I just learned that the VA and the veteran is about to get some very good news. Senator Patty Murray has done a good job but she is stepping down as head of the VA Senate Affairs Committe. How much better news could a veteran get than who the chairmanship is most likely going to?
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who stood toe to toe with the Obama administration on expanding government assistance for the caregivers of severely disabled combat veterans, will step down as chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee to take on a new and bigger role in shaping the federal budget.
Murray announced Thursday she will seek the chairmanship of the Senate Budget Committee in the 113th Congress, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of current chairman Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.
Her move, which will receive almost certain approval from her fellow Senate Democrats, provides an opportunity for Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with and receives committee assignments from Democrats, to become the new chairman of the veterans’ committee.
It just won't get any better than this for our returning veterans and current veterans waiting and waiting and needing.. The name Senator Bernard Sanders is about all there is to say when one thinks of compassion and making things work better .
I am speechless because I feel like for the first time since Max Cleland was Secretary of the Va. the huge beaucracy won't be put on hold and going through the motions. This is indeed good news. I can see WOW......I see a lot of inspections coming down on VA complaints.
I see backlogs being cleared.
I see accountability
I see more funding
I see no giving in
I see PROMISE !!!!
When Sen. Murray stood toe to toe regarding the caregivers act, this was a good thing. Sen Murray I am sure did consider the stress that goes on top of the caregiver with the disabilities incurred in war. She would not budge and neither will Senator Sanders. I cannot see Senator Sanders letting the VA play games with VA lives...
“I had to really think about stepping down from the [veterans’] committee because these issues have been such a passion for me,” Murray said in an interview. “As I thought about it, I decided I could really fight for veterans just as strong on the budget committee.”
Murray said she will remain a member of the veterans’ committee and stay active on it. “They have not gotten rid of me,” she joked.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/...
WASHINGTON, D.C.--(ENEWSPF)--November 13, 2012. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today said that Congress can and should do more to honor those who answer the call of duty and risk everything to defend America. Specifically, Durbin called on members of the Senate to put aside partisan differences during the lame duck session to pass the Mental Health ACCESS Act – a bill that would improve the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s suicide prevention, counseling, and mental health staffing while expanding eligibility for some services to family members – and the Veterans Job Corps Act – a bipartisan plan that would put thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to work.
http://www.enewspf.com/...
I think I speak for Testvet's wife Dorrie and myself along with countless others that we really want this legislation pushed through as it goes further than the Caregiver Act of 2010 which was a huge piece of legislation for the Irag and Afghan vet. This legislation offered up by Sen Dick Durbin (Illinois) takes the Caregiver Act to a more level field for all veterans.
No...I do not have access to respite or mental health treatment. I do not get that much support as a caregiver. This legislation means something and so does the work on the Veterans Affairs Committe. Sen. Murray fought tooth and nail to get things done. Some, little as they were. Sen, Murray is not or would be the fighter Bernie Sanders is. I like Patty Murray but I wanted someone relentless in that role. She did fight the republicans on the Caregiver Act, however, as I said tooth and nail. Sen. Sanders will fight for every piece of legislation IMO.
Now when the opposition starts showing partisianship when bullets do not know the difference between an R or D will show their petty politics before promises and people even on a larger scale, they will look even smaller in the eyes of the voting blocs because a hurting veteran family knows no political party, they just know they are hurting. They will look unamerican IMO to keep denying benefits.
This news is so awesome... Let's just get this done !!!