John Besignano posted this to us a few minutes ago, but we thought others should see it in order to discuss:
"Recently, I received notice from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s (IAVA) founder Paul Rieckhoff that the Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary (VA), Eric Shinseki, and his staff have declined to meet with the IAVA during their week-long Storm the Hill campaign. Apparently..., this isn’t abnormal - it’s been over 1,000 days since the Secretary of the VA has met with the IAVA.
We veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom,and Operation New Dawn need to be heard by the people who make decisions affecting our lives. As it stands, it sounds like the VA is not interested in listening to individual veterans or veterans as a collective. This is unfortunate because the IAVA represents all veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, whether they are a member of the organization or not.
Goals of IAVA like improving employment prospects, access to health care, and access to education benefits help all veterans. As a veteran and an IAVA member, I find it both profoundly disappointing and infuriating that senior leadership of the VA does not have time to meet with an organization whose goals align directly with the mission of the VA.
The VA’s refusal to meet with a large and well-organized veterans group begs the question: If Secretary Shinseki and his staff are too busy to meet with the IAVA, who could possibly be worthy of his time?"
"Recently, I received notice from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s (IAVA) founder Paul Rieckhoff that the Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary (VA), Eric Shinseki, and his staff have declined to meet with the IAVA during their week-long Storm the Hill campaign. Apparently..., this isn’t abnormal - it’s been over 1,000 days since the Secretary of the VA has met with the IAVA.
We veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom,and Operation New Dawn need to be heard by the people who make decisions affecting our lives. As it stands, it sounds like the VA is not interested in listening to individual veterans or veterans as a collective. This is unfortunate because the IAVA represents all veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, whether they are a member of the organization or not.
Goals of IAVA like improving employment prospects, access to health care, and access to education benefits help all veterans. As a veteran and an IAVA member, I find it both profoundly disappointing and infuriating that senior leadership of the VA does not have time to meet with an organization whose goals align directly with the mission of the VA.
The VA’s refusal to meet with a large and well-organized veterans group begs the question: If Secretary Shinseki and his staff are too busy to meet with the IAVA, who could possibly be worthy of his time?"
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