News List

Today, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs (DAMA) held an oversight hearing to examine the current state of our National Cemeteries. Testifying before the subcommittee were representatives from all of the agencies who have jurisdiction over veterans cemeteries. The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has come under fire recently due to a series of audits… Read more »

Today, during a joint hearing, the members of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees heard testimony from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) on its 2012 legislative priorities. Commander-In-Chief Richard DeNoyer told the Joint Committee that VFW’s biggest concerns heading into the future are servicemembers transitioning back into civilian life, VA’s budget,… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations (O&I) held an oversight hearing to examine the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) construction contracting practices.  The Subcommittee examined the proposed construction of the community based outpatient clinic in Savannah, Georgia as a case study of VA construction contracting practices nationwide. “We have… Read more »

The Department of Veterans Affairs has found more than 100 unmarked or mismarked graves at two more national cemeteries, adding to a mounting toll of problems at military burial grounds across the country. Read more »

The heads of the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs said Monday they want to improve the process by which active servicemembers become veterans but also acknowledged it would take a lot of work. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki convened the second of what they said would be regular meetings about how their departments can better serve troops leaving the military, including those filing claims for service-connected disabilities. Read more »

Disabled American Veterans testified Tuesday in Washington that the Veterans' Affairs claims backlog has grown to 800,000 pending cases. Read more »

Today, during a joint hearing, the members of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees heard testimony from the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) on its 2012 legislative priorities with concerns over VA’s budget and the specter of sequestration at the top of the list. “The largest issues facing VA, and all American veterans, are the threat of sequestration and… Read more »

The Disabled American Veterans are in Washington this week for their Mid-Winter Conference... Read more »

-- U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Winter Park) toured the VA Medical Center construction site at Lake Nona today with VA officials to see first hand what is causing delays in the project. The VA announced last month that the project originally scheduled to be completed by October 2012 will not open until summer of 2013, at the soonest. Read more »

Two years after Congress passed a high-profile law to improve health care for military veterans, lawmakers and advocates are again raising alarms that the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs is not expanding help for the nation's former fighters and their families as quickly or widely as intended. Read more »