Congress questions lack of VA secretary

[unhappycamper]

Congress questions lack of VA secretary
- Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 24, 2007 13:55:31 EDT

Three weeks passing without the White House even naming a nominee for the vacant job of secretary of veterans’ affairs is raising questions about the Bush administration’s commitment to veterans programs, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Murray, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and part of the Senate Democratic leadership, raised the vacancy issue during a Wednesday hearing about health care programs. The VA’s representative at the hearing, Undersecretary for Health Dr. Michael Kussman, said he knows nothing about the administration’s plans for filling the post, but assured lawmakers that VA is “still doing our job taking care of veterans.”

Murray said she has been hearing from veterans who are wondering about the inaction to replace R. James Nicholson, who resigned from the top VA post effective Oct. 1. Considering that the VA faces a variety of challenges, including growing backlogs of benefits claims and newly disabled veterans needing health care and compensation, Murray said she thinks filling the job should be a higher priority.

Gordon Mansfield, who had been Nicholson’s deputy, has been serving as acting VA secretary since Oct. 1. Mansfield, considered popular and dedicated, had been mentioned as a possible permanent replacement when Nicholson announced his plans to resign in July. But congressional aides who follow veterans’ issues said the fact Mansfield has not been not yet been nominated makes it appear that the White House is looking for someone else for the job.

One name being bantered about in VA and congressional circles as a possible nominee is retired Army Col. Les Brownlee, who was undersecretary of the Army early in the Bush administration and briefly served as acting Army secretary. Brownlee has close ties to Congress, and worked for a time as the staff director for the Senate Armed Services.


Article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/military_vasecretary_071024w/