News & Opinion

Rebecca Tews sat at her kitchen table in North Aurora, Illinois, stared into her laptop and tried to find a place for her family to live. The 43-year-old psychologist spent seven years fighting for disability benefits for her husband, Duane Kozlowski, after he left the U.S. Army, unable to hold a job because of brain damage and post-traumatic stress. She borrowed $20,000 from her father’s and grandfather’s retirement accounts, stopped paying her student loans and ran up tens of thousands of dollars in bills for Duane’s tests and medical care. Read more »

Everyone from fly fishermen to the Internal Revenue Service vied for the attention of military veterans Wednesday at a Veterans Expo sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller. Read more »

Tom Favaro of New Port Richey walked through the cafeteria at East Lake High School on Saturday and marveled at the tables, more than 60 in all, offering health screening, financial counseling and other services for veterans and active-duty military. Read more »

Department of Veterans Affairs officials this week began accepting applications for the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, part of Congress’ effort last year to help unemployed veterans back into the workforce. Read more »

Lawmakers told Veterans Health Administration officials to go slow on their plans to take acquiring patients' prosthetics out of the hands of purchasing agents and place it with contracting officers. Read more »

There's a project in the works to create a third veterans cemetery in Minnesota. It's something Congressman Tim Walz, a veteran himself, is working hard to make a reality. He and other veterans say time is running out for many of Minnesota’s older service members. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, thousands of Minnesota's veterans die every year which is why when it comes time to find a final resting place, local veterans say there isn't an option close to home. Read more »

Congress is preparing to dive into President Obama’s executive order on schools receiving tuition assistance and GI Bill money — the details of which are still a mystery to some officials. Read more »

Two weeks after the Department of Veterans Affairs’ inspector general issued report eviscerating the agency for its handling of mental-health care, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki appeared before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Read more »

House lawmakers grilled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki in a full committee on Tuesday, following a damning Inspector General’s report in April showing that veterans were waiting an average of 50 days for mental health evaluations, though the VA had reported that most were seen within 14 days. Read more »

Members of Congress expressed doubts Tuesday on plans by the Department of Veterans Affairs' to hire 1,900 additional workers to improve access to mental health care. Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House committee with jurisdiction over veterans' issues, said the VA's plans to beef up staffing looked like a knee-jerk reaction to a critical inspector general's investigation that was in the works. Read more »