OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Veterans Day puts VA in spotlight

THE TOPLINE: Obama administration officials and lawmakers marked Veterans Day by honoring the nation’s servicemembers and vowing to press ahead reforming the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Speaking Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery, Vice President Joe Biden said the VA is “beginning to see significant changes.”

{mosads}Tuesday was the first Veterans Day holiday since revelations that the VA systematically hid patient wait times that left many waiting months for care. The scandal lead to the resignation of Secretary Eric Shinseki.

“As a nation, we have a lot of obligations, to the young, to the old, to all the poor,” the vice president added. “But there’s no obligation that is truly sacred other than the commitment to our veterans.”

Biden praised veterans for “the incredible sacrifices they’ve made and continue to make.”

He said the holiday was a chance to thank “the more than 23 million surviving veterans who have so bravely and faithfully protected our freedom,” and he offered special praise for those who served in the war on terror. 

Biden said the 9/11 generation was prepared “to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell — and they did.”

“Never before has America asked so much of an all-volunteer force,” Biden continued, noting the “incredible price” paid by those who serve.

On Monday, VA Secretary Robert McDonald announced an overhaul of the agency, calling it the “largest reorganization” in VA history. He said the department is moving to take action against around 35 employees and that about 1,000 overall could face discipline soon.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday called the problems at the VA as a “national embarrassment.”

“It is a national embarrassment and represents a fundamental failure to keep our solemn responsibility to provide the timely care our veterans have earned and deserve,” said McCain, a Navy veteran and former prisoner of war in Vietnam.

An outspoken critic of the VA, McCain chastised McDonald for not moving fast enough to fire senior executives responsible for covering up the long wait times. 

“I’m hopeful, but I’m a little bit disappointed so far — somewhat disappointed,” McCain said of the VA chief who took the helm around 100 days ago.

The senator said legislation approved by Congress earlier this year to revamp the agency “serves as a beginning — not an end — to right the grave wrongs exposed by this scandal.”

“We have much more work to do to hold accountable all those responsible for what occurred and to fulfill our moral obligation to care for all who have served,” McCain said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran, on Tuesday also paid tribute to veterans, urging Americans to learn from previous wars, and take care of those returning home.

“The Wall reminds us that we must never take the security of our country for granted,” he said at the Vietnam memorial. “And we must always question our policies that send our citizens to war, because our nation’s policies must always be worthy of the sacrifices we ask of the men and women who defend our country.”

Hagel said post-9/11 veterans did not want to be glorified or given special treatment, but rather, to have the opportunity to continue serving. 

“They don’t need a handout or a hand up — they just want the opportunity to continue proving themselves,” he said. “It falls on us to make sure they get that opportunity.”

 

GROUP URGES LAWMAKERS TO HIRE VETERANS: A non-partisan group representing congressional staffers who served in the military is urging lawmakers to hire more veterans.

According to HillVets, fewer than 3 percent of staffers in Capitol Hill offices are military veterans — a number below nearly every federal agency.

“We have a number of veterans who are consistently looking for positions, who are very well-qualified, but, for whatever reason, they’re just not getting positions,” HillVets co-founder Justin Brown said in an interview Tuesday.

Brown, a Navy veteran and Capitol Hill staffer, said veterans bring valuable insight, especially as Congress reforms the Department of Veterans Affairs and with more troops deploying to Iraq.

“They bring a broad worldview. They have a solid understanding of conflict and foreign affairs, and the interchange between diplomacy and the armed services,” he said. “They know when not to utilize our military.” 

 

US MIGHT EVACUATE YEMEN EMBASSY: Defense officials are reportedly updating evacuation plans for the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, following violence at the capital’s airport in Sana’a. 

“We are poised to act if it becomes necessary to get people out,” a defense official told CNN. “If you ask me do I think it’s more likely now, the answer is ‘yes.’ “

There are no current plans to close the facility, but defense officials told CNN on Tuesday they are keeping a close eye on the embassy as violence between government forces and rebels becomes “considerably worse.”

Shiite rebels from the northern part of Yemen, seized Sana’a in September and have been clashing with government and tribal forces, as well as with local al Qaeda militants.

Gen. Lloyd Austin, the U.S. military commander for the Middle East, recently warned about the unrest in Yemen, saying the U.S. could lose a “key partner” in the fight against terrorism.

“Needless to say, the Yemeni government is under enormous pressure from multiple fronts. And we’re in danger of losing a key partner in our counterterrorism fight,” he said.

 

SENATOR: NO ‘BLANK CHECK’ FOR ISIS FIGHT: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) described the administration’s new $5.6 billion request to Congress for the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) a “blank check with no strategy.”

“I’m not sure what $5.6 billion actually gets you in a two-prong attack against something far more aggressive than al Qaeda,” he said.

Scott did not say if he would vote for the funding request.

“I certainly think we want to make sure the troops have the resources necessary. I have two brothers active duty in the military today. They are willing to risk their lives,” he said. “I will make sure that they have the resources.

“But Congress and the American people deserve to understand the strategy that will be used to use those resources effectively,” he added.

The White House said Friday that it would ask Congress to approve the extra money for the overseas contingency operations (OCO) fund. The request is an addition to the nearly $59 billion that has been requested for fiscal 2015.

The Pentagon has said the additional 1,500 troops to be funded by the request will not be deployed until Congress signs off. The deployment would bring the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq to more than 3,000.

Congress received the request on Monday, and lawmakers are expected to debate the amendment in the lame-duck session, which begins Wednesday.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

— Retired general: Election delayed Obama Iraq plan

— US troops deploy to Iraq’s Anbar Province

— McCain: ‘Immoral’ to ask Iran’s help against ISIS

— House to vote on ‘Hire More Heroes Act’ again in new Congress

— Obama wants to take US relationship with China ‘to new level’

 

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