FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 5, 2007
CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison Strongly Supports VA Secretary Nominee
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Ranking Member of the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, today reiterated her strong support for retired Army Lieutenant General Dr. James B. Peake, President Bush’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Sen. Hutchison met with Lt. Gen. Peake in November after he was officially nominated.
At today’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Hutchison specifically questioned Lt. Gen. Peake on the need to speed up claims processing at VA facilities and within the VA system. The VA has reported that veterans face an average wait of 177 days for claims processing, which Sen. Hutchison has called “unacceptable.”
“We know that the biggest problem we have is making sure that our veterans get the healthcare they need,” said Sen. Hutchison.
The Fiscal Year 2008 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriation bill, which Sen. Hutchison co-authored as the Ranking Member, directs the VA to spend $124 million to hire an additional 1,800 claims processors.
Sen. Hutchison also addressed the problems active duty soldiers are facing transitioning fro the U.S. Department of Defense to the VA health care system once they returning from service.
“The Department of Defense is not up to speed in making sure that the people leaving the active duty because of injuries have the smooth, seamless transfer that we all expect to go into the veterans system,” said Sen. Hutchison.
“I strongly support Lt. Gen. Peake’s nomination,” said Sen. Hutchison. “We’ve discussed some of the major priorities that we both share, and I look forward to working with him to deliver the funding and services that our Veterans deserve. I know that his solid experience in military medicine will help him meet this challenging responsibility.”
Lt. Gen. Peake is a former Army Surgeon General and one-time commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. He was nominated on October 30 and is now under consideration by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, of which Sen. Hutchison is a member.
Lt. Gen. Peake was also a member of the Special Medical Advisory Group (SMAG) at the VA. SMAG is a Congressionally mandated group that exists to provide advice to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Under Secretary for Health on matters relating to the care and treatment of veterans and other matters pertinent to the operations of the Veterans Health Administration (i.e., research, education and training of health manpower, and VA/DOD contingency planning).
“Having a physician for the first time to be the head of veterans’ affairs I think was a very wise choice by the president,” said Sen. Hutchison.
--END--
|
