
financial solution to ensure veterans are protected.
"We are in an election season, with several primaries being held today,
so I don’t think anyone is surprised that the leader of the Democrats is
calling for the resignation of the former leader of the Republican
Party."
---------------
Larry Scott
