Eric K. Shinseki

Veterans' Affairs Committee Leaders Suggest Improvements on GI Bill Processing

November 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) wrote Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to suggest ways to improve the processing of the post-9/11 GI Bill.

"Men and women at VA are working hard and working overtime to reduce the backlog of new GI Bill claims. This is a huge transition, and I hope our suggestions will help the Department speed up the process," said Akaka. "I want Secretary Shinseki to know that I am committed to helping him do whatever needs to be done - whether that be in resources or legislation."

The letter outlines potential improvements, including:    » read more »

Five-Year Plan Unveiled at Homeless Summit

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Today, at the “VA National Summit Ending Homelessness among Veterans,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki unveiled the department’s comprehensive plan to end homelessness among Veterans by marshalling the resources of government, business and the private sector.

“President Obama and I are personally committed to ending homelessness among Veterans within the next five years,” said Shinseki. “Those who have served this nation as Veterans should never find themselves on the streets, living without care and without hope.”    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2009 – The secretary of veterans affairs today announced the framework of a bold initiative to end homelessness among veterans within five years.

VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki outlined the comprehensive plan to an audience of VA officials, other government representatives and private-sector homeless outreach organizers at the VA National Summit Ending Homelessness Among Veterans here. He called the goal an ambitious one that will take a nationwide collaborative effort to be successful.    » read more »

VA Secretary unveils plan at DC homeless summit

November 3, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Mark Begich today praised a plan released by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Erik Shinseki to end homelessness among veterans by marshalling the resources of the government, business and the private sector. According to the VA, the comprehensive plan includes preventive measures like discharge planning for incarcerated veterans re-entering society, supportive services for low-income veterans and their families, and a national referral center to link veterans to local service providers.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2009 – The Veterans Affairs Department continues its efforts to provide the best support possible to the nation’s military veterans, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki told a House committee here today.

“We have been busy putting into place the foundation for our pursuit of the president’s two goals for this department: transform VA into a 21st-century organization, and ensure that we provide timely access to benefits and high quality care to our veterans over their lifetimes -- from the day they first take their oaths of allegiance until the day they are laid to rest,” Shinseki said in his written statement provided to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.    » read more »

10/14/09 -- Washington, DC – Just days after meeting with local veterans who have been struggling to obtain benefits under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) is asking for answers from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.

At a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning, Secretary Shinseki told Congressman Nye and others that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had anticipated that there would be delays in administering the tuition benefit program, but that they had underestimated the magnitude of the problem.    » read more »

10/13/09 -- Washington, DC – Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) today applauded the announcement that Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki has decided to establish a service-connection for Vietnam veterans with Parkinson’s disease, hairy-cell leukemia or ischemic heart disease. Veterans with these conditions, along with twelve other previously-recognized diseases, will no longer have to prove an association between their illnesses and their military service.    » read more »

Secretary Donovan Elected New Chair of the Council; HUD and VA announce $75 million for HUD-VASH program to provide rental housing and support for homeless veterans

June 18, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) met today for the first time under the Obama Administration. U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki chaired the meeting, at which U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was elected rotating Chair for the upcoming year and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was elected Vice Chair. U.

S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Melody Barnes, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, attended the meeting.    » read more »

May 28, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki today told U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that he wants to try to ease the serious VA healthcare access problems facing veterans in rural Alaska.

At a meeting in the senator’s office, Murkowski invited Shinseki to visit Alaska and see those challenges first hand. Shinseki said he would like to visit the state.

Murkowski used the 45-minute meeting with Shinseki to reiterate a variety of concerns regarding VA healthcare in Alaska.    » read more »

May 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has a message for Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki when they meet next week in her office here: Get serious about fixing the serious VA healthcare access problems facing veterans in rural Alaska.

Murkowski, a member of the Senate Appropriations Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, laid out her concerns in a letter she sent to Shinseki today (see attachment).

Alaska’s senior senator expressed deep disappointment that a new $215 million VA funding initiative for veterans in rural areas would do little to ease the access problems for rural Alaska veterans, many of whom live in remote villages and have no direct road access to VA healthcare facilities.    » read more »

Record Budget Enhances VA’s Ability to Become a 21st Century Organization

May 7, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced President Obama’s 2010 budget for VA. The budget emphasizes a Veteran-centric commitment to expanded services with a 15.5 percent increase over 2009, the largest percentage increase for VA requested by a president in more than 30 years.    » read more »

Challenge to Congress is pass appropriations before Oct. 1

Washington, D.C., May 7, 2009– The nation’s largest organization of combat veterans is very pleased with the administration’s fiscal year 2010 budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“This is a very good budget,” said Glen M. Gardner Jr., the national commander of the 2.2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.    » read more »

March 18, 2009 -- Colorado Governor Bill Ritter issued the following statement today applauding Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki's decision to move forward with a standalone veterans hospital at the Anschutz medical campus at Fitzsimons in Aurora:

"This is great news not just for the more than 400,000 military veterans who live in Colorado, but for the entire state. I applaud Secretary Shinseki's decision to move ahead with a standalone hospital so that we can begin to properly repay the debt we owe to Colorado's veterans. This will allow us to honor them and serve their needs in a state-of-the-art medical center.    » read more »

January 21, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki took the oath of office today as the Nation’s seventh Secretary of Veterans Affairs, assuming the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs following Tuesday's confirmation by the Senate.

"The overriding challenge I am addressing from my first day in office is to make the Department of Veterans Affairs a 21st century organization focused on the Nation's Veterans as its clients," Shinseki said.

Shinseki plans to develop a 2010 budget within his first 90 days that realizes the vision of President Obama to transform VA into an organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking.    » read more »