House VA panel hearing plan mutes
Veterans' Voices, says DAV

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- An overhaul of legislative hearings announced by the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee seems deliberately designed to marginalize the influence of the nation's veterans on funding levels for the Department of Veterans Affairs and other important public policy issues, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

Last November Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) decided to end a decades-long tradition that gave veterans groups the opportunity to present testimony regarding a wide range of legislative priorities before a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. The DAV and other organizations tried, unsuccessfully, to get Rep. Buyer to reinstate those joint hearings, which they viewed as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America's veterans.

When the new schedule of hearings and their format were announced in January proved to be even more disappointing to veterans, DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson sent a letter of protest to Chairman Buyer.

The first of those hearings is scheduled for Feb. 8, just two days after the anticipated release of the President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2007 on Feb. 6, and copies of written testimony from veterans service organizations must be submitted to the Committee by noon that very day. The Chairman also imposed a three-minute limit on oral remarks by representatives from veterans organizations, each of which could invite no more than five persons in the audience.

"Both the timing of the hearings and the absurdity of a three-minute limit for oral remarks make it all too clear that Chairman Buyer is not interested in a meaningful dialogue with the veterans community," said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson.

"How could the Chairman expect us to analyze and comment on the President's budget request before it is even made public? Or is it his intent to blunt criticism and suppress diverse points of view regarding funding levels and policy initiatives in the President's budget?" Commander Jackson said.

"The revised schedule for hearings and the change in format amount to a slap in the face of individual veterans as well as the groups that represent them in the public policy arena. Chairman Buyer has slammed the door in the face of America's veterans," Commander Jackson said.

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 http://www.dav.org.