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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
BY JOHN ROWAN
We ended 2006 with the sad loss of one of our
most active members and senior member of the Board of Directors,
Randy Barnes. The obituary in this issue will give you some
details of Randy’s life and his efforts on behalf of
veterans. I prefer to remember him as my friend.
Everyone who knew Randy
knows he had a loquacious streak. But this was just an outgrowth
of his passion. However, even after a hard-fought discussion,
he would always revert to his jolly self, and his infectious,
happy-go-lucky grin would return. VVA will miss the staunch
warrior, but I will miss the buddy.
Despite this grievous loss, I hope that your holidays
were joyous and the New Year bright.
As we begin this year, we
are operating in a new environment. Thanks to the efforts
of political activists like Randy Barnes, the Democrats control
the new Congress. Rep. Bob Filner of California is the new
chair of the House Veterans’ Affairs
Committee and Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii chairs the Senate
Veterans’ Affairs Committee. We look forward to working
with the new leadership. When they were in the minority,
the Democrats made many promises to veterans, particularly
with regard to assured funding for the VA. We intend to hold
them to those promises.
Meanwhile, we will continue to work
with their Republican predecessors, who will now be in the
minority, Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana and Sen. Larry Craig
of Idaho. These two gentlemen fought for veterans when they
were in charge, and we are sure that they will continue to
do so. We hope to develop a bipartisan program that will
provide veterans with the programs and financial support
that they need.
As we go
forward with our legislative program, we will continue our
efforts in the three primary areas that are critical for
the effective and efficient delivery of health care services
and service-connected disability benefits earned by veterans:
funding, accountability, and outreach.
Because of the political
changes, our lobbying efforts will increase significantly
this year. This will require even more effort by chapters
and state councils. Become familiar with the issues, and
then contact your Representative and Senators, some of whom
may be new and will need your guidance and expertise. Consider
a trip to Washington to meet with your state’s delegation.
Everyone says they support veterans. We have to show them
how.
If you need any help,
contact our Government Affairs team in the national office.
Together we can insure that veterans will be protected now
and in the future. This is what our brother Randy fought
for all his life and would have wanted us to do.
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2008, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8605 Cameron
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