News & Opinion

BIG SPRING — U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, took a firsthand look at how rural health care for veterans is administered Thursday.

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, and U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, listen as Daniel Marsh, director of the West Texas VA Health Care System, talks during a briefing Thursday in Big Spring.

WASHINGTON — Veterans deserve better than to return from service only to stand in an unemployment line, U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller told American Legion members on Wednesday.

CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS, REP. JEFF MILLER: Thank you very much, National Commander Foster, for that gracious introduction, and let me thank and recognize your lovely wife, Rehta, for all you have both done for The American Legion.

The veterans' employment plan announced Aug. 5 by President Obama and two competing plans pending in Congress have enough similarities to give hope that a comprehensive jobs package could take effect this fall. Read more »

The veterans' employment plan announced Aug. 5 by President Obama and two competing plans pending in Congress have enough similarities to give hope that a comprehensive jobs package could take effect this fall.

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction has been tasked with slashing more than a trillion dollars from the U.S. budget. But according to U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, that task shouldn't include slashing from two critical programs: veterans benefits and national security.

IF all goes according to plan, by the end of the year, 10,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan will be home with their families — and their memories. As many as 20 percent of them will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression, while suicide rates have reached tragic new highs among veterans. Read more »

IF all goes according to plan, by the end of the year, 10,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan will be home with their families — and their memories. As many as 20 percent of them will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression, while suicide rates have reached tragic new highs among veterans.

Staff Sgt. Nicholas Lanier has entered what he calls the "vast unknown." A combat veteran and father to four daughters, he can't remain in the military because of a serious back injury earned in Iraq. Read more »