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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release January 24, 2005 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Press Secretary 202-228-3630 Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary 303-455-7600 |
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| SENATOR SALAZAR STATEMENT TO VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AND INTRODUCTION OF AMBASSADOR NICHOLSON
Washington, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar released his first statement to the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs today, highlighting the fact that in any given year 500,000 veterans face at least one night of homelessness and that the need for our nation to fully fund the Veterans Administration is an imperative. Senator Salazar also co-introduced Ambassador Jim Nicholson with Senator Allard (R-CO) at the confirmation hearing. “It is a privilege and an honor to serve on the Veterans Affairs Committee,” said Salazar. “Our nation’s greatest heroes and their families deserve quality care and service – I am hopeful we can accomplish that goal.” At the hearing Senator Salazar also reiterated his commitment to helping ensure the creation of a new VA medical facility in Colorado at the old Fitzsimons Army Medical site. “The proposed VA Hospital at Fitzsimons is a unique opportunity for the nearly 433,300 Colorado veterans to have the world-class medical care they earned available to them,” said Salazar. “I am glad there is a renewed focus on identifying a workable solution.” Senator Salazar’s Committee Statement and Introduction Statement Regarding the Nomination of Ambassador Nicholson are attached below. Confirmation
Hearing of Ambassador Jim Nicholson Good afternoon. Thank you Mr. Chairman. It is a privilege to serve on this Committee with you and with Senator Akaka. I very much look forward to working with you and all of my colleagues as we strive to honor our obligation to those who so honorably served this country. I know I will learn a great deal from all of you, as you share your experiences and leadership on a wide range of issues affecting the nation’s veterans. I am confident that my own experience as the son, brother, and uncle of proud Salazar family veterans will be helpful to this Committee. And thank you, Ambassador Nicholson, for your long and distinguished service to our country, and to the great state of Colorado. Your experience as an Army Ranger in Vietnam and your 22 years of service in the Army Reserves will be very valuable, I expect, as you consider ways to improve the lives of your fellow veterans. And as I said in my introduction of you, your experience both as a soldier and a diplomat will be invaluable as you fight within the President’s Cabinet for the funding our veterans have earned. It is long past time for us to fully fund the VA, and I pledge to help you meet that goal. Let me reiterate my appreciation to this committee for authorizing the creation of a new VA medical facility in Colorado at the old Fitzsimons Army Medical site. The development of this site presents a unique opportunity for Colorado veterans to become a part of a world-class medical campus. The close proximity of the University of Colorado Hospital to the VA’s current hospital has served both communities well. The relocation of these hospitals to Fitzsimons will strengthen this relationship, resulting in what I’m sure will be continued cost savings and, most importantly, excellent health care for our veterans. I am hopeful that after some breakdowns in communication, the hospital is back on track and that our veterans in Colorado will soon have the world-class facility they have earned. Colorado is blessed with values that encourage service to this great nation, including in the armed forces. The VA invested more than $900 million in Colorado in 2003 to serve nearly 433,300 veterans who live in Colorado. 56,904 patients received health care and 57,706 veterans and survivors received disability compensation or pension payments from VA in Colorado. More than 9,401 veterans, reservist, or survivors used GI Bill payments for their education, there were 68,461 owned homes with active VA home loan guarantees, and 3,339 veterans were interred in Ft. Logan and Ft. Lyon national cemeteries. Those are impressive numbers, but the fact of the matter is that our veterans still have to wait too long for care, are forced to jump through duplicative and cost-increasing hoops to get the prescription drugs they need, are confronted with hospitals that are outdated, loan guarantees better suited for real estate markets of two decades ago, and in too many cases are forced to choose between the retirement they have worked for and the disability pay they have earned. One more thing that I find very disheartening, Mr. Chairman, is the simple fact that in any given year 500,000 veterans face at least one night of homelessness. Imagine that: half a million men who laid everything on the line for us spend the night on the street because they cannot afford shelter. In Denver alone there are nearly 9,000 homeless veterans. We can do better for our veterans – our national heroes. I anticipate we will hear a lot over the coming weeks about the impact the historic deficits we currently face will have on the priorities of our country. That is as it should be – we cannot continue to heap debt on our children and grandchildren at the rate we have done so for the last four years. I recently signed a letter, circulated by our Ranking Member, Senator Akaka, calling on the President to fully fund the Veterans Administration in his upcoming budget proposal. I also wonder, Mr. Chairman, if we have not come to the point where we move to guaranteed funding for the VA. It just is not fair to our veterans and their families to have to hold their breath each year to see if they will be able to get the care and support they were promised. Ambassador Nicholson, after our discussion last week I am hopeful that you will keep these principles in mind as you begin your assignment. At our meeting, I shared my priorities with you, and I reiterate my commitment to work with you to enact each of them. In particular, I look forward to working with you and my colleagues on this Committee to finalize the new VA facility at Fitzsimons. Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Akaka. And thank you, Ambassador Nicholson. Statement
of Senator Ken Salazar Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman (Senator Craig) and Senator Akaka. I am honored to introduce a fellow Coloradan, Ambassador Jim Nicholson. I am sure no one is more proud of him than Suzanne, his wife, and Nick and Charlotte, his son and daughter-in-law. It is a pleasure to see them all here, and I know that the Ambassador’s other children, Katie and R.J., are with him in spirit. It is also a privilege and honor to have received the assignment to serve on this important Committee, which carries the tremendous responsibility of ensuring that we live up to our obligations to our veterans. I look forward to working with each of my colleagues here. To that end, let me also thank you for your work last year in authorizing the construction of a new VA medical facility in Denver. Your work has sent a clear signal to our veterans that they will get the world class care they deserve. I have met with and talked to Ambassador Nicholson about his life history and desire to serve our Nation’s veterans. He has proven with his life story that nothing can stop him fighting for what he believes. He was born in Struble, Iowa in a tenant house without plumbing. His family sometimes had to go without food. His mother’s faith and dedication to family taught him that he could succeed no matter how difficult the challenge. I know a little something about growing up on a farm, with a big family, and trying to get by on little, and I am confident his experiences in these circumstances will be an asset in his fight for our veterans. Ambassador Nicholson’s early life experiences steeled him to succeed as a cadet at West Point and then as an Army Ranger who won multiple decorations for bravery in combat in Vietnam. Jim took on those assignments not as the burdens of a young man who had to fight for everything he and his family got, but as a patriot who knew the best that America has to offer. Provided this hearing and the rest of the nomination process goes as we all anticipate it will, our country is giving Ambassador Nicholson another opportunity – this one every bit as difficult as the one he faced in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago. The new challenge he faces is this: how does the United States honor its solemn obligation to our country’s greatest heroes in a time of historic deficits? I understand that even the current Secretary of Veterans Affairs himself noted last year that the budget proposed for the VA was insufficient. Ambassador Nicholson will need all his skills – those developed first as a solider and most recently as a diplomat – to fight for the resources our veterans have earned. I pledge to him that he can also count on my strong support and the strong support of the Congress in this effort. Mr. Chairman and Senator
Akaka, thank you again for the opportunity to introduce this fine Coloradan
and great American, Ambassador Jim Nicholson. # # # |
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