Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig spoke at the dedication of a new Veterans Clinic in Idaho on May 30, 2008, as part of a Memorial Day presentation. The local paper, the Lewiston Morning Tribune, contains the following story where Senator Craig claims to continue to be the "ranking member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee--see excerpt-
Lewiston Morning Tribune May 30, 2008--
U.S. Rep. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said VA spending is almost $100 billion a year, with 252,000 employees nationwide serving the interests of America's veterans.
Health care for veterans is being touted as the best in the nation, partly because of citizen investment, but also because of the advocacy of organizations that feel responsible to make sure veterans get the very best care, Craig said.
An example, he said, is the three veterans facilities that had to be evacuated as Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans. Patients who were taking their medication in New Orleans in the morning were receiving uninterrupted treatment in northern Arkansas that night because of computerized record-keeping, he said.
The nation hasn't yet reached what some soldiers have asked him for: a health care card that would let them get services anywhere, Craig said. "We're not there yet, but we are getting closer with facilities like this one."
Care for the nation's veterans is a non-partisan effort in Washington, D.C., he said, referring to his counterpart, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, who like himself is her party's ranking member on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
The view in the capitol is that working for veterans is working for the country, Craig said.
The official US Senate website for the Veterans Affairs Committee lists North Carolina Senator Richard Burr as the Ranking Member. Senator Craig was stripped of that position by his fellow Republican Senators in the Fall of 2007, but his deception continues, even to the extent of lying to Veterans in a Memorial Day speech.