Veterans Groups Hit Back At GOP Senator In Tiff Over VA Scandal

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., left, confers with Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 15, 2014, as Veterans Affairs Secretary Er... Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., left, confers with Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 15, 2014, as Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testified before the committee's hearing to examine the state of Veterans Affairs health care At right is Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) MORE LESS
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Several veterans groups tore into the ranking Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee over the weekend, after the senator chided the groups for not taking a stronger stand against Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) wrote an open letter Friday that accused veterans service organizations of “defending the status quo within the VA” rather than addressing the scandal embroiling the agency. He praised one exception, the American Legion, which called for Shinseki’s resignation over allegations that dozens of veterans died awaiting treatment at VA facilities.

“Last week’s hearing made it clear to me that the staff has ignored the constant VA problems expressed by their members and is more interested in their own livelihoods and Washington connections than they are to the needs of their own members,” Burr wrote.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars ripped Burr’s letter as a “monumental cheap shot” and said the senator “should be ashamed.”

“For years, the V.F.W. has come to Congress with hat in hand, and for years we’ve heard the same old story,” the group said Monday in a statement. “You can be assured, Senator, that you’ve done a superb job in showing us the error in our ways. You can also be assured that in the future, we will spend a substantial percentage of our time seeking to inform our members and our constituents of the repeated failure to act by our elected officials.”

The Paralyzed Veterans of American and Disabled American Veterans also returned Burr’s fire over the weekend. The president and executive director of Paralyzed Veterans of America wrote that Burr represents “the worst of politics in this country,” while the Disabled American Veterans said in a statement that Burr would rather “launch cheap political attacks” than pursue serious policy solutions.

Burr stood by his criticism of the groups Monday in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“It seems that my open letter to veterans has brought more outrage than the VA crisis itself,” he told the newspaper.

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  1. "It seems that my open letter to veterans has brought more outrage than the VA crisis itself," he told the newspaper.
    

    Could that be because it was a cheap shot, and doesn’t address the underlying cause of the backlog (More wounded and maimed soldiers from two Dubya wars) that drove administrators to the ridiculous and criminal lengths they’ve gone to? Yes, the administrators who did this stuff need – at LEAST – to be fired ASAP, but let’s not treat this like the deficit that “magically” appeared on January 20th, 2009.

  2. “…in the future, we will spend a substantial percentage of our time seeking to inform our members and our constituents of the repeated failure to act by our elected officials…”

    The Republican Congress has earned their incredibly low approval ratings, and now they want to lecture dedicated Veterans’ staff about responsibility. Who exactly is “more interested in their own livelihoods and Washington connections”?

    It couldn’t possibly be the guys on perpetual vacation, could it?

  3. Burr stood by his criticism of the groups Monday in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

    “It seems that my open letter to veterans has brought more outrage than the VA crisis itself,” he told the newspaper.

    These guys never know when to shut up, do they? Yes, of course, it’s the Veterans’ fault that all this took place. Thanks for your support, Senator.

  4. Government Death Panels = Unjustified and Illegal Wars…

  5. Too bad Mr. Burr never took the time to serve in the military and become a veteran.

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