Monday, December 19, 2005
Washington, D.C.— House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Steve Buyer (R- Ind.) today hailed the decision by Congress to exempt the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) budget from the 1 percent across-the-board reduction that was applied to other fiscal year 2006 discretionary spending.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Washington, DC – Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), today announced the 2006 schedule for the annual budget and legislative presentations of national veterans’ service organizations (VSOs). These full committee hearings will occur in February and will provide veterans groups and military organizations (MSOs) the opportunity to present their budget and legislative views prior to the Committee’s 2007 budget views and estimates submission to the Budget Committee.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Washington, D.C. — According to Congressman Lane Evans (D-Ill.), Halloween and April Fool’s Day have been rolled into one holiday this year. An attempt to pull a prank and scare this nation’s 25 million veterans backfired. Yesterday, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs released as fact a scary tale of fictitious cuts to veterans healthcare funding.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, Chairman Steve Buyer and Subcommittee on Health Chairman Henry Brown met with Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and VA officials to receive the preliminary report detailing the possibility of MUSC and the VA building a joint-use hospital together in Charleston, SC. This facility could provide a model for the federal government to consider when replacing aging VA hospitals.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Washington, D.C. — This Thursday, December 15, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation will hold a hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ annual flu vaccination program and its preparedness in the event of flu pandemic. This hearing will address VA’s efforts in planning, budgeting and administering its annual flu vaccination program.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, at a full Veterans’ Committee oversight hearing on claims processing at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) heard testimony of excessive wait times for claims decisions and clear indications that VA needs more claims adjudicators.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
“Today, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we take time to remember those who valiantly defended their nation against the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and to memorialize the more than 2,400 American lives lost in that attack, 64 years ago this day. In doing so, we honor all of America’s veterans of that war, every one of them a member of the “Greatest Generation,” who selflessly devoted themselves to protecting our cherished liberty that fateful Sunday morning and for over 1300 subsequent days of bloody fighting. Their sacrifice and that of the men and women who followed in their valiant footsteps, remains emblematic of America's commitment to freedom.