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CAPITOL HILL BUZZ: WHITE HOUSE TRIAL BALLOON SUGGESTS

LES BROWNLEE AS NEXT VA SECRETARY -- Former Acting

Army Secretary has no experience with veterans' issues.

Sensing problems, DAV calls for VA Secretary

nominee who is not just a "placeholder."

Les Brownlee

The latest buzz from Capitol Hill is that the White House is floating a trial balloon regarding the next VA Secretary. 

The name being tossed around is Les Brownlee, former Acting Secretary of the Army.

Brownlee has served in a number of government positions and is highly-visible in Republican party circles.

Brownlee's bio has been removed from the DoD site, but here is another source... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Brownlee

Brownlee is just what we DON'T need at the VA...another political crony who has no concept of veterans' issues.

And, since the position of VA Secretary could last only 15 months (until the end of the Bush administration), Brownlee, or someone like him, would just be sitting there trying to figure out the system.

We need a VA Secretary who knows the system and can go to work immediately.

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV), obviously sensing trouble with the nomination of a new VA Secretary, issued the following press release.

DAV press release here... http://www.pr
newswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACC
T=104&STORY=/www/story/10-10-2
007/0004679367&EDATE=

Press release below:

-------------------------

President Urged to Name Strong Leader, Veterans’ Advocate to Top VA Post

WASHINGTON—President Bush must waste no time in filling the post of Secretary of Veterans Affairs with a person who will make meeting the needs of our nation’s veterans a national priority, said the Disabled American Veterans.

“It is absolutely vital that the person selected to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs be thoroughly versed in all aspects of veterans affairs,” said DAV Washington Headquarters Executive Director David W. Gorman. “With the urgently needed funding increase for veterans programs and services being delayed yet again, a flood of wounded and injured from Iraq and Afghanistan coming to the VA for health care and other earned benefits and the huge backlog of pending disability compensation claims, the VA needs a strong leader who can immediately take charge of the department.”

“This is no time for the President to fill such an important position with a ‘placeholder’ for the remainder of his term,” said Gorman. “The VA faces significant challenges stemming from recommendations by two federal commissions that could completely alter the veterans disability benefits system. That makes it imperative that the VA have a leader who is committed to doing what is right for our veterans, instead of bowing to the political whims of the moment. What’s needed is a Secretary who can guide the VA toward serving veterans more effectively and more compassionately, now and in the future. This is especially important as our nation is at war. Those men and women who will be leaving the military to join the ranks of America’s proud veterans deserve nothing but the best from the country they served and protected, often at great personal sacrifice,” Gorman said.

“The VA already faces many challenges in serving the current population of 24 million veterans,” Gorman said. “Those men and women returning from the war in the Middle East and elsewhere will continue to add to the VA’s workload, presenting the department with new challenges in the future.”

The 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation’s disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site www.dav.org.

-------------------------

Larry Scott  --

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