Good morning, everyone. I hope the holidays have brought joy to you and those you love.
As we close out the holiday season, my thoughts have been drawn to the passing of former President Jimmy Carter. President Carter was a steadfast supporter of Veterans throughout his time in the White House. He often remarked that Navy submarine service was his life’s proudest accomplishment. But perhaps he’ll be most remembered for the hardworking humility that characterized his selfless service during, and long after, his time in uniform and in the nation’s highest office. His lifetime of servant leadership, ever rooted in his community and in his faith, stands as an inspiration to us all. May God rest his mighty soul.
Tammy [Barlet], thank you for the kind introduction. Jared [Lyon], thanks for inviting me to speak here at NatCon once again and for your continued leadership of Student Veterans of America. And J. Ford Huffman, Chairman of the Board of Directors, I’m grateful for your long-standing service to SVA and its mission. Your work together inspires great confidence in the future of this critical organization.
And you know, there are good reasons why we at VA return to NatCon year after year to meet with all of you. You are incredible advocates who provide the kind of inspiration, support, and sense of community to Veterans—to each other—that I don’t often see elsewhere. And at VA, we are deeply committed to holding ourselves accountable to this organization. Our partnership is a conversation in which we learn from you just as much as we share our own perspective. And that’s why we come here over and over again—VA and SVA serve Veterans better when we work together. And so, again, I’m happy to be back with you.
In 1946, not long from commanding the beaches of Normandy and the forests of the Ardennes, General Omar Bradley addressed a group not unlike this one. Reflecting on the GI Bill of Rights, he observed that Veterans simply make the best students. Vets are “serious-intentioned and acutely conscious that time is running by,” he said. And through military service “they’ve acquired a mature and meaningful attitude toward life,” a maturity beyond their years. He also remarked that Vets were more earnest in their work, more eager to learn, and frankly, performed better academically than their non-Veteran peers.
His words ring true today, nearly eighty years later. The proof is right here in this room, with all of you gathered here today. Through your courage and conviction, through your imagination and resourcefulness, through your initiative and leadership in the halls of academia and communities around the country, student Veterans continue to embody our nation’s greatest sense of optimism and hope.
I’m thinking of student Vets like Specialist Dani Bermudez, an Army Vet with seven years of uniformed service in the Arizona National Guard. Dani’s proud of her work in behavioral health, especially during her unit’s COVID response mission to communities across the state. And building on that experience, she’s now using her GI Bill to complete a master’s in psychology at Arizona State.
Dani’s a full-time mother, and as a mostly online student, she credits Veteran mentors and the local SVA chapter with helping her feel welcome and involved on campus. In fact, it was Veteran support staff who first introduced Dani to faculty advisors in her area of study. Today, she’s working with those same professors, researching social determinants of health to address disparities in healthcare access for military families.
I’m also thinking of student Vets like Marine aviator Ron Chino. After a career in the cockpit and in Naval Aviation training and acquisitions, Ron used both GI Bill and VR&E benefits to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Berklee College of Music. Now the SVA chapter president at Berklee, Ron’s proud to serve as a mentor in the military-affiliated group for Vets and dependents alike.
Although he’s busy studying film score composition and songwriting—looking forward to a new career in music and academia—he’s also building a coalition to advocate for Vets within the music industry. Ron’s an inspiration to many Veterans who similarly hope to channel their art into a new professional identity. And he’s helping other Vets explore the possibilities of serving their communities in new and creative capacities.
And then there’s student Vets like Andrea Henshall. Andrea’s a combat Veteran, an Air Force special operations pilot with seven overseas tours under her belt. After a nearly fatal surgical complication led to her medical discharge, Andrea knew she had to find a way to keep serving, especially her sisters-and-brothers-in-arms. She ultimately found a new mission in defense technology research and development, and so she set her sights on the PhD program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Andrea’s now doing cutting edge work in multi-agent machine learning and sequential decision-making at MIT, and she’s only about a year and a half out from completing her dissertation on subjects I won’t even pretend to understand.
Now, I’ll come back to Andrea’s story towards the end of my remarks, but let me say that I hope many of you attended her breakout session yesterday or, if not, that you’re able to join her presentation later today. If you sit in with her, you’ll get a sense of the kind of work she’s doing in her “spare time,” work she’s doing to help Vets translate your military skills and accomplishments into language the most selective of university admissions officers can appreciate.
Vets like Dani, Ron, and Andrea are shaping our shared future for decades to come. What stands out to me about each of their stories is not only how accomplished they are, although they have undoubtedly achieved great things and will continue to do so. What stands out to me is that each of them is also dedicating their lives and careers to helping their fellow Vets. The same is true for so many of you in this audience. You’re anchored by your commitment to service over self—always looking out for one another—with an enduring sense of duty, valor, and love of country. Veterans helping Veterans, setting the highest example of what it means to be an American. There’s nothing better.
And at VA, we intend to serve Vets every bit as well as you served—and continue to serve—all of us. It reminds me of what President Biden calls our one truly sacred obligation: to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way and to care for them and their families when they come home. The second part of that sacred obligation is VA’s responsibility.
Today, I am proud to say that VA’s public servants are breaking all-time records—providing more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before—for the fourth year in a row. This year alone, VA delivered $187 billion in earned benefits to Veterans and their survivors and provided more than 131 million health care appointments—both the highest marks in our nation’s history.
But it’s not just more care. It’s better, world-class care, and it’s better health outcomes for Veterans than in the private sector.
It’s not just more benefits. It’s faster, more accessible benefits delivered by meeting Vets where you are, rather than expecting you to come to us.
And it’s not just more Vets. It’s more Vets trusting VA at rates higher than ever before.
But we still have work left to do.
In fact, many of you might have seen the press release we put out this morning about the U.S. Supreme Court case referred to as Rudisill. Josh Jacobs, VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits, will provide more details shortly, but here’s what you should know: We’ve updated how we calculate qualifying periods of military service for VA education benefits. Previously, many Veterans had to make a permanent choice to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill or the Montgomery GI Bill for a total of up to 36 months. Now, Veterans who qualify for benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill, through two separate periods of service, can use benefits from either program for a combined total of up to 48 months.
We estimate the Rudisill decision potentially impacts just over a million beneficiaries—Veterans, service members, and their eligible dependents. That’s a million Vets and family members who might qualify for additional VA education and training benefits. For about two-thirds of these individuals, including those who received an education claim decision on or after August 15th, 2018, VA will review your eligibility for education benefits automatically. That is, you don’t have to do anything.
But for the remaining one-third, those who received a decision before August 15th, 2018, VA will review your eligibility only after you submit a new claim. You can submit that claim at any time, but there is a deadline to take advantage of the additional benefits provided by the Rudisill decision. To be considered for extra time to use these benefits, you must file your claim by October 1st, 2030. Let me say that again. If you received a VA education decision before August 15th, 2018, you must file a new claim by October 1st, 2030. Now, we want to ensure you receive every benefit you’ve earned, so let me reiterate, VA will be contacting every single Veteran potentially impacted by this decision.
A second update I want to provide is about Veteran Readiness and Employment—VR&E. Over the past decade, nearly 118,000 participants have completed the VR&E program, and demand for these services only continues to grow. In fact, since the PACT Act was implemented, we’ve seen a 44% increase in Veterans participating in the program. Last year alone, participation grew by nearly 23%, and this year, we expect applications to rise by another 15%. To meet this increasing demand, we’re hiring qualified VR&E counselors as quickly as possible. Over the past two years, we’ve been able to add over 330 new counseling and specialist staff members and increased VR&E staffing by 30%. Today, the program now employs more than 1,300 counselors, and 87% of counselor and specialist positions are filled nationwide. We have more work to do. And while 87% isn’t perfect, it’s a strong step forward.
We will not rest until we get this right, until we’re ensuring every Veteran gets access to the benefits you’ve earned and deserve. It takes all of us, including college and university administrations, working together to ensure student Veterans have what you need to succeed. We owe student Vets programs that do much more than offer a chance merely to survive. We owe them the support, the spaces, and the opportunities to thrive. And we owe student Vets higher education programs that meet their unique needs holistically.
Let me come back to Andrea’s story, the Air Force combat Vet and brilliant PhD student. You see, Andrea’s quick to credit her earlier time spent at Auburn University for preparing her for a career in academia. And she’s forever grateful for the support and encouragement she received from Navy Vet and helo pilot Paul Esposito—callsign “Puck”—at Auburn’s Veteran Resource Center, their VRC.
It was within the VRC that Andrea found a supportive community that encouraged her to get involved in the student Veteran program at the university and within SVA. You see, Puck’s nine-person team at the Auburn VRC purposefully supports student Veterans in body, mind, and spirit. And they’ve built a culture holding themselves accountable to the local SVA chapter. They rely on SVA to show them where they need to better concentrate and refine their efforts.
As a result of that partnership, the Auburn VRC provides student Vets clothing lockers, food and medical resources, technology and textbook support, career connections, faculty and staff training, office space, and a student lounge. In fact, the Auburn VRC is so successful that they’re outgrowing their allocated space, and yet they’re still searching for ways to get mental health counselling services for their student Veterans within their single facility. It’s that kind of support which helped Andrea, and so many of her fellow student Vets, through some of the toughest moments they faced in school and in life.
Let me acknowledge one more outstanding program at the University of Notre Dame. I couldn’t be more pleased by the work done through Notre Dame’s Office of Military and Veterans Affairs there in South Bend. They’re ensuring the university remains an employer of choice for Veterans—building a critical mass of Veterans and military-affiliated staff and faculty on campus. They’re investing in external engagement and outreach—networking with alumni and pursuing initiatives that equip student Vets with the skills and tools they need for success. They’re investing in academics and research—facilitating military history staff rides, championing military-related coursework, and even resource-sharing with the university’s ROTC programs. And of course, most importantly, they’re investing in student Veteran success—building a vibrant and inclusive Veteran community that remains part of both the university support system and the local community. Notre Dame’s student Vets are tightly knit into the university culture and they’re benefitting from a rich fabric of support from the greater South Bend community.
At Notre Dame, they’re supporting Veterans in accordance with their own institutional values. Auburn’s doing the same. These are the kinds of academic communities student Vets deserve all across the country. SVA members and chapter leaders, you’re enrolled in all types of programs and in all types of schools. Large schools and small. Programs in science and technology, in music, arts, and the humanities. On-campus, hybrid, and online. Public schools and private schools. Faith-based and not. We need your help to motivate all your colleges and universities to invest heavily in their student Veterans. Insist that your schools invest in staff, spaces, and programs that support student Vets.
Our sacred promise to Vets requires this type of deliberate institutional investment from our higher education partners. SVA, we need you to make your voices heard on this. And don’t ease the pressure you put on VA, either. Keep holding VA accountable to the Veterans we serve, and to their families, caregivers, and survivors. SVA, your voice, individually and collectively, is one that pushes VA to better fulfill our most sacred obligation to those who have served us so well. So keep the pressure on. We need you. VA needs you, Veterans need you, the nation needs you. Keep leading, advocating, and inspiring. Don’t let up for a second.
I’ll conclude with this. Near the end of his tenure as Administrator of Veterans Affairs, General Bradley reminded us that “as long as we are willing to invest in the talents of Veterans—as long as we are willing to trust the nation to their vision and their daring—we need have no fear for the future.” The Vets of the Greatest Generation made good on the nation’s investment and made their future our present. With the education benefits they earned in uniform, those World War II Vets kindled the determination, ingenuity, and courage to stoke the flames of leadership and responsibility for the entire nation. We’re still benefiting from their legacy today.
And I’m convinced that the flames of leadership and responsibility burn just as strong in this generation of Veterans—in all of you gathered here—as they did in generations past. In public or private enterprise, whether in industry, healthcare, academia, or in sectors still yet emerging—everywhere I see something important and interesting happening there are, inevitably, student Veterans involved. I have no fear for the future, for anywhere there is a challenge, I see student Vets rushing to meet it. I see all of you.
May God bless each of you with a new year full of hope, love, and a light that shines brightly as you go forth to face the challenges that await.
Thank you.
]]>John Levi, thanks very much for that kind introduction. Ron Flagg, thank you very much for allowing me to join you all this afternoon. Danielle Brooks, thanks for your service in the Army. And congratulations on LSC’s 50 years of service in expanding and improving access to justice for all Americans.
Last Monday our nation paused to reflect on the brave men and women who have raised their hands to support and defend the Constitution with their military service. During his remarks at Arlington National Cemetery, President Biden reminded us that our nation has many obligations—but only one truly sacred obligation. That is to prepare those we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home.
The thing is, the whole country makes that promise. But it’s our job at VA, with the help of partners like LSC, to keep that promise. At VA we pledge to put the Veteran at the center of everything we do. A Veteran’s overall well-being often means more than providing health care and benefits. That’s where our partners become so important to ensure Veterans are not just surviving, but thriving.
That’s where you all come in.
Many of the challenges Vets face are directly related to or a by-product of legal problems, leading to moments of crisis. Veteran homelessness is one of the most profound examples. So let me tell a quick story about how one of our Medical Legal Partnerships (MLP’s) are helping Vets in moments of crisis by incorporating legal services into VA care. A Veteran, I’ll call him Dan, in Bay Pines, Florida was notified by his landlord that he needed to pay a past-due balance, or he was going to be evicted within a week. Dan had not been previously notified of this and believed it was an error. Unfortunately, the landlord refused to give Dan any flexibility. So, Dan turned to his VA social worker for help, who introduced him to the Bay Area Legal Services MLP attorney. The attorney worked with the landlord to get an extension for rent payment, and ensured that they’d issue proper notices moving forward.
That’s one Vet who has a roof over his head today because of timely access to legal assistance. At those moments of maximum risk, when a Veteran is most vulnerable, legal aid can be a lifeline.
Now, last week we announced that Veteran homelessness reached a record low during the 2024 Point-in-Time Count—an 8% decrease from 2023 and a 56% reduction since 2010. That is real progress and demonstrates that we can, in fact, end Veteran homelessness once and for all. But we still have so much more work to do, because no Veteran should experience homelessness in the country they swore an oath to defend.
VA’s efforts to combat Veteran homelessness are built on the “Housing First” approach, which seeks to get a Veteran into housing, then provide them with the wraparound services they need to stay housed. Legal aid is one of those important services, and last year VA awarded $11.5 million in grants to 79 public and non-profit organizations. VA grant funding through this program supports over 70% of the MLPs. And a substantial number of these partnerships are operated by LSC grantees, successfully closing the gap between Veterans’ legal and healthcare needs.
In 2021, the last time I spoke at an LSC event, VA supported 29 MLPs. We now have 52 partnerships. Again, this is an improvement. But demand for affordable legal aid continues to rise, so we need to invest more into these critical partnerships.
I’ll close with one final story.
I was reminded of the importance of legal advocates during a trip earlier this year to the Cook County Jail, on the West Side of Chicago. The story begins, appropriately, with a Veteran. John Coddington joined the Air Force and deployed during the initial invasion into Iraq. When he came home, he decided to rejoin his community and started working at the local jail. Early on, John pushed the jail to start asking inmates whether they served in the military as part of the intake process. In 2013, with the innovative support of Sheriff Tom Dart, the jail opened a dedicated tier for Vets in custody. Vets in the unit receive specialized counseling from Cook County psychologists, assistance with substance use issues, attend Vet resource fairs, and other programs that recognizes their unique circumstance as Veterans. There is even a direct messaging system between the jail’s healthcare unit and the VA healthcare system, ensuring seamless medical record transfer. Vets are visited weekly by three of my VA teammates, Carmen Ramirez, Melissa Ornelas, and Nancy Lucena, who connect them with VA resources and establish early relationships with VA. The on-site legal clinic, Legal Aid Chicago, at Jesse Brown VAMC has been instrumental in helping Veterans reintegrate into their communities.
One of the many success stories from the Cook County Jail is a female combat Veteran, we’ll refer to her as Tina. Tina’s journey began with a domestic dispute involving an abusive partner, which led to her apartment being raided. She was charged with drug possession and unlawful possession of a weapon. She had untreated mental health issues stemming from her time in the military. And she had no income or social support in Chicago. “Hitting rock bottom put my life in perspective,” Tina said. “Cook County Jail is not a nice place to be.” While in custody, VA’s Veteran Justice Program Specialist identified Tina as being at-risk of homelessness, and referred her to Veterans Treatment Court. This allowed her to enter a residential treatment program and obtain permanent housing. Tina obtained a service-connected disability rating. And she even landed a job in the Environmental Management Service unit at Jesse Brown VAMC.
Veterans helping Veterans. Taking care of each other. No matter the circumstances.
There is nothing better.
Thank you for allowing me to share some thoughts with you today. But more importantly, thank you for your continued support and partnership, and for ensuring our justice-involved Vets are not left out on their own, unsupported. Access to legal aid is crucial to keeping our promise to Veterans. Together, we can help Vets get beyond their current struggles and foster hope for a future filled with new opportunities.
It’s an honor to work with you to serve Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors as well as they’ve served us.
]]>Clay Ward, thank you.
Let me add my grateful acknowledgement to the Native peoples upon whose ancestral homelands we’re gathered, including the Nacotchtank and Piscataway peoples, and to the Native communities who make their home here today.
Stephanie Birdwell, and to the panel members—Lynn Brownfield, Jason Latona, Minnie Bowie Garcia, Travis Trueblood—thank you for sharing your stories and experiences.
Rudy Soto, thank you for joining us this morning and for your important words to us here at VA.
Lance Fisher, thank you for gifting us your songs.
In his proclamation urging us to observe Native American Heritage Month, President Biden emphasized that “we must know the good, the bad, and the truth of who we are as a Nation—we must acknowledge our history so that we can begin to remember and heal.” I’d therefore like to close our time by acknowledging two such stories, and interconnected ones at that.
Will McClammy serves as the Compliance Officer at the Eastern Kansas VA Health Care System in Topeka. Will is Assiniboine, Sioux, and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. He’s also a former airborne artilleryman, a Gulf War Army Veteran, a third-generation Vet, in fact.
Will initially encountered VA when he discovered firsthand the need for improved rural services in Indian Country. He witnessed how his own father, who relied on VA health care, fought to overcome massive barriers to access, often driving hours from the Fort Peck Reservation to his medical appointments, with some trips spanning multiple days just so that he was well enough to drive himself back home again afterwards.And at the conclusion of his own uniformed service, Will found himself navigating his own health care through the two separate systems of the Indian Health Service and VA, all while simultaneously trying to utilize his GI Bill benefits to attend college. Imagine trying to figure all that out.
Drawing on this experience and his earlier memories of VA, Will eventually settled in Topeka precisely to work on improving care and access for other rural and Native Veterans. Providing a “hand up” to fellow Native Vets convinced Will that VA is, in his words, “right where I need to be, right where I want to be.”
Will’s work on behalf of a community at times rightfully suspicious of government has also taken the form of concurrent duty as the VISN 15 Tribal Outreach Coordinator—building trust with Native American Vets across Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. And much of his outreach work involves careful learning and sharing of stories, past and present. You see, Will helps to build trust by acknowledging and retelling stories from the community, just one of which is that of Elwin “Al” Shopteese.
Al was an enrolled member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation who enlisted in the Kansas National Guard in 1940, immediately after high school graduation. During World War II, as his infantry regiment fought through Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, Al was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart and, notably, earned the exceptional honor and responsibility of a battlefield commission for his leadership during the combat at Omaha Beach. After the war, Al returned to Kansas to study business at the Haskell Institute before he then continued his military service during the Korean War.
Now, on special assignment, Will and a team of colleagues sought to learn more about Al, studying service records and archival documentation. But their research didn’t, and couldn’t, end there. For as Muscogee poet Joy Harjo has said, indigenous communities don’t store their memory “in books and on papers.” It was in the stories told by Al’s tribe, family, and friends, therefore, that Will’s team could learn the fuller narrative of Al’s life.
You see, they learned that upon return from war, Al devoted himself to his community and to his tribe.He served as a Potawatomi Tribal Council member and travelled here to Washington, D.C. many times to advocate for his people. He worked to establish the financial security of the tribe, preserving and ensuring their self-determination for generations to come. And for more than twenty years, Al served as a substance abuse counselor, helping form Indian Community Alcoholism Resources Expeditors, known as ICARE, even then. Until his death in 1992, Al worked tirelessly to provide help and healing to those in his community who were suffering and in pain.
Will and his team learned Al’s fuller story, and they’ve since helped retell it to a degree when the Captain Elwin Shopteese VA Clinic in Kansas City, Kansas, was formally named just this past summer. His own contributions drawing parallels in my mind, Will is proud to retell Al Shopteese’s story—a Veteran caring for other Veterans, a leader caring for his community. Will is proud to share the story on behalf of Al’s family and tribe, proud to offer them honor and recognition.
We must learn and retell stories like those shared today to ensure the experiences of Native American Veterans are, indeed, acknowledged and honored. Both the good and the bad. For while they serve among the highest per capita rates, Native American Vets so often fought abroad for their country just to return to fight prejudice, racism, and injustice here at home.
Truthful storytelling also requires authentic representation, ensuring Native voices and perspectives are fully welcomed and truly belong.So, to our 7,450 Native American and Alaska Native VA colleagues—2,125 Veterans among them—your unique perspectives make VA stronger. We welcome your stories and your memories to the sacred mission we share. You belong here. We recommit ourselves to listening intently, to understanding and honoring your needs, your challenges, your traditions, your communities. We stand ready to learn, and to echo, your stories told, and sung, and remembered. It’s these stories of community and tradition, of courage and perseverance, of survival and resistance that we so deeply need to hear and retell.
It’s an honor to share with you in celebration today. Thank you for inviting me to join you this morning.
]]>John Handzuk, thank you very much for that introduction, for your leadership of the Fleet Reserve Association, and a special thanks to your team for partnering with VA in hosting today’s ceremony. And to all the Fleet Reserve members here this morning, congratulations on your centennial today—100 years serving your fellow shipmates and Marines.
Mr. President, Dr. Biden; Madame Vice President, Mr. Emhoff; Ranking Member Mark Takano; and most importantly, all the Veterans, your families, caregivers, and survivors. Good morning.
In all of America, no place is more sacred than the ground we stand on today here in Arlington and across our country’s National and State Veterans Cemeteries. Here lie in eternal rest presidents and privates, five-star generals, Medal of Honor recipients, and anonymous heroes known only to God. There are Veterans from every American war since the Revolution, including Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan buried in Section 60. Every new grave dug, every benediction murmured, every tear shed, every solemn commitment to this hallowed ground tells the story of our nation’s history.
Yet as I look around, I see something else, too. I see friends, loved ones, and family members of Veterans. Some are sitting next to their Veterans, holding hands, grateful for their presence. Others are here to mourn their lost loved one, buried within these sacred hills overlooking our nation’s capital. Military and Veteran family members may not wear a uniform, but their courage and sacrifices are profound and worthy of all our admiration. Military families endure the hardships of long deployments and training exercises without their loved ones, they pick up their lives and move across the country and the globe when their service member gets a new assignment, and they selflessly care for their injured or ill service member or Veteran when they are unable to care for themselves. We are here today to honor them as well.
I’m thinking of Veteran family members like Angela Bell. Angela’s son, Sean, served 20 years in the Army and died by suicide in 2021. Angela’s dedicated her life to helping other families avoid the same devastation.
Family members like Cindy and Lee Stover, who have cared for their son, Joe, a Navy Veteran, since he was partially paralyzed after a traumatic brain injury. Cindy and Lee show that Veteran caregivers are heroes, too.
I’m thinking of Danny Ingram, Marine Veteran and husband to a fellow Marine—Staff Sergeant Eric Alva, the first Marine seriously injured in the Iraq War. Danny fights for all Veterans and family members, saying that, “like so many military spouses, I do what I can to be supportive of someone who is not only my love, but [also] my hero.”
Or Ellen Gustafson, a proud Navy wife. Ellen brings together Veterans and military family members to volunteer as poll workers, strengthening our nation through public service.
And Jeremy Hilton, Navy Veteran and Air Force spouse. Jeremy has found a new mission, advocating for military children with special needs.
Family members like VA’s Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher—Army combat Veteran, spouse, daughter, and granddaughter of combat Veterans, an example of the shared family value of service that is so often passed down from one generation to another.
Of course, we have another military family in attendance today, the surviving mother and father of Iraq combat Veteran Major Beau Biden. President Biden and Dr. Biden have been unrelenting in their advocacy for Veterans and their families. President Biden has spent his entire career fighting like hell for Vets, just as he charged me and my VA teammates to do four years ago. He has continuously demanded that VA deliver more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. Mr. President, thank you for your no-nonsense–frequently personally delivered in unmistakable fashion–demand that VA take care of our Vets, for reminding us that we still have so much more work to do, and thank you for always, always keeping the faith.
With that, it is my great honor and privilege to introduce the 46th President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.
]]>Good morning. Emily Wilkins, thanks for that kind introduction, and for leading this important organization. Let me recognize the Press Club’s American Legion Post and its commander, Tom Young, and all the Veterans Service Organizations represented here. Veterans Service Organizations are critical to helping us serve Vets, their family members, caregivers, and survivors.
I want to thank all the journalists who served our country in uniform. Journalists like Thomas Gibbons-Neff, a Marine combat Vet and the son of a combat Vet, who writes powerfully now about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. I’ve been particularly struck by his writing on the end of America’s deployments to and withdrawal from Afghanistan.
While I want to be careful here as a non-Veteran myself, it struck me that his writing brought to life the painful experiences that thousands of his fellow Afghanistan Vets wrestle with to this day. Navy Veteran Zack Baddorf, founder of the group Military Veterans in Journalism, is helping ensure more Vets go into journalism, a vocation that is so important to our democracy that Vets have sacrificed everything to protect it.
Zach’s getting more Vets into newsrooms around the country—improving coverage of Veterans issues and increasing trust in the media. To Thomas and Zack, to all Veteran journalists, and to all journalists—thank you.
Veterans Day is around the corner, so now’s a good time to begin preparing our hearts and minds for that celebration—remembering, recognizing, and thanking all those men and women who have fought our nation’s wars and defended us during periods of restless peace. But our profound gratitude to Veterans goes beyond Veterans Day, because Vets continue serving this country long after they take off their uniforms.
They’ve dedicated themselves to building an America that is stronger, freer, fairer for each new generation, that more perfect Union we all seek. Anchored by their commitment to service over self, they continue serving this country, always looking out for one another, with their enduring sense of duty, valor, and love of country. Veterans set the highest example of what it means to be an American citizen. So, at VA, we strive to serve Vets every bit as well as they served—and continue to serve—all of us. Veterans Day is a time to renew that commitment, renew what President Biden calls our country’s one truly sacred obligation—to prepare those we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they come home.
Now, when I first spoke to the Press Club four years ago, the country was in a historic public health emergency, and VA’s employees were risking their lives to save the lives of Veterans. Despite those challenges, I told you that VA public servants were breaking all-time records, providing more care and more benefits to more Vets than ever before. And each year, I’ve come back here with a similar report. This year is no different. By nearly every metric, VA’s smashing records we set last year. That’s even more care, more benefits, to more Vets. And it’s not just more care. It’s better, world-class care, and it’s better health outcomes for Veterans than in the private sector. It’s not just more benefits, it’s faster, more accessible benefits we’re delivering by meeting Vets where they are rather than expecting them to come to us. And it’s not just more Vets, its more Vets trusting VA at rates higher than ever before. President Biden, a military family member and the surviving father of combat Veteran Major Beau Biden, has been unrelenting—and forcefully demanding—in his advocacy for Veterans and their families. He has spent his entire career fighting like hell for Vets, just as he charged me and my VA teammates to do four years ago. Under President Biden’s leadership, VA has been made into something different—something new.
Nowhere has that been more evident than with President Biden’s toxic exposure law—the PACT Act. Because of that law, more than 5.8 million Vets have been screened for toxic exposures. More than 740,000 have enrolled in VA care. And more than 1.1 million Veterans and 11,000 survivors are receiving benefits. The toxic exposure legislation called for a phased-in approach, getting Vets access to care and benefits as late, in some cases, as 2032. But President Biden made it clear that timeline wasn’t fast enough for one simple reason—for too long, too many Vets were exposed to harmful substances and waited decades for help. So, he directed us to accelerate implementation so all eligible Vets and their survivors got the care and benefits they deserve—as quickly as possible.
And that has been life-changing for so many families.
We can measure President Biden’s record-breaking work on behalf of Veterans—on ending Veteran homelessness, on removing barriers to mental health care, on getting Vets in crisis the support they need when they need it, and more. In fact, you probably saw the press release we put out this morning detailing all of VA’s record-breaking accomplishments over the course of the past year. But we can never put a value on the countless miracles that have improved and made Veterans lives better. Numbers and statistics can’t adequately describe the impact. Dollars and data can’t ever really begin to capture and communicate the values, the personalities, the humanity of the Veterans we have the honor of serving. So, as I prepared for today’s speech, I thought, maybe those are the very things we need to talk about. Let me tell you three stories that demonstrate the impact and importance of the work we do, together.
I’ll start with Angela Bell. I met Angela in Hampton, Virginia last month. Angela is one of the most generous and courageous people I’ve ever met. She lost her son, Sean, and has turned her grief into action. Let me tell you a little bit about Sean. Sean knew he wanted to join the military since he was a kid. He was so determined to enlist after graduating high school that at 17 years old he got his dad to sign the parental consent paperwork. And Sean served all over America—Georgia, North Carolina, California—served all over the world, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq. He married and had a son, Giovanni.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree. He earned a Master’s. He earned a second Master’s and was working on his Ph.D.—he liked to tease his mom, telling her she’d have to start calling him Dr. Bell. Sean was the kind of guy who’d invite other Soldiers over to Angela’s house for Thanksgiving because they had nowhere else to go. He’d ask his mom to send him extra care packages while he was on deployment, not for himself, but to share with his brothers- and sisters-in-arms who didn’t get anything from back home. He’s an example of the selfless Vet I was talking about a few minutes ago.
Well, after Sean came back from his second deployment to Central Command, Angela started noticing some changes. Every time firecrackers went off, he’d jump. Being in traffic was overwhelming, anxious about other vehicles around him. He was enduring some personal problems, family health issues and more. When Angela tried to get Sean help, he refused, worried about losing his clearance. Sean had served in the Army for 20 years. And just a few weeks before his retirement in 2021, he died by suicide.
Now, I’ve spoken at many events focused on VA’s and our partners’ work to end Veteran suicide. I’ve explained that ending Veteran suicide is our number one clinical priority at VA. I’ve talked about resourcing and about people and organizations singularly devoted to end Veteran suicide. I’ve talked about data and processes and what we’re doing to try to make a real, substantial difference—promising initiatives. And I’ve shared story after story about Veterans not just surviving, but getting the mental health care they need and thriving. Yet, none of that will bring Sean back or heal his family’s heartbreak. None of that gets to the enormous tragedy of Veteran suicide or gets to the powerful, painful emotions.
So, here’s why I’m telling Sean’s story, Angela’s story. Angela’s doing everything she can do so other families don’t suffer the same devastation when she lost Sean, when this country lost Sean. “I try to be the face of [those] who [were] left behind,” Angela says. “I’m so passionate about telling his story because if it helps one person, whether I know it or not, then I’m doing what I’m supposed to do.” She said, “People tell me I’m so strong. I’m not. I’m a mom, advocating and fighting for my kid.” Angela’s the President of the Hampton Roads Chapter of American Gold Star Mothers, and she often speaks on our work to end Veteran suicide. Thanksgiving was Sean and Angela’s favorite holiday. And in his memory, Angela hosts an annual Thanksgiving meal and invites servicemembers, Veterans, and their families to join her. The gathering quickly outgrew her dinner table, and then got too big for her home. This year, Angela’s renting a dining hall to host dozens of families from the military community to share a warm Thanksgiving meal together. The community she’s built has helped Angela heal. And she heals by helping others, so they’re not alone, and so they know there is always, always hope. Those are the kind of people we have the incredible privilege and honor to serve at VA.
But we have so much work to do to keep our promise to Vets. That leads me to my next story. It was almost exactly 23 years ago—October 5th, 2001—when the first US forces arrived at the Karshi-Khanabad air base in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet base known as “K2.” K2 Veterans were among the first to deploy after the September 11th terrorist attacks, bravely conducting and supporting combat missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. They went to a place at K2 that Veterans often describe as a “toxic soup” of exposures, a place unlike other operating bases occupied by American forces. A place that jeopardized their immediate and long-term health. Colonel Gordon Peters vividly describes what he says was a “chemical odor so intense that it seemed as if someone could light a match and the entire area would ignite.” Some K2 Vets returned home and developed disabling illnesses and conditions. Their service is heroic.
Mindful of the passage of time since their heroic service, we’ve moved aggressively to care for K2 Vets since the PACT Act was passed in 2022.
- First, we eliminated the PACT Act phase-in period for presumptive benefits—making all K2 Vets immediately eligible for more than 300 presumptive conditions.
- Second, earlier this year, we made all K2 Veterans eligible for VA health care, whether or not they’ve filed a benefits claim with VA.
- Third, after consulting with K2 Vets this summer, we’ve begun rulemaking to make chronic multi-symptom illness—also known as Gulf War Illness—a presumptive condition for K2 Veterans, fixing a gap in the PACT Act.
- Fourth, for every K2 claim, we’ve made sure the unique toxic exposures at K2—that toxic soup—is taken into account, and each new K2 claim gets reviewed a second time before VA reaches a final decision.
- And fifth, we’ve reached out to every known living K2 Veteran to encourage them to come to us for the care and benefits they deserve.
All of that work has been driven by Veteran and survivor advocates, reporters like you, and a tireless VA team working on toxic exposures, some of the best toxic exposure researchers, scientists, and epidemiologists in the world. Because of that hard work,
13,000 of the 16,000 K2 Vets are enrolled in VA healthcare, nearly 12,000 are service-connected for at least one condition, receiving an average of $30,000 a year in earned benefits. All told, K2 Vets now have higher claim and approval rates than any other cohort of Veterans.
But we have more work to do to get this right. Some K2 Vets still understandably feel overlooked, because they’ve waited for 23 long years to see their uniquely dangerous service recognized. We still have to do better and be better, for those K2 Vets. That’s why, today, I’m proud to announce that VA will begin rulemaking to add bladder, ureter, and other genitourinary—or GU cancers—as new presumptive conditions for K2 Vets and all eligible toxic-exposed Vets. And we aren’t stopping there.
Next week, we will complete the scientific review of multiple myeloma and leukemias. The preliminary findings are promising and suggest that VA will be able to make those conditions presumptive for K2 Veterans and all eligible Veterans. And once the final results are in, VA will look to extend that presumption to all biologically linked blood cancers. This may include polycethemia vera—or P. Vera—a condition identified by K2 Vets. We will do so based on biological science and on the results of a PACT Act presumptive process, without requiring Vets to wait for VA to complete additional studies. And moving forward, I am committed to establishing service connection for any rare condition found in K2 Vets which has a plausible biological link to the toxic soup we know and acknowledge was present at K2.
Because we are a new VA. One that works with Veterans for Veterans. And one that delivers outcomes for Veterans. We will no longer take decades to consider new presumptive conditions, but will instead use the tools provided by the PACT Act as quickly as possible to proactively establish service connections whenever the evidence supports it. We put that promise into action in 2021 when the President directed us to work on a Central Command burn pit presumption, nearly two years before passage of the PACT Act. We put it into action in 2022 when we established service connection for asthma, sinusitis, rhinitis, and rare respiratory cancers—again today with GU cancers and soon for multiple myeloma and blood cancers. We’ll continue proving that we’re a new VA by using the expedited PACT Act process to look further into that toxic soup at K2. The President considers this unfinished business—and expects VA to establish a presumption of service connection for every condition associated with deployment to K2 – and we’re committed to doing so.
We have to keep listening to K2 Vets and all Vets. We have to keep fighting like hell for them. So, thank you to the Vets, advocates, and journalists who have been instrumental in highlighting the heroes who served at K2. You make us better by holding us accountable. We are proud of our accomplishments, these outcomes for Veterans. But we are candid when we come up short—candid with ourselves, with you, with Vets, with Congress, and with the American people. America’s Vets deserve our very best, and we’ll never settle for anything less. Hold us to it.
Third and finally—let me talk about VA’s people—your public servants—who are keeping our country’s sacred obligation to Vets. They are the best, most compassionate, highest-performing, and most dedicated workforce in the federal government—in the entire country—folks who want to make real differences in the lives of Veterans. I’m proud and I’m privileged to be on their team.
I’m reminded of that every single day, but it was driven home most profoundly when I was surveying Hurricane Helene’s destruction in Asheville, North Carolina. For over a month now, the Asheville VA, the VISN 6 leadership team, and their incident command team have been working around the clock, tirelessly, to support Vets and staff impacted by the storm. Asheville VA’s food service employees and the Veterans Canteen Service disaster response team loaded up two tons of food and served 17,000 meals in the first week of recovery efforts, a source of great comfort in the aftermath of the crisis.
Their Volunteer Services have collected thousands of donations from fellow VA employees. And our chaplains have been holding candlelight vigils, a space for Veterans and VA staff to be together … supporting and comforting one another during this tragedy.
In the hardest hit areas across Western North Carolina, we identified over 2,600 at-risk Vets, Vets undergoing chemotherapy, with spinal cord injuries, requiring oxygen, and other support. We couldn’t call many of them because phones were out—cell phones and landlines—so right after the hurricane, VA teams went out to check on unaccounted Vets in-person. They achieved 100% accountability for all at-risk Vets in their care. Given the devastation in those communities, that is an amazing accomplishment. And they continue reaching out to Veterans in the area to make sure they have everything they need.
For VA nurses Melissa Mehaffey and Lisa Sellers, taking care of Vets in this crisis is their duty and it’s also about holding tight to hope. Lisa and Melissa have been a pair since starting at VA on the same day ten years ago. They’re Haywood County natives and came to work at VA because they have family members who are Vets. “Here,” Melissa says, “it’s all about the Veteran. The heart of our system is with our patients.”
“When we got a name, we knew—those are our people,” Melissa said. “We’re going to find them, figure out what they need, and help them. We’re going to make sure they are ok.” She says, “Going out there and taking care of our people … this was our tiny piece of hope.” One of the Vets they checked on had been without power, and no one could reach him by phone. He wrote us a letter. “No one but VA,” he said, “No one but VA would do something like that … in that moment there was a human connection that no other healthcare system would have even thought of.”
Army Veteran and VA employee Corey Anderson feels the same way. Corey was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq from 2005 to 2007, and the devastation he saw in Asheville reminded him of war zones. Corey went to check on one rural Veteran, drove until the road was gone, washed away. So what did Corey do? He parked his car in the middle of the road and hiked the rest of the way. He climbed up the mountainside with a pack full of supplies for the Veterans’ upcoming medical procedure. Corey says, “Doing this work means the world to me. I’m a Veteran. My dad, mom, sister, and so much of my family is made up of Veterans. It just means the world to me to do my part.” Veterans helping Veterans, there is nothing better. VA’s employees across the Southeast and Appalachia—people like Melissa, like Lisa and Corey—worked long hours through two devastating hurricanes, some working multiple shifts or staying overnight at the hospital. They risked their own lives to serve Veterans. Because whether we’re in times of calm or chaos, VA’s public servants always mobilize around one core mission—saving and improving Veterans’ lives. And right now there are Veterans at home, with their families—happy, safe, and healthy—because of them. I am incredibly grateful to each and every one of them.
Now, our mission at VA is far from over. There are huge challenges ahead. And as we look to the future, we’re going to continue to do better for Vets. We’re going to continue to be better for Vets. This future at VA isn’t because of me. In fact, I had asked that this new VA be represented here today at the Press Club by the best face of this new VA: our Deputy Secretary, a combat Veteran, the daughter and granddaughter of combat Veterans, someone who gets her care at VA, and someone who is part of the fastest growing cadre of Veterans at VA: women. The VA is new and more effective because of the Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors we are so blessed to serve—and because of Veterans like Tanya Bradsher who serve their fellow Veterans.
This future is because of the 450,000 VA employees in your communities and neighborhoods across the country who keep Vets at the heart of their care. And it’s because of partners like you, too.
I’ll close with a final word to the Vets watching today. Your honorable service in uniform sets the example for the rest of the country. You’re the keepers of our national ethos—that deep and abiding sense of purpose you learned in serving, your camaraderie and your care for each other, your sense of teamwork that made you stronger, together—in combat and, now, in your communities. That’s exactly what we need, what this country needs. Your examples are something that all of us can learn from. So, again, to all Veterans—those of you here today and those watching, thank you for everything. And to the Press Club, my thanks for all that you do holding us accountable to Vets, and telling their stories in the powerful ways that you do. God bless you all. And God bless our nation’s servicemembers, our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. With that, Emily, let’s go to questions.
]]>Monica Rivera, thanks very much for that kind introduction.
Katherine Martinez, it’s great to see you again. You are certainly a Veteran “worth knowing,” and I’m glad you could join us today. And thanks very much for your powerful remarks, especially about how VA can fit into Veterans lives, rather than Veterans trying to fit their lives into VA.
Jaime Areizaga-Soto and our panel members—thank you for the great conversation this morning.
And thank you, Nathan Maenle and team, for putting together the program today.
I don’t have to look far to see Hispanic Americans making an impact at VA—serving Vets as well as they’ve served all of us.
To close today’s program, I’d like to tell you about a few extraordinary VA teammates. One demonstrating leadership in a moment of crisis. Another, an example of a Veteran dedicating his life to serving other Vets. A third, a young cemetery director committed to honoring our fallen Vets and preserving their stories. And finally, an emerging leader dedicated to healing human suffering wherever he finds it.
First, Fernando Rivera. Fernando’s the Executive Director of the Southeast Louisiana Health Care system and was born in Cuba. His mother was a government public relations professional. His father was a military officer. Both were disillusioned—to put it mildly—with the oppression of Castro’s communist regime, and secretly participated in the movement to overthrow the government. In 1961, Fernando’s father was imprisoned in Havana and paid the ultimate price for his efforts to ensure his family and country could live in freedom. He was executed.
Fernando immigrated to the United States—New Orleans—in 1969 as a political refugee. He was nine years old. His mother worked three jobs to support him and his grandparents. As a young man he started at VA as a GS-5 Project Engineer—and advanced to roles including Medical Center Director, Network Director, and Acting Deputy Under Secretary. He’s been with VA for 39 years and counting. Along the way, in 1992, he met the love of his life—his wife Stacie—at VA. That’s part of the reason Fernando calls VA his family.
Ten years ago, he went home—so to speak—when he helped bring VA healthcare back to New Orleans nearly a decade after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Fernando’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic set national standards, caring for over 1,600 infected patients, and coordinating responses across VA and private-sector healthcare systems. Just last month, Fernando’s steady leadership guided the Veterans, staff, and volunteers at VA when Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana. Fernando’s team responded quickly. They kept in close contact with the most vulnerable patients. When the storm had passed, Fernando had the medical center and 6 of 7 community-based outpatient clinics up and running within 24 hours and the final, most impacted clinic, up within 48 hours.
Every day when Fernando goes to work, he reads a sign at the front of the hospital in New Orleans. It says, “The price of freedom can be seen within these walls.” Fernando says that he can never take for granted those who have served in uniform because they are the reason he and his family are free. Perhaps few can appreciate that freedom more profoundly than Fernando.
Next, I’d like to talk about Francisco Vazquez. Francisco is the Medical Center Director at the Houston VA. His story of service starts with his beloved father, also named Francisco. His father grew up an orphan in Puerto Rico and saw the Army as a way out of the cycle of poverty and hopelessness he experienced. He joined the famous 65th Infantry Regiment shortly after his 18th birthday in 1951. Within a year, he found himself landing on the shores of Inchon, Korea. He stayed in the Army and Francisco, the younger, was born in Fort Chafee, Arkansas. When Francisco was eight, his father retired from the Army and moved the family back to Puerto Rico where he experienced firsthand the richness and warmth of the family-centered culture there.
Francisco is very proud of his Puerto Rican heritage—where, as he says, “the island is beautiful … the food is amazing … and the people are welcoming, valiant, and determined.” After graduating from college, Francisco attended Navy Officer Candidate School, following his father in service to the nation. He served on the USS Okinawa for four years. His VA journey began in 1995 at the Central Texas Healthcare System. Since then, Francisco has served in seven VA hospitals. “We have the best mission in the world,” Francisco says. “We help our nation pay back part of the debt of gratitude we owe our Veterans for their service and sacrifice through the delivery of world-class care.”
And for Francisco, it all goes back to the values his father modeled for him and his siblings during his Army career: honesty, hard work, humility, and putting the needs of others above your own. It was these values that inspired Francisco’s oldest son, Armando, to join the Army. And though Francisco’s father and son are no longer with us, their memory inspires and motivates him every single day to fulfill the second part of what President Biden calls our one truly sacred obligation as Americans, to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and then care for them and their families when they come home. Three generations of Hispanic Americans who have put service and love of country at the forefront of their lives and are an example for us all.
Next, I’d like to tell you about Marcos De Jesus. Marcos is the Director of the South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth, Florida. He was born in the Dominican Republic. When he was four, his mother—Maria—and he immigrated to Puerto Rico where he says he truly found his home. Marcos’ commitment to service started with the values taught by his mother—the belief that even if you don’t have much, you should still strive to give back to the world. By the time Marcos left for college it was only natural that he should join the ROTC program there, where the Air Force’s core value of “Service Before Self” resonated with him. Marcos served five years as an Air Force officer, deploying to Colombia and Abu Dhabi. He was impressed with the fact that in the Air Force he met people from all walks of life who were dedicated to one thing: serving their country.
Like many Vets, when Marcos left the military, he searched for a similar sense of purpose and service. He found that purpose in the National Cemetery Administration in 2021. His life came full circle when he returned to Puerto Rico for NCA’s Cemetery Director’s Development Program. Marcos takes pride in learning and sharing Veteran stories preserved in our National Cemeteries, especially through the Veterans Legacy Memorial site. Along the way, he met and married his wife, Barbara, from Caracas, Venezuela. Being a part of a Venezuelan family now, Marcos sees similarities in the values he witnessed growing up in Puerto Rico: courage, determination, and perseverance. Marcos jokes that he knows he and his wife will have debates about which heritage their children will claim. But they are certain of one thing—their children will inherit their shared values of hard work and service.
Finally, I’d like to tell you about Dr. Alexander Tenorio. Alexander is a White House Fellow—one of America’s most prestigious programs for emerging leaders—serving with us here at VACO. Hispanic alumni of this program include the Honorable Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Jaime Areizaga-Soto, our Chairman of the Board of Veterans Appeals, and Alberto Ramos, my Chief Speechwriter. Alexander and his family immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s, fleeing violence in their hometown. Alexander grew up poor in South Los Angeles, selling clothing on the streets to help his family make ends meet. It was on those streets that he saw drug use, gang violence, and the healthcare challenges the people in his community faced.
So, he decided to go to medical school and become a neurosurgeon, one of the most under-represented specialties. During his residency in San Diego, Alexander came face-to-face with the horrific reality that is all too common along our southern border—individuals sustaining life changing wounds like Traumatic Brain Injury—T.B.I.—and spinal cord damage after falling from the 30-foot border wall—fleeing the same violence his parents did in the ‘80s. He’s dedicated his life to raising awareness of these tragic and preventable accidents, advocating for increased access to care for Hispanic and non-citizen populations. Alexander says that some of the most grateful patients he cared for as a resident in San Diego were our Vets. And that’s part of his motivation to serve his fellowship here at VA. His parents, who sacrificed so much to help him become a neurosurgeon, instilled in him the core value he lives by today: to help the helpless, and to heal human suffering wherever he finds it.
So, why did I tell you about these extraordinary individuals this morning? Well, because frankly, these folks—Katherine, Francisco, Fernando, Marcos, and Alexander—know better than most what America is all about. And we need more leaders like them at VA. Because a diverse VA is a stronger VA. We all travel our unique journeys in life. Whether from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, or Minnesota. And the convergence of those varied paths is what makes us stronger. We all cherish our freedoms as Americans. That’s why—you and I—are here to fight like hell for those who raise their hands to defend those freedoms. I thank you all for allowing me to join you this morning. God bless you all. And God bless our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
]]>Thanks so much to everybody. Good morning to you. Thank you for inviting me to join you for your 16th Judicial Conference.
You had me a couple of years ago. The fact that you welcomed me back notwithstanding the intervening time as Secretary I take as a mildly positive sign. We’ll see how the reviews are on that at the end of the speech.
Chief Judge [Michael] Allen, thank you so much for the introduction. It’s fitting that you’ve stepped up to Chief Judge during this conference because, as I gather, your introduction to Veterans law for the first time was when you accepted an invitation to speak to this very conference in 2006. And at that conference, you recognized the importance of Veterans law, and so here we are.
Thanks for all you have done for Veterans, even before you joined this Court. You became one of the first professors with expertise in Veterans law, and you founded one of the law school clinics providing pro bono legal access for our nation’s heroes. I appreciate that one of your very first actions as Chief Judge was to introduce me just now. And so, I take that very seriously. So, thanks for that. I hope the rest of your tenure is as auspicious.
Judge [Margaret] Bartley, also known as Chief Judge Bartley for the last five years, congratulations. And thank you for your 30 years of service to Veterans. You’ve worked to ensure that Veterans receive all the benefits and services they’ve deserved and they have so richly earned, provided them with pro bono representation yourself, clerked for this Court, been appointed as a judge on this Court, and elevated then to Chief Judge. Your service to Veterans, to the national interest, to the country, has been remarkable.
And thanks also to all of you here at this Court, including this Court’s other distinguished judges, VA employees from the Board of Veterans Appeals and Office of General Counsel, attorneys representing Veterans before the CAVC [Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims], law professors, law students, and of course Veterans. No matter your role, you all care deeply about our nation’s heroes.
One of the benefits of this biannual event is that it brings us all together. It might be on different sides of the table, but each one of us supports Veterans all the time.
Let me begin where this Court began.
During legislative hearings leading to passage of the Veterans’ Judicial Review Act in 1988, Sonny Montgomery—then-Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee—said, “Accurate, informal, efficient, and fair. These are the goals which have guided the committee in … expanding judicial review of VA decision-making …. [It is] not intended to express displeasure with the BVA [Board of Veterans’ Appeals] method of reviewing claims or imply that the existing review process is unfair.”
“To the contrary,” he said, “the committee believes that Veterans presently receive every possible consideration where the BVA reviews a case, and the committee expects that the new court will be similarly inclined.”
That’s quite a statement from the chairman of a Congressional committee. And given that statement, and Chairman Montgomery’s observation about “Veterans [receiving] every possible consideration,” I’ve been wondering what he would think of the last few years, years which have seen significant improvements and significant developments in Veterans law.
Two changes in particular have impacted the Veterans law landscape.
First, the Appeals Modernization Act [AMA], implemented in 2019, has improved the appeals process—so far. The AMA has made appeals faster, it’s provided Veterans different options for addressing denied claims. But we are still operating in two separate legal systems, with different options for Veterans filing appeals, and thousands of Legacy claims being adjudicated.
Second, President Biden’s PACT Act in 2022 greatly expanded VA health care eligibility for toxic-exposed Veterans and extended enhanced eligibility for Vietnam era, Gulf War era, and Post-9/11 combat Vets. We’re seeing Veterans file more benefits claims than ever before.
In 2023, VA processed nearly 2 million benefits claims—a record high. So far this year, we’ve exceeded that by processing more than 2.4 million, with another 10 days left, yet, in the fiscal year, on pace to surpass last year’s record by more than 27%. The VBA grant rate for these claims is 64.2%—and as high as 75% for PACT Act claims. In 2024, the average overall disability rating granted to Veterans is 70%, with over $20,000 per year in disability compensation.
Now, I know I’ve just listed a bunch of stats. Nearly every one of them represents all-time VA highs. But let’s remember that behind every one of them is a Veteran and their family receiving life-changing benefits and care.
Now, breaking records is good. But it’s not good enough. Because here’s the bottom line: we have a lot of work left to do, a lot of improvement. In fact, we need to improve. We must keep Veterans at the heart of everything we do. Part of that involves the appeals process. So, let’s talk about what that looks like.
When Veterans aren’t satisfied with decisions they’ve received, they have several recourses under the AMA, as you well know. Over the last three years, the Board of Veterans Appeals has hired more than 50 Veterans Law Judges, hired more than 350 attorneys, and has issued more decisions than ever before.
In 2023, the Board issued 103,245 appeals decisions, again a record. And in 2024, the Board has already issued more than 111,000 decisions—another record again, with 10 days left in the fiscal year—so I don’t want any of the BVA personnel or the Board of Appeals team in the room there thinking that you can take the next 10 days off.
The appeal rate to this Court has dipped over the last several years also. And last year, it was 7.4% of cases. However, this year there will still be about 9,000 BVA decisions appealed to this Court. Nine thousand of our nation’s heroes who have not received all the benefits they believe they’re entitled to, and in fact they believe VA has wrongfully denied them access to.
Nine thousand.
It’s long and complicated, and many of appeals don’t result in the outcome they desire. But it’s not simply the denial of benefits that makes Veterans unhappy. It’s the process, which can involve remand after remand and years and years of waiting.
Each week, hundreds of Veterans send me letters. I’d estimate that a third of those express frustration—and let’s just say I’m being diplomatic here—frustration with the benefits claims and appeals process. Let me share selections from a few of them.
In June, Travis in North Carolina wrote me: “Dear Secretary McDonough, I am a military Veteran writing to express my deep frustration with the unacceptably long wait times for decisions on VA disability claims. After sacrificing for my country, I now find myself struggling with service-connected disabilities and trapped in a seemingly endless bureaucratic process. This unresolved claim has caused tremendous stress and hardship for myself and my family. We rely on disability compensation not only for income, but for access to VA health care critical for treating my service-connected disability.”
Later in June, I received a letter from Chris in California—U.S. Marine, Vietnam, now in his 70s. He described multiple remands from Board judges ordering tests from an orthopedic specialist and x-rays to determine service connection for arthritis. But, Chris wrote, a VA contractor sent him to urgent care, not a specialist, and sent him to an imaging center incapable of conducting x-rays. He’s still waiting to see a specialist. He’s still waiting for x-rays. Chris ended with, “I am dismayed, disappointed, even appalled that our government and country I was so excited and happy to serve at 17 years of age would treat me this way. Shame on you and on your team.”
Shame.
And in August, Deborah in Tennessee, emailed me. Her husband, Army Vet, had a disability compensation rating of 100%. “Since his death in 2022,” she wrote, “I’ve been trying to get widows benefits. I’ve filed, been rejected, appealed, got a Veterans assistance firm to help, but every time the VA comes up with some sort of excuse, in the hopes I’ll give up. I have to borrow money from family members just to pay utilities bills. I fear I’ll lose my home. I need help to get through the process. Please help me.”
Now, there’s countless other Veteran letters I receive that express similar disappointment, heartache, anger, betrayal. So how can we address—alleviate—that frustration that Veterans so clearly express with our appeals process?
Well, we do it by getting to the root of these issues.
The Board of Veterans Appeals grants Veterans relief about one third of the time. One third.
Yes, we have to follow the law, we want to follow the law, we do follow the law. There’s no way to wave a wand and grant every single appeal. But too many Veterans—caught in the endless churn of remand after remand, claims examination after examination, hearing after hearing—don’t trust the process. We need Veterans to trust us, to trust the appeals process, and to understand why we reach the decisions, even if, in fact particularly when, they walk away disappointed. We—the Board, this Court, private counsel—can gain trust through final decisions, and final decisions that are faster than Veterans get today.
Look, the AMA has enabled us to make the process better, although there is still more to be done. Over the last few years, the Board’s AMA decisions result in 20% fewer remands and 10% higher grant rates. On average, final resolution of all issues in AMA cases takes between two to three years, faster than the seven to 10-year average before the passage of the AMA. But still, two to three years is too long.
Here’s the reality. Today, Legacy appeals take about six years. That’s faster than before, but that’s still six years. None of us thinks six years is fast enough. That duration is going to tick up and up, and appeals are going to take longer and longer, because there’s 40,000 Legacy cases still at VA.
Each year this Court remands thousands of additional Legacy cases to the Board. At any given time, 54% of the Legacy cases the Board is adjudicating have already been seen by a Board judge at least twice, nearly 30% at least three times, and almost 10% have already been adjudicated five times or more.
Even after the Board resolves all issues, for many Veterans the journey’s not over. It can take years to get a decision from this Court or the Federal Circuit. Typically, that decision just returns the case to the Board for further adjudication.
I think we can do better for Veterans. I know some of you are talking about these issues in various settings, including sessions with the Bar Association. And that’s encouraging. Yes, it’s important to capture ideas and suggestions for change down the road, but let’s think about how we can help more Veterans now—improvements that VA, this Court, the private bar can implement sooner rather than later to benefit Vets. Now, none of us is immune here. We can all do better, no matter where we work.
First, the claims examination process. Contractors speeding through compensation and pension exams, or not carrying out clear instructions on what to focus on, or conducting exams rife with inaccuracies. VA can—in fact, must—ensure that these exams are more accurate, with higher quality, leading to more resolved claims. Under Secretary [of Benefits, Josh] Jacobs and his team are working hard to implement quality measures on C&P exams—reducing unnecessary exams where we can so as to get to a decision sooner.
Second, the Board of Veterans Appeals. I’ve challenged the Board to increase efficiencies. I’ve asked them to increase capacity, increase output. I’ve asked them to find ways to fill hearing slots that open up due to cancellations and increase appeal resolution rates so that we can reduce wait times for Veterans. I’ve also asked the Board to explore how we better inform Veterans of the expected wait times before their appeal will be issued. I know they are discussing these issues, and they’re figuring out how to do it. It’s not easy. The hiring process, which we’ve had our foot on the gas on over these last several years—also too slow.
Remands going back and forth between the Board and this Court often aren’t productive, in my view. We’ve heard concerns that sending remanded cases back to the same Board judge may not always be the best way to get finality.
Third, this Court. I ask you to ask yourselves, if we’re remanding 75% of appeals back to the Board, are we doing everything we can for Vets? Are we moving with efficiency and urgency? Vets don’t want to wait year after year, not knowing whether they’ll receive benefits or not. Veterans need timely, fair, final decisions on their claims, decisions that either grant their benefits, or fairly deny those benefits only after proper hearing, proper development, a full consideration of all the evidence developed, and a correct application of law. They don’t want to be stuck in legal limbo.
Fourth, private counsel. One of the AMA’s improvements is that it gives Veterans options besides filing an appeal with this Court. Consider whether you’re always choosing the best option for your client, especially when the Veteran, or their surviving family member, or their living family member, wants a final decision on the claim—and quickly. Is an appeal to this Court the best option for your client when you know there’s a strong likelihood of a remand, or even multiple remands, and no resolution for years and years? Or would it be better for the Veteran to file a supplemental claim that can be processed much faster than a remanded appeal?
To everyone, please think about what happens if the system stays the same. Thousands and thousands of Veterans will continue to wait, burdened by what to them is a broken bureaucracy. They will continue to view appeals with disappointment and anger.
What are Veterans doing to make the system work for them? They are turning to unaccredited representatives who call themselves “coaches” or “consultants,” charging Vets high amounts or outrageous percentages of future benefits. Veterans turn to these claim sharks because they promise the Veteran they’ll get a quicker resolution. And as payment, the Veteran signs over a portion of the benefits that Veteran earned serving our nation. This surely is not what we want.
We have to do better.
We need finality, and we need that finality more quickly. Finality in the appeals process isn’t dictated by just one factor or one specific actor. Getting to final decisions—and how we get there—depends on actions and decisions of VA, claimants, their lawyers, and judges. If we want Vets to receive benefits they are entitled to, and for their claims decided fairly and justly—which everyone in this room surely wants—we must focus on finality and achieving finality with urgency.
Let’s consider how we make the system better for Vets. Talk about this with each other during your time here and after you leave. Because what everyone wants, I know, is for Veterans to receive all the benefits they have earned, accurately, quickly, fairly—the goals Chairman Montgomery hoped this Court would achieve.
The President often says that our nation’s only sacred obligation is to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they come home. The second part of that solemn duty is VA’s to fulfill, each and every day. And in this instance, it’s not on VA alone. It’s on each of us here. Each decision at VBA, the Board, this Court, and counsel appearing before this Court has an impact on the Veteran. And often, the impact on a Veteran, their families, and survivors is, in fact, life changing.
Remember, justice delayed is justice denied. Veterans did not hesitate to raise their hands and put their lives on the line for all of us. They didn’t say wait. So, let’s not make them wait one second longer than they have to for their hard-earned benefits.
It’s on all of us to make that happen.
Thanks for letting me be here today with you, and now let’s hear from you on your questions.
Really appreciate you.
Chief Judge, back to you.
]]>Thank you, Walt Dannenberg, for that kind introduction. Mayor Phillip Jones is here today. It’s so fitting to have a Marine leading Newport News, a city with such a long maritime history, and where so many Veterans choose to call home. As always, Marines lead the way. And Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck is also joining us—a key partner to our team here at the Hampton VA.
Now, gatherings like these are the result of so many people working hard behind the scenes. So let me give a shoutout to some of today’s organizers: Janelle Amezcua, Sara McGuinness, Lila Elliott, Megan Flaherty, Raymond Wells, Chanda Marcus, Shaconda Griffin, and Christina Beckett. And our local suicide prevention leadership is here, too. My deepest appreciation goes out to Dr. Kathy Babel, Chief of Psychology, and Dr. Maninder Singh, Chief of Mental Health. Your support and guidance to this team are unmatched.
Chaplain Vinson Miller, your invocation was precisely what the soul needs. You serve many roles as a VA chaplain, including as a key member of our postvention team. Chaplains and faith leaders like you are invaluable to everything we do here at VA, offering wisdom and spiritual support to providers, Veterans, and their families.
Finally, thanks to all our community partners for being here today for this important event. Most importantly, thank you for your partnership and leadership in helping prevent Veteran suicide. Because there is nothing more important than working together to save Veterans’ lives.
Today is about hope. Hope for Veterans and their loved ones in our neighborhoods, our places of worship, at work, at home, and here in this room. Life will have its challenges. But there is always hope. Your being here today is a testament to that. Your presence matters in this sacred mission of suicide prevention. There is hope. Treatment works. Healing happens. Each of you makes a difference. Because no one cares more than you. No one is more dedicated than you. Your work saves lives. And it will save more lives.
I’ll start with a story about a Veteran—Matt Campbell. Matt grew up in a small town in Northwest Indiana. He decided to join the Navy shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks. He became a Corpsman. Like many of you in this room, he served because he wanted to save lives. Matt was attached to a Marine Unit—2nd Battalion, 7th Marines … also known as Two-Seven—out of Twentynine Palms, California.
In those early days of the Global War on Terror, Matt and his unit were called on to do multiple tours overseas, including back-to-back tours. Two-Seven was one of the hardest hit units in Afghanistan. Matt’s team endured attacks and close engagements on a nearly daily basis. During his second deployment, Two-Seven sustained more casualties than any other team.
Matt’s transition back stateside was hard, compounded by the fact that he transitioned out of the Navy just weeks after returning home from war. Imagine that. On a battlefield one day, back home, a civilian, the next. Matt struggled. His mental health suffered, and he found himself in a dark place. For six years Matt didn’t seek help. But he decided to go back to school to keep studying health care, using his post-9/11 GI Bill and Voc-Rehab.
One fateful day, at an especially low point, Matt’s Voc-Rehab counselor asked him to come to VA for help. Matt’s a man of faith and a worship leader at his local church. He keeps a placard on his desk quoting Luke 11:9. Luke says, “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matt prayed and decided to finally knock on VA’s door. And it opened. Matt says he knew he found his purpose the moment he walked through the door of his local VA. He found his home. Today, Matt’s been with VA for over a decade as a patient, and as one of our dedicated VA teammates. He works in the Veterans Experience Office, doing the important work of reaching out to Veterans and community-based organizations.
Matt’s story doesn’t end there, but let me stop for a second. We need to reach Vets like Matt and bring them into our care, because Vets in VA care do better. And that’s where you can really make a difference. It’s one thing for a Veteran to hear about VA services from me. It’s an entirely different thing for them to hear about VA services from you. Just like Matt’s Voc-Rehab counselor did for him. Because you are the people in Veterans’ lives and communities here in Hampton Roads. You work with them, spend time with them, and break bread with them. You are the people they know and love. You are the people they trust.
So, a recommendation from you can go a long way toward convincing a skeptical Veteran to give VA a try. Doing that can change their life. I’ll come back to this later. But please, check in with the Veterans in your life who may be going through a rough time. Visit VA.gov/REACH for resources, today. Everyone can be part of the solution and help save Veterans’ lives. Every interaction a Vet has with friends, family, strangers, or loved ones has the potential to save a life.
Let me continue. You remember Matt’s unit, Two-Seven? Well, they go by another name. They call themselves “The Forgotten Battalion,” abandoned in combat and abandoned again when they came home. In the years since returning from war in 2008, 38 Marines in Two-Seven have died by suicide. Many more continue to suffer. Marines—The Few, The Proud—are trained to put a mission and others before themselves. That can sometimes make it hard for them to accept or ask for help. But Marines have a special relationship with the Navy Docs in their unit. Those Docs earn the Fleet Marine Force designation, wear the iconic Marine Corps uniforms, and even earn the right to call themselves Marines—the ultimate sign of respect in that hallowed and eternal band of warriors.
Docs like Matt are often the difference between life and death on the battlefield. Many of the Marines Matt served with didn’t trust VA. But they trusted their old Doc. They trusted Matt. Matt treated their combat wounds overseas, and Matt continues to care for their invisible scars of moral injury here at home. Matt listens, no matter the time of night or day. And his Marines open up. He brings other Marines from their unit into the call, and they all talk together through their struggles, forever united by the bonds of shared experiences. They reinforce the power of asking for help, getting treatment, and giving VA a chance. One Veteran life lost to suicide is one too many. The Marines of Two-Seven have lost far too many of their brothers- and sisters-in-arms. But countless lives have been saved, too. Through all the hardships Matt and his Marines have experienced over the years, what shines through are moments of inspiration and hope, strength and resilience, caring and kindness. Because of Matt and so many of you in this room, there are Veterans at home with their families right now. Mindful as we are of the Vets who are not. Matt’s story shows the impact VA and our partners are having in communities and neighborhoods around the country. Serving Veterans. Saving lives. It is a testament to the amazing colleagues and partners I am blessed to work with at VA. I have the privilege of seeing your inspiring work every single day.
Now it is a natural response to ask “why?” following a devastating loss from suicide. Retracing last moments, reviewing prior conversations, replaying each interaction, each stressor. What makes Veteran suicide, and suicide in general, particularly challenging is this fact: there is no one cause of suicide. Perhaps it’s legal problems or incarceration, a new cancer diagnosis or the death of a child, the pandemic, a strained relationship, chronic pain, substance abuse, homelessness, financial problems, job transitions, trauma, and so much more. It’s not always one thing, one problem, or one challenge in life. Yet for each Veteran, their own thoughts of suicide are driven by their own unique challenges. No Veteran’s experience is the same. But there is hope. Perhaps that’s what drove you to be here today. Hope. There is hope in realizing that we are not alone in this mission to end Veteran suicide. There is hope in being here together. There is hope in reaching out, asking for help, and bringing the Veterans we serve into contact with a real person. There is hope in linking them up with someone who is ready and willing to help them contend with any crisis.
So let me quickly tell you about six of VA’s Veteran-centric, innovative solutions that give me hope, inspiring work designed to save lives and get Veterans the world-class care they need, wherever and whenever they need it.
First, we are offering free emergency suicide prevention care, at all VA and non-VA facilities, regardless of VA enrollment status. Over 74,000 Vets in crisis have received care through this new policy.
Second, Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grants are getting resources to local suicide prevention services where Veterans are, funding local innovations among people who know their Veterans best. Last week we announced $52.5 million in Fox Grants, including 85 organizations across the country. One of those grants is going to a non-profit group right here in Hampton, the Western Tidewater Community Services Board. They provide outreach, education, and support for suicide prevention across the state, uniquely designed and tailored for Veterans and their families.
Third, we are working with more than 2,000 local community coalitions engaged in ending Veteran suicide. These coalitions—faith-based and community groups, health technology companies, universities, Veteran Service Organizations, and others—now reach more than 7.5 million Veterans. These trusted partners, like so many of you in this room, work with Veterans in their neighborhoods, in their communities, around the country. Because Veterans need and deserve suicide prevention solutions that meet them where they are, rather than expecting them to come to us.
Fourth, we connected Veterans directly to the Veterans Crisis line through 988 Press 1, the national suicide prevention lifeline. Over the past two years, the hotline has fielded over two million calls, texts, and messages—with an average time to answer of just under 10 seconds. And every second counts in a time of crisis, so Veterans are getting the help they need when they need it most.
Fifth, we are conducting outreach to Veterans in need. This year, VA launched a new ad campaign called, “The Bravest Thing,” showing how seeking help is an act of bravery. This is especially true in the eyes of loved ones. We must normalize the act of seeking help before the thought, the boiling point, or the crisis. So I’ll say it again. Please, check in with the Veterans in your life who may be going through a rough time, and encourage them to reach out if they need help. Visit VA.gov/REACH for resources, today.
Sixth, and finally, we are promoting secure firearm storage. The majority of Veterans who die by suicide die by firearm. Meanwhile, research shows that the time between suicidal ideation—thinking about taking one’s life and the action is remarkably short. The thought, plan, and attempt of suicide can occur in 60 minutes or less, nearly 75% of the time. Nearly one-quarter of suicides occur within the first five minutes. Now, if the attempt is paired with a highly lethal means such as a firearm, it results in death 90% of the time. Every minute—every second—matters for a Veteran in crisis. So let’s normalize the discussion. It’s okay to ask if someone is having thoughts about suicide. And it is okay to ask how they are storing their firearms, too. Our local VA facilities provide free gun locks with the Veterans Crisis Line number on it. A gun safe holding or displaying objects that hold personal meaning, like pictures of loved ones or personal notes, can serve as reminders of hope during times of crisis. Maybe it’s temporarily storing a firearm outside of the home when signs of depression are increasing. Storing your firearm in a locked location and with the ammunition stored separately can allow time and space for reflection. Doing so can save lives.
I’ll end where I started. Suicide is preventable. But it takes all of us, all of our collective heart and will alongside the very best evidence-based solutions, to save Veterans’ lives. If you take one step, no matter how small, you can have an immense impact on the lives of Veterans. And with all this work, and more, saving lives is exactly what we’re going to do together. That gives me hope. Not just in September during Suicide Prevention Month. It gives me hope every single day. I pray it gives you and the Veterans we serve hope, too. I look forward to continuing this important work, together. God bless you all. And God bless our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
]]>Matt [Miller, Dir. VA Office of Suicide Prevention], thanks for that kind introduction and for the opportunity to join the team here this morning to kick off Day 2 of this important Gathering. More importantly, thank you for the critical work you and your team in the VA Office of Suicide Prevention are doing, every day. It’s work just like this that’s making important differences in people’s lives.
Good morning, everyone. It’s an honor to be here on Tribal land, the ancestral lands of the Ojibwe and Dakota. All this country is Tribal land. And this is my home, Minnesota, so I want to say Aaniin and Hau. I’m proud to be from this state where there are 11 federally recognized Tribes. This land, according to the Ojibwe people, is where food grows on water.
So many people to recognize, and to thank today. Cicely [Burrows-McElwain]—good to see you again. Anytime I go where goodness is happening, there’s Cicely. Let me also recognize Stacey Owens and all our SAMHSA [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration] partners. And I want to especially acknowledge so many of our partners from the National Indian Health Board, the National Congress of American Indians, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Trickster Native Connections Cultural Center, and members of VA’s Tribal Advisory Committee who are doing work that’s invaluable to me, to VA.
Let me recognize members of our country’s newest Veteran Service Organization, the National American Indian Veterans, as well as Tribal leaders, Tribal elders, and all Veterans here this morning. It’s my honor to be here with you. At VA, we respect you. We respect your Tribal governments. And I reaffirm my deep commitment to our common heritage, to your Tribal sovereignty, and to this important work we’re doing together for Vets, their families, survivors, and caregivers.
Now, this conference, it isn’t your typical conference where we’re unloading a lot of information on you. This conference is about us hearing from all of you. And it’s about getting pen on paper to plan the next steps to take action in helping prevent Veteran suicide among our Native American Veterans. And I’m here this morning for one reason, and that is to commit to you that VA will redouble our efforts to work with you—and with so many others—to bring an end to Veteran suicide. It is the most critical work we can do, our number one clinical priority at VA.
In the past—when I’ve spoken about this work—I’ve talked about budgets and dollars, I’ve talked about demographics and data, and about programs and processes. All that is very important. But dollars and data alone are not sufficient to truly understand this monumental public health issue. So, I’ve taken to talking with survivors, with Veterans and their family members, and those around them who have been directly impacted by suicide. I want to learn from them. I want to hear their stories, their experiences. I want to listen to their advice on how we can better support Service Members and Veterans. And that’s why all of us are here.
We are here to listen. To listen. To listen to you. Because at VA, we haven’t always gotten it right, especially true when it comes to serving Native American and Alaska Native Veterans. That’s why, today, when it comes to serving Tribal communities, our first principle is to listen. So let me give you just a few examples of some innovative work that’s grounded in that first principle—listening.
Listening—it’s really what VA’s Mission Daybreak grand challenge back in 2022 was about. In searching for suicide prevention solutions that can meet the diverse needs of Veterans, we wanted to listen and hear new perspectives. We wanted to find new approaches to bring support to Veterans in their communities that’s meaningful—not meaningful to us at VA, but meaningful and resonant to Service Members, Veterans, and their families.
With the Mission Daybreak challenge, we wanted to get outside of the VA eco-system and echo-chamber, to see what fresh thinking there is when it comes to suicide prevention. And an award-winning social venture group called Televeda won first place in the Mission Daybreak challenge. Televeda’s overarching purpose, their mission—combatting social isolation and loneliness among vulnerable populations. And that’s what Televeda’s web-based application called Hero’s Story aims to do.
If you haven’t heard of Hero’s Story, let me tell you about it. Hero’s Story is an innovative app that’s designed to reach Veteran and Native American communities, to answer their needs. Designing and launching the Hero’s Story app has been grass-roots work. And listening to those they want to serve is Televeda’s organizing principle.
And what they’ve produced—Hero’s Story—is the first Indigenous, community-based online resource to offer Tribal communities traditional mental health interventions like talking circles and storytelling sessions. Hero’s Story offers online peer support groups, indigenous programming, and access to other local Tribal resources in ways that honor customs and traditions in a culturally relevant way.
And because Televeda designed Hero’s Story by listening to Tribal communities—including Navajo Nation, Hopi, Lakota, Pascua Yaqui, and Tohono O’odham—the tools the Hero’s Story app offers answer the community needs. It’s not about what any of us think the community needs. It’s about the resources the community describes, offered in culturally-appropriate ways.
Televeda launched the first phase of Hero’s Story at the Window Rock Tribal Park in Arizona this past May—hand-in-hand with the Navajo Nation. And while it is still early in deployment of the Hero’s Story application, the Bureau Chief of the Arizona Department of Health, Teresa Manygoats, praised Televeda because they “listen intently” and “build trust.” Televeda’s work on Hero’s Story, she said, is a great “example of a public-private partnership that has led to meaningful work in communities.”
And one of Televeda’s most important lessons-learned in their work with Navajo Nation is really important for all of us today. A solution that works for one Tribe, they point out, may not work for another Tribe. And so the Televeda team will tell you—and we know, now—that many solutions are needed, solutions designed in close partnership with those we’re serving: American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans and Tribal community members.
Many solutions. Solutions tailored by each community. That’s really what the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program is about. Fox grants provide funding to local community organizations, equipping them to provide community-based solutions, solutions they shape to meet the needs of the Veterans they’re serving, meet the needs with effective, more meaningful outreach, suicide prevention services, and connection to VA and community resources.
So rather than funding and pushing VA ready-made programs, local communities provide answers that resonate with and respond to their Veterans and families’ needs.
Now, we have 80 Fox Grant awardees. Twenty-one grantees serve American Indian and Alaska Natives in varying capacities. And three grantees are on Tribal land—the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association in Alaska, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, and the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma and Texas, the Choctaw Nation’s Warrior Wellness Program.
Let me tell you about the Choctaw Nation’s Warrior Wellness Program. And you’ll hear more from the program manager, Courtney Trent, in just a little bit. Courtney—where are you? Courtney and the Choctaw Nation launched their Fox-grant-funded Warrior Wellness program less than two years ago during their Choctaw Nation Veterans Day Ceremony. In just under two years, the Warrior Wellness program has grown to serve nearly 200 Vets and their families.
One of Warrior Wellness’s biggest successes is how it’s connected Veterans to Veterans. Once the program was stood up, it’s grown on its own. Families have come together and helped each other. They’ve designed their own support systems. They’ve found battle buddies to support one another. You see, it’s not what any of us might think they need, not what we might impose on them. What’s taken shape, Courtney’s said, are exactly the kind of support systems they need. And that’s meant drum circle recovery groups.
It’s meant peer support and resilience training. It’s meant trauma-focused services and healing. It’s meant family retreats and horseback riding; hiking and fishing; cultural enrichment and income support assistance. These are all healing services that are traditional for the Choctaw community, support systems that help them thrive, instead of just survive, as Courtney’s said.
One very popular program that’s evolved is for women Veterans—Tvshka Ohoyo or the Women Warrior group. The Women Warrior group is providing Choctaw women Veterans powerful connections they need—re-connections and, sometimes, connections to their culture and to each other and, for some, deep healing from trauma. Sergeant Cindy Logan is Choctaw, and she’s just one of the Choctaw women Veterans who has found an important sense of community that she’s longed for in the Women Warrior group.
You see, Cindy’s an M-S-T [Military Sexual Trauma] survivor, and she’s found healing in these traditional practices. “In our Women Warrior group, things just gurgle up,” Cindy’s said. “Things come out. It’s nurturing. It’s uplifting. People who couldn’t speak about M-S-T,” she said, “well, there’s space for all of it. To talk about it is to help us heal.”
And Cindy says that healing she’s found is about much more than the activities, alone. “It’s about working to heal … from the inside, out.” She said, “It’s about learning how to take care of ourselves, so we can move forward … about connection to our Choctaw heritage.”
One of Courtney’s partners at Warrior Wellness is Petty Officer Sandy Stroud, a Navy Vet. Sandy’s been a big part of this growth, this movement, a real leader I’m told, among the women Vets in Warrior Wellness. As Courtney puts it, Sandy is wise. You’ll hear from Sandy later this morning, too. Sandy brings over a quarter-century of experience serving her Tribal members to the Warrior Wellness program.
She says about her fellow Choctaw women Veterans, “We had a connection when we were in service. And that connection,” Sandy says, “is so important. Women Veterans—now we have a shared experience again.” In the Women Warrior group, “We now have a home to come to that we didn’t have before … and a community that we didn’t have before. We recognize each other as a sister.”
And here’s a lesson Sandy shared that we just can’t miss, so important to what we’re about here at this gathering. “What I’ve learned,” Sandy says, “is that the community has the answer … if you’re willing to listen. You can impact incredible change if you can hear the community’s voice in your work.”
And that’s really why all of us are here. To listen. To make sure that as we move forward we’re designing approaches that listen to Tribal communities, models that hear communities’ voices. Hearing communities’ voices, your voices, that’s what all of this is about.
This gathering—it’s a culminating event of everything we’ve learned in so many conversations and listening sessions, so far, hearing communities’ voices. We at VA and SAMHSA have heard from a wide variety of Native subject-matter experts in multiple discussions on suicide prevention for Tribal and Native Veterans. And the listening sessions continued until just last month’s Trickster Cultural Center National Gathering of American Indian Veterans.
So, this work over the last two years, this work to intensify suicide prevention among Native Vets, it’s led us to this deliberate and concerted focus on community as a strength and community-based programs as an antidote to the isolation that so often leads to suicide. It’s a unique strength of Tribes. It’s an important lesson your Native communities can potentially offer to non-Native Vet communities, and that we at VA can incorporate into other programs.
Today—this work is about so much more than just today. It’s about the work ahead after you’re done here. What today is not, what this gathering isn’t, is any sort of ending. It is not the end. It’s not the end of our dialogue or our work together. There is so much work left to do to build, or to re-build, trust with Vets and with their Tribal communities, to find ways ahead and, ultimately, answers that meet the diverse needs of Native American and Alaska Native Veterans, Servicemembers, and their families.
Thank all of you for walking with us on this journey—for guiding us, for showing us the ways. Thank you for trusting us enough to be here, to continue bringing your voices and perspectives to the table. Your recommendations will be the foundation on which work in the years ahead will be built. Your spirit will enliven it. You will always be a part of it.
Thank you for welcoming me this morning. May God bless all our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
]]>Good morning, everybody.
Commander Espinosa, thank you for that kind introduction, and for you and your family’s distinguished service to this awesome nation. As importantly, thank you for leading with unwavering commitment your more than 1 million DAV members for the past year.
Let me also recognize Cody Vanboxel, your National Headquarters Executive Director, AnnMarie Hurley, your Auxiliary National Commander, Jim Marszalek, your National Service Director, Barry Jesinoski, your National Adjutant, and Joy Ilem, your National Legislative Director. Now I’ve said this every time I’ve been with you but I repeat it here: Joy is as good as there is.
Now she, like Barry, is a Minnesotan, so yes, I’m a little biased, but she is an unrelenting advocate for Veterans, and particularly for her sister Veterans, so Joy, thank you so much.
And then, we’re also all thinking of her teammate, Shane Liermann today, of course.
God bless Shane for his unrelenting dedication to his fellow Veterans and DAV members.
Now a special word about Randy Reese, your DC Executive Director. He’s got that nice smile—but of course you’re not fooled by that anymore, and neither am I because he’s a tough SOB—and that nice smile covers a steely determination to do right by disabled Vets, including when that means he’s got to give me the business.
Now of course, to each of you, the power of DAV, its members—it’s great to see so many of you gathered here today. It’s a real honor to be with you, and I appreciate the invitation to come back.
Thanks for having me here, and thanks for your partnership in serving Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
I’ve said this before but I’m going to say it again: No one does more for Veterans than you. Veterans have no better advocate than you. And VA has no better partner than you.
Here’s what I’m thinking about.
As the Civil War was ending, President Lincoln charged the nation to care for Veterans, those who’d given so much, who’d shed so much blood, to save our Union.
Nearly eight decades later with the country at war again and drawing on millions of Americans, President Franklin Roosevelt echoed Lincoln, assuring those heroes the “American people would not let them down when the war [was] won.”
In 1988, President Reagan said that America’s debt to you never ends, can never fully be repaid.
And today, as you just heard Tahina say, President Biden calls the commitment to Veterans our country’s one truly sacred obligation—preparing those we send into harm’s way and caring for them, caring for you and your families when you come home.
Now Presidents and Americans make that commitment.
VA’s job is to keep it. And DAV holds us accountable to doing just that.
From your members in the most remote chapters, like Commander Saranna Hack up in Fairbanks, to Commander Kevin Cooper’s Post right here in Phoenix, to Washington, D.C. where Commander Espinosa, Randy, Joy, Shane and Jim represent all of you to the nation, you hold us accountable to that sacred obligation that the President talks of.
With your powerful advocacy, you hold VA accountable, and you hold me accountable.
And accountability is making sure VA’s caring for you with the kind of conviction, determination, and devotion you showed when our country needed you most, making sure we at VA are working for you.
Let me repeat that for a second. We—all of us at VA—work for you.
You may remember that last year in Atlantic City I reported out on that work. I told you we’d had a record-setting year. I told you we’d delivered more care and more benefits to more Vets than ever.
And this morning, here in Phoenix, I can tell you that it’s been another record-setting year because rather than expecting you to change your life to fit into VA’s programs, we’re changing VA to come to you.
That means over 550 in-person clinics this year. That why I sat down yesterday at CBP HQ’s in El Paso, where as many as half of that dedicated agency’s agents are Veterans, to bring the VA to them.
That means connecting with you over email and text, through the media, and in person—all in the interest of fitting VA into your life. Not the other way around.
So here’s a quick Public Service Announcement.
For the first time at a DAV convention, we’ve brought our regional office and medical exam units here to you—to offer you the opportunity to engage in, maybe even potentially complete the claims process in a single day.
Our health care team is also on-site to assist with enrolling Vets in VA health care, and to answer any questions you may have. So, the claims clinic is in the Expo Hall on Level 200 in the West Building, and staff from VHA’s Vet Center is conveniently located in the Atrium on the 3rd Street Side.
This central location makes it easy for us and easy for you to access our services. Remember, we work for you everywhere, including here at the convention. So please, come see us before the week’s up.
Now, one way we know we have to work harder is by ensuring that we’re providing services needed by the fastest growing cohort of Veterans—our women Veterans.
This past year, more than 50,000 women Vets enrolled in VA health care, our biggest enrollment of women Vets in a single year on record.
I told your Commander we had a good year. Now, here’s the good news.
The number of women Vets using VA services has steadily grown—from around 413,000 in 2014 to over 630,000 today.
Listening to Commander Espinosa and DAV helps us ensure we’re doing right by this fastest growing cadre of Veterans.
Recently DAV released a crucial mental health wellness report for women Veterans, shedding light on the unique challenges facing women Veterans.
Listening to you we’ve learned more about the need for tailored mental health services for addressing these specific needs, and VA is committed to integrating these insights into our programs, ensuring that every woman Vet receives the care and support, not only that she deserves, but that she’s earned.
We’re more determined than ever to providing women Vets with the highest-quality, most comprehensive care available, and VA is constantly supporting innovations to deliver that.
This includes expansion of research specifically focused on suicide prevention in women Veterans, as well as broader studies assessing the use of certain psychedelic compounds in conjunction with psychotherapy to treat posttraumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma, and depression.
Our efforts extend beyond mental health to encompass a wide range of health care needs. It includes comprehensive and preventative care for conditions such as osteoporosis, nutrition, and heart disease. It expands breast cancer screenings and mammograms for Veterans. And it includes gender-specific services—including gynecological care, reproductive services, and maternity care coordination which is provided for pregnant Vets from eight weeks to one-year post-partum.
Look, these initiatives, and others, are part of our ongoing efforts to build trust with our women Veterans.
We did all of this because we know that access to the entire complement of medically necessary care and resources is vital to the care that we offer Veterans. That’s working harder and better for Vets.
Now taking that mindset that we work for you, and for all Vets, it means getting claims decisions faster. A decade ago, decisions on average took nearly a year. Today, it’s less than half that, 155 days.
We’re faster for a number of reasons, not the least because of the workforce. And that workforce means business.
Last year we made nearly 2 million claims decisions for Vets. This year, we’re on track to make more than 2.5 million decisions for Vets.
Month after month—for the last five months running— they’ve broken monthly claims-production records.
And more good news here. You’ve been filing more claims than ever since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law two years ago—nearly 4.5 million claims, so far.
But even with all that, I still worry we’re coming up short.
Over a million Vets have filed claims under PACT, and the grant-rate for those is right at 75%.
But there are over 6 million Vets with service that qualifies them for PACT. So, there are still millions of eligible Vets and survivors who haven’t filed, whether for PACT or any other service-connection. We’ve got to keep reaching out.
We have to keep encouraging Vets and their survivors to file—and when they file, to file with accredited Veteran Service Officers like those here at DAV, not with the claims sharks that will take part of their earned benefits.
We’ll stop at nothing to make sure that every Veteran, every family member, every survivor gets everything they’ve earned.
Survivors like Denise Garlington. Denise’s husband, Gregg, was a Sailor who was badly injured while serving as an operation specialist aboard the USS Anchorage. The injuries required invasive knee surgeries, ending his military career.
At the time of his injury, they had two small children and playing with them used to be the highlight of Gregg’s day—but chronic pain made life’s simple pleasures impossible.
Gregg couldn’t work and he couldn’t play with his kids.
Despite chronic pain, unemployment, immobility, Gregg’s claim for increased disability compensation was denied. So Gregg and Denise reached out to DAV.
Tragically, Gregg passed away before receiving a decision on his claim. But with DAV’s help, Denise navigated the complex process and eventually secured a favorable decision from the Board.
Denise’s story is a testament to the life-changing difference you make as advocates for your fellow Vets and their survivors. And it makes clear that we, together –you at DAV, we at VA—can’t stop working until every Vet, and in this case every survivor, receives the benefits and services they’ve earned.
Now, on health care, we also work for you. Remember, your health outcomes are better when you’re with VA.
It’s the best care and the most affordable care for Veterans.
Quick example. VA’s new Tele-Emergency Care.
If you’re enrolled in VA health care and you’re concerned you need to go to an Emergency Department, you can call your VA Health Connect VISN Clinical Contact Center.
A VA nurse will immediately work with you to get you timely access to the right care.
That might be VA Tele-Emergency Care. It might be a Virtual Clinic that day. It might be an appointment with your Primary Care provider. And if it is an emergency, the VA nurse will call 911 for you and stay on the line with you until help arrives.
This is a new program, so just over 45,000 Vets have participated in it.
Nearly 60% of Vets who’ve called for help had their issue resolved on the phone with a Tele-Emergency Care Coordinator. Clinical Contact Centers are open 24-7, and Tele-Emergency Care will be live in every VISN this October.
This makes it easier for you to get the care you need without having to drive God knows how long to get to a hospital. So, faster access to high quality emergency care built to fit into your life.
It’s a common-sense idea so sensible that you just know it didn’t originate in Washington. But you also won’t be surprised to know the idea was hatched by a fellow Vet, a Marine VA employee who knows that we work for you.
Tele-Emergency Care is about getting Vets timely access to world-class care. And I’m glad to report that more and more Vets are enrolling in VA care—over 9.1 million.
In just two years since the PACT Act was signed into law, 710,000 new Veterans have enrolled—a 34% increase over the prior two years.
40,000 enrolled under the new PACT Act eligibility—eligibility that we expanded years earlier than the law required—at the President’s insistence.
And more Vets, once enrolled, are using their VA care.
Vets will get 127 million health care appointments at VA this year, far surpassing last year’s record.
Breaking records is good, but it doesn’t mean it’s good enough. There are still potentially millions more eligible Vets who aren’t enrolled.
So, please, spread the word. We won’t rest until every Vet gets the timely access to world class care that they’ve earned. Recognizing we work for you means more benefits and more care to Veterans than ever before.
And it means that how we provide that care and those benefits to you is important, too.
Right now, Vets tell us that that they trust us more than ever. In our most recent Veteran satisfaction ratings, we earned the highest trust scores since we started this process in 2016. That trust is built on dedication to those we serve.
Like Holly Hoppe, a DAV chapter service officer in De Pere, Wisconsin, who helped Daniel Dielbold, an Army Vet struggling with homelessness and substance use, secure stable housing and earned benefits.
Daniel had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was hard to reach. He needed VA services but wouldn’t come to VA because he didn’t trust us. Then, he lost his unemployment check, attempted suicide, and came to VA for the help he needed.
But thanks to Holly and the benefits and support Daniel was able to access through VA, Daniel is still in the same apartment DAV helped him secure; he’s still paying his own rent; and Daniel now is encouraging other Vets to come to VA—all because you helped us deliver for him.
And that’s what this partnership is all about. We will stop at nothing until Daniel, a combat Veteran, and all his brothers-and-sisters-in-arms get the care, benefits, and the services that they’ve earned and so richly deserve.
Working hard for you and making consistent, steady progress, year after year, and delivering at record levels—that’s our job—but it’s your accomplishment. You played a critical role demanding excellence from VA in keeping our promise to Vets.
You’ve heard this before but let me make sure you hear it from me again.
As a result of bringing more Vets to VA, we’ve exceeded the most aggressive projections from earlier this year. And that’s why, now, we’ve told Congress we need more money—to keep delivering more care and more benefits to more Vets than ever before.
We’re projecting we’re going to need about $3 billion more in fiscal year 2024, the current fiscal year, for mandatory benefit payments for the nearly 7 million Vets who get their monthly benefit checks. And we need it by September 20 so those October 1 checks aren’t delayed. And next year we’ll need an additional $12 billion for VA health care.
So, we’re working with Congressional leaders and the Office of Management and Budget to address these needs in a way that allows us to continue to deliver more care and more benefits to more Vets, all at record levels.
That’s what Vets deserve and, more importantly, that’s what Vets have earned. That’s what matters most. So we will not stop pushing until every Veteran, every family member, every caregiver, every survivor gets those benefits and that care.
So that’s where we are in 2024, providing more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever. And I’m proud of that. But we’re not satisfied. And I know you’re not satisfied, either.
How could we be satisfied when we still don’t have a relationship with as many as half of the Veterans in this awesome country?
How could we be satisfied when there are millions of Vets who qualify under the President’s new law, the PACT Act, but who have still not filed a claim?
And how can we be satisfied when we are staring down a monumental public health issue where more than 6,000 Veterans a year die by suicide because they have become convinced that they are a burden on this country, the country that they’ve done so much to strengthen, and the country that still so badly needs them.
How could we be satisfied until every Veteran in crisis knows that there is hope, that help is available, that treatment works, and that suicide is preventable.
So, no. We’re not satisfied. We are not satisfied.
And that, more than anything, is the reason I came back to see you again this year—to hold myself, to hold all my teammates at VA, accountable to you.
God bless you all, God bless our Nation’s Servicemembers, and our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
Thank you.
]]>Josh [Jacobs, Under Secretary for Benefits], thanks for that kind introduction, for your leadership, and for giving me the opportunity spend time with you and this team of great public servants.
This training is some of the most important, lifesaving training VA does. And getting it right is never easy. Expectations are necessarily and understandably very high, because the stakes for our Vets are so high. So let me recognize and give thanks to Melissa Cohen, Frank Wijngaarde, John Rochelle, Dr. Margret Bell, Dr. Jessica Keith, and everyone who made this important session happen. Your hard work here is fundamental to serving Veterans as well as they have served all of us.
Good afternoon, everyone. It’s good to be with you here in Music City. I’m so glad you could pull away for just a few days to be together, to get re-charged, and—as the theme of your symposium encourages—to Reconnect and Reimagine. I hear that to mean you will reconnect to the principles and processes of your work, and reimagine ways to reach Veterans, to connect with them, to serve them better and better.
So let me just say: more power to you. That you have taken on this very demanding job is awesome. That you are intentional about reconnecting to your principles and reimagining how to do your difficult job even better is admirable. And don’t miss the all-too-rare opportunities outside the scheduled training to talk to each other, to network and get to know each other, and make connections. Learn from each other, share your stories, your experiences, your best practices. It will make a difference for you. It will make you even stronger. And it will make a difference for Veterans.
This morning I was up in Louisville at the VFW’s 125th National Convention. I reminded them that last year you’d delivered benefits and health care at a record pace. And I was so proud to tell them you’re breaking records once again this year.
Think about it for a second. Vets are applying for their benefits at record rates—to include MST claims. You’re working those claims faster than ever—on pace to match last year’s MST claim numbers. Already this fiscal year, you’ve completed over 2 million claims—a record—and granted benefits to 1.1 million Veterans … another record.
Let me drill down on MST claims, specifically. Since 2019, the number of Vets service-connected for MST receiving VBA Compensation benefits has doubled—from 61,000 to more than 128,000. Those numbers are tough to hear because they represent so much suffering. But they also show that more and more are hearing you, trusting you, coming to you for help, and getting it.
Vets’ MST claim grant rate is 62%—right at 65% for women Vets, 56.0% for the men, on par with the average grant rate for all claims. That’s an improvement from where we have been— 42% back in 2011. And that improvement is a function of your excellent work. More excellent work—MST claim quality is running at 97%. That, too, is up, and it’s higher than the broad average for all claims thanks to your commitment to keep learning and improving. In every case, I think we all agree that we can still improve, always get better for the Vets you’re serving. And that’s why this week is so important.
Year after year, you’re fighting harder for Vets, and you’re not letting up—delivering even more benefits and more care to more Vets than at any other time in our nation’s history. And I’m so grateful for that, which brings me to the one reason I came down here this afternoon.
One reason—to tell all of you how deeply grateful I am for the work that you do for Veterans, how thankful I am for the deep passion and enormous compassion you bring in fighting for them.
And you are fighting, for them. Sometimes, you’re fighting for them when every ounce of fight in them is gone, depleted, because of the excruciating emotional and, in some of the worst circumstances, the physical pain they’re enduring, that’s been imposed on them because their humanity’s been violated, and their trust shattered.
Thankfully—sometimes because of your outreach, sometimes because of their guardian angels, sometimes, both—you find them, or they find their way to you. Then, you listen. You put your arms around them. They may put their arms around you. And you … you selflessly begin bearing some of that heavy burden with them, for them. You show them a path to help, to some relief, and—we all hope—to some degree of recovery. And in doing that, you begin some healing, begin rebuilding that trust … helping pick up some of those pieces.
None of that is easy. The work you’ve chosen to do is some of the most emotionally demanding, often heart wrenching work VA does. And what you do—your commitment, your devotion, your willingness to give so much of yourselves to help Veterans, to help make some miracles, to strive relentlessly to bring some light to the lives of Vets who have been walking in darkness—well, you inspire me.
Here’s why. Listen to this. It’s a message from one of your Vets who—with her trust destroyed—put herself in your hands.
I just wanted to take a moment, she writes, to express my deepest gratitude for everything you and your team have done with for me and my VA claim.
It’s been a tough ride for me lately. Being an Army Vet, she said, I’ve always lived by the Soldier’s Creed—especially the part that says, “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” It’s clear to me that you and your team—she means all of you—share a similar commitment when it comes to looking after your Veterans.
The dedication you’ve shown in handling my case, ensuring I didn’t just become another number, is something I can’t thank you enough for. She said, This was the most nerve-racking experience, mostly because I felt, somehow, I would be let down by the result. This process could have dragged out, leaving me in limbo.
But it didn’t. Because of your immediate action and continued involvement, I will be able to get the help I need, without … having to explain why I am worthy of care. That’s something truly remarkable.
Your team’s effort has shown me what it means to truly look after your people, and I am beyond grateful for it. And, she wrote, knowing there are people like you fighting in my corner makes all the difference.
Trust revived.
How incredibly gracious, giving, this young Vet is. Let me tell you a little bit of the backstory. That young Veteran had hopes, and she had dreams. She’d served honorably as a noncommissioned officer. And then she decided to go to college to earn her degree, and her Army commission … continue serving our country.
She made it. Graduated Magna Cum Laude, with a major and a minor. She got her commission. She took her oath—swearing, once again, to support and defend our Constitution. She was building a great life for herself.
Then she was betrayed, violated in one of the worst ways imaginable by another soldier. She reached out for help, told someone very close to her—again, a soldier—and she was blamed. And she was further traumatized—physically abused, mentally abused, her life threatened, forced to witness both a murder and a suicide. She spiraled downward, deep into darkness—severe post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, multiple suicide attempts, and homelessness.
Now, at one point the Vet applied for benefits, but she didn’t complete the claim—couldn’t bear the pain of re-telling her story, couldn’t bear the burden of getting her VA exam.
Well, there are guardian angels out there. Thankfully, she had hers walking beside her. He offered her guidance, support, and encouragement. He’s a fellow soldier of hers, and VA employee—Ubon Mendie, comms director with VHA R&D. God bless that young man.
With his help, she steeled herself, got herself ready to file her claim. Ubon linked her up with the incredible team of public servants at the San Juan Military Sexual Trauma Operations Center. He let them know—here’s a Vet in real crisis, and she’s ready to let you help her. And Angela Briscoe, Callie Clements, and Rebecca Fuller started to fight for her.
Angela talked to the Vet and walked her through the process so she’d know exactly what to expect, so she could prepare herself. Callie and Rebecca worked closely with the Medical Disability Examination Office to expedite her exam—got an exam lined up for her the very next day. They made sure the doc doing the exam understood where the Vet was, emotionally. They stayed in close comms with Ubon—making sure the Vet was getting the information.
And they started rebuilding that trust.
It wasn’t too long after you helped her that she wrote that letter. Today, she’s back in school, working on her master’s degree. Because the folks at the MST Ops Center made all the difference … for her. And that was a difference more far-reaching than even she knew when she wrote that letter of thanks. You see, she’s now in another fight for her life … this time against cancer. And because of you—because of you—she’s going to be getting world-class cancer care through VA.
For Vets, connecting with you is a matter of restoring trust. It can also be a matter of life and death.
Angela, Callie—where are you? Thank you, both, and please share my thanks with Rebecca and your whole team for making a difference, for helping begin to rebuild that trust.
Making a difference. Building trust.
Another example. Here’s a little bit of what one of your Vets remembers about her visit to your North Platte, Nebraska, claim clinic this past June.
Going to the clinic, she wrote,
That was one of the toughest things I have forced myself to do. In just the short time I was waiting in that room with everyone, I was ready to run out the door and cry the whole drive back to Lincoln. So, when I say, you talked me off the ledge and truly helped me, I sincerely mean it.
[Over] the last 17 years, I have been met with many things nobody should have to go through. But [that] was a wonderful experience, a completely different experience than I have had before.And that can change everything. You made so much of a difference. [You] changed my whole world.
Again, trust revived.
The backstory. Beth Truesdell from the Lincoln Regional Office saw that Vet come in, and she knew right off the Vet was having a tough time. Beth’s been on the RO’s Public Contact Team for a while. She knows Vets. So, Beth took the Vet to one of Lincoln’s superstar MST-trained Legal Administrative Specialists for the intake—Ann Reicks.
And Ann, Ann listened. She learned that the Vet’s service-connected for combat-related Post Traumatic Stress. She learned that the Vet’s an MST survivor who won’t file for MST. She learned that the Vet had lost trust in VA.
Ann knew the most important next step for the Vet was not to lose her, to put her in the hands of a service officer there at the clinic that day who could begin restoring some trust. That was Erin Colson, a Nebraska State Veteran Service Officer. When Erin met the Vet, Erin said to her, “I got you. I got you.”
So convincing. So reassuring. So calming. And the Vet dropped her guard, worked her PACT claim with Erin, and they even talked about what she could do to get back into VA counseling. Knowing Vets, listening to Vets and hearing them … caring about Vets … that’s what rebuilding trust is about.
Ann, where are you? So good to see you this afternoon. I’m sorry I missed you when I was at the RO last October. Thank you. And thank Erin and Beth for me, too.
Just one more quick story, and I’ll close.
It’s not a letter. They’re words whispered: “Thank you. The day I came in here to file my claim you saved my life.”
You all know better than anyone—every interaction with a Vet, no matter how brief, it matters. It matters. Every single one.
The backstory. The Vet came into the Audrey Beauchesne’s Fargo Regional Office one day not too long ago and sat down in the waiting room for her turn—fidgeting, tapping her foot, visibly upset. Audrey worried the Vet might leave, so she fast-tracked her. And when the Vet sat down with Audrey for the intake, the Vet simply said, “I don’t know who to talk to, and I need someone to talk to.”
Audrey spent a good deal of time with that Vet, listening to her, learning about her, letting her tell her story. She said she was afraid to be in public. She said she was ashamed. She said she thought everyone knew she’s a victim of MST. She didn’t want to have to relive it by talking to several people. She just wanted to go in, make her claim, and get some help.
Audrey listened. And before the Vet went upstairs to see the service officer, she asked Audrey, “Can I give you a hug?” And they embraced.
A few months later, the Vet came back, and she told Audrey that things were going good, that her MST claim was being processed, and that she was in therapy at VA. And, again, before she left, she asked, “Can I give you a hug?”
And when they embraced, she whispered in Audrey’s ear, “You saved my life.”
Trust restored.
Audrey, where are you? Thank you, so much, Audrey.
You know, we talked at the outset about how many claims are filed, about how many have been processed, about how many have been granted. And all that’s important, incredibly important, because it is about delivering for Vets.
But we can never forget—and I know that not one of you ever do—we can never forget that behind every single claim is a human being, a Veteran, a family, or a survivor.
So, those are the stories of just three Vets. There are tens of thousands more. They served this country when this country needed them the most. And now, they put themselves in your hands—in your hands—when they need you the most.
And in your hands, they’re well placed. Thank you all for what you do. May God bless you, our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. And may we always give them our very best.
]]>Good morning, everyone.
My friend and advisor, Chief Bill [Smith, National Indian Health Board Chair], it’s good to see you again, and thanks for the kind introduction. Chief, as a Tribal leader representing Indian Country and Indigenous Peoples around the world, VA is stronger, this country is stronger, because of you, because of your service in uniform and continued service in all these years since.
Distinguished members of the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), good morning.
And Stacy [Bohlen, NIHB CEO], VA has no more important partner than you and the NIHB. Thanks for welcoming me to Rapid City—the land of Oceti Sakowin, Seven Council Fires, and home of the Lakota.
All this country is tribal land. Let me recognize the tribal leaders, tribal elders, and Veterans here this morning. It’s my honor to be here with you. At VA, we respect you. We respect your Tribal governments. And I reaffirm my deep commitment to our common heritage, to your Tribal sovereignty, and the important work we’re doing—together—for Vets, their families, survivors, and caregivers.
President Biden often says our nation’s most sacred obligation is preparing and equipping the troops this country sends into harm’s way, and then caring for them and their families when they return home. The second part of that sacred obligation, that’s our mission at VA. But here’s the thing. It’s our whole country’s obligation, our shared obligation.
Here’s what I’m thinking about. Kathleen Gray—a member of the Creek Nation—is the Oncology Case Manager at the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, one of those great Urban Indian Organizations. Well, a few years back, Tom—a Navy Vet and member of the Cherokee Nation—came under Kathleen’s care. You see, Tom had been diagnosed with cancer, with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Tom’s leukemia was aggressive. He had a poor prognosis.
Now, Kathleen, the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, and IHS (Indian Health Service) were doing all they could to support Tom. IHS prioritizes cancer care and treatment for their oncology patients, and Tom’s routine cancer treatment at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center was covered. But Kathleen was pulling her hair out trying to find ways to help Tom with everything he needed, get him the kind of support her clinic and IHS just couldn’t provide: a stem cell transplant, incredibly expensive oral chemotherapy medication, home oxygen, and durable medical equipment like a hospital bed, a wheelchair, nebulizer, CPAP machine, to name a few.
To Kathleen, it seemed like “a hopeless scenario.” But hope … so often hope is what we’re about. So often hope is the most important thing.
Now, for a few weeks, Kathleen lost touch with Tom, and it had her worried. Then Tom called Kathleen, and he was overjoyed. Tom had enrolled in VA health care. He’d been admitted to the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center—which, incidentally, is affiliated with the University of Oklahoma Medical Center where Tom was getting his care. Tom reported to Kathleen that VA had provided him with everything he needed, including transportation to his appointments and respite care for his caregiver. As far as medications, services, durable medical equipment, Tom didn’t have to worry about any of that anymore.
Sadly, Tom didn’t win his fight with cancer [d. 2023]. He was simply too weak for the stem cell transplant. He loved the people who cared for him at his local Indian clinic, and Kathleen remembers he “was so proud of the care he received at the VA.” To the very end, Kathleen said, knowing that anything he needed would be provided, Tom felt important, hopeful, and cared for.
Here’s my point. It takes all of us to ensure Vets have access to the excellent, culturally competent care they deserve—whether that’s at a UIO, a tribal health facility, with IHS, at VA, or a combination of those. It takes all of us communicating, consulting, and coordinating to ensure there are no gaps in care across those options. In fact, VA leaders joined IHS yesterday for a roundtable with Northern Plains Tribal Veteran Service Officers and Tribal leaders to talk about how we can work together to increase Vets’ access to health care and other local and state resources they need.
When we work together—and do it well—then we change Vets’ lives for the better.
Now, with all that in mind, I want to bring you up-to-date on some of the things we talked about last time we were together, on some important work to bridge gaps and expand Vets’ access to care.
Last year, VA delivered more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. And this year we’re fighting to reach even more Vets, to continue building trust, to meet them where they are rather than asking them to come to us, to expand options and access to care.
That’s what our co-pay exemption for Native Vets is about. You remember—back in November 2022 I made a commitment to you, said we’d have the co-pay exemption in place for American Indian and Alaska Native Vets by year’s end. We missed that mark. But got it done last spring, and it’s making a difference. Over 6,000 Vets have applied for the waiver. More than 5,200 have been approved—that’s just over $3.3 million saved for Native Vets.
But we have more work to do. 68,000 Native Vets are enrolled in VA health care. That leaves about 62,000 who haven’t applied for the exemption. My concern is how many Native Vets just don’t know this benefit’s there for them? So, Dr. Prairie Chicken, her team in the Office of Tribal Health, and Clay Ward in the Office of Tribal Government Relations are reworking our communications strategy. And I want to ask for your help getting word out to the Native Vets you’re serving. It will only help expand Vets’ choices for care.
That’s the same approach we’re taking on reimbursement agreements—expanding the scope of support. Last December and in consultation with tribal leaders, we signed our revised reimbursement agreement with Indian Health Service. That new agreement covers long-term care, home health services, and Purchased Referred Care. Tribal leaders have been asking for that for a long time.
For Tribal Health Programs (THPs) in the Lower 48, you’ll see the same sort of expansion in the new Reimbursement Agreement, additional direct care services like Home Health, Long-Term Care, Purchased Referred Care, Telemedicine, Contracted Travel, and reimbursement for the kinds of durable medical equipment that were so important to Tom in his cancer fight. By mid-June, that agreement will be ready for Tribal Health Programs to review and sign, so keep an eye out.
Alaska’s new agreement is now under revision, and we owe you a finalized agreement early next month. Chief Bill, we had an in-person consultation with Alaska Tribal stakeholders in April, and we’re working to accommodate all the requested changes. The new agreement does include contracted travel and purchased referred care, which we’ll reimburse at the billed rate. We’ve expanded the scope of what we will reimburse at the All-Inclusive Rate—not only inpatient and outpatient services, but also telehealth, home health, community health aides and direct care services that I know are important to your Vets. We’ve also removed the requirement to follow VA’s formulary for reimbursement, removed the agreement end date, extended filing limits to 36 months, and we’re clearer on what applies to Native and non-Native Vets in Alaska.
Now, let me touch on our expanding work with Urban Indian Organizations, and some of that work we have ahead of us. Last time I was here, I told you about my great visit to Hunter Health UIO in Wichita, Kansas. Back then, our relationship with UIOs was limited, and we’ve made progress. We have reimbursement agreements with six UIOs, and we’re working with seven more.
But I’d hoped we’d be further along by now. Even among the six UIOs we have agreements with, we haven’t paid any reimbursement for Vets’ care. So, we had an Urban Confer with UIOs at the National Council of Urban Indian Health’s annual conference. And we got some good feedback as we’re revising our agreement, which will be ready this summer.
We have more work to do, and we’re doing it. We’re expanding the scope of reimbursement for direct care services along the same lines as our THP and IHS agreements. We’re going to reimburse at a higher rate—the Medicare Federally Qualified Health Center rates. I know it’s still lower than Medicaid rates, but it can make a difference for Vets with private insurance, or no insurance at all. We’re increasing Outpatient Pharmacy Dispensing Fee rates. And we need to do better with outreach and education when it comes to the enrollment process and billing. So, we’re going to keep working on it, keep building these relationships with UIOs, Tribal Health Programs, and IHS to bridge any gaps in care for Native Vets.
Bridging gaps, expanding access, that’s why we’re excited about the “Clinic-in-a-Clinic” model that’s starting to take hold. This model is expanding Native Vets’ access to VA health care in highly rural areas across Indian Country. We have VA clinics up and running in IHS facilities on the Navajo Nation’s tribal lands in Chinle and Kayenta, Arizona. We’re in negotiations with the IHS Phoenix Area Hopi Clinic, as well as the Tuba City Tribal Health Program Clinic. We’re discussing possibilities with Pine Ridge just south of here, and Shiprock in New Mexico has expressed interest.
The IHS White River Hospital has agreed to put VA telehealth equipment in place for Mental Health and Specialty Care services for their Vets … we’re drafting that agreement right now. And thanks to the hard work of Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., Vinita Mayor Chuck Hoskin Sr., and Dr. Kim Denning and Greg Norton at the Jack Montgomery VA, next Tuesday we’ll start serving Vets at our new VA clinic in the Cherokee Nation’s Vinita Health Center. These shared spaces mean new access to VA care for thousands of Native and non-Native Vets. Rather than asking Vets to come to us, we’re meeting Vets where they live.
That’s why we’re working with community partners to reach Vets at IHS facilities, Tribal Health Programs, and UIOs, bringing Mobile Medical Units to Native Vets for their Compensation and Pension Exams. Over the last 15 months, we’ve been welcomed to 13 tribal communities like the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon and the Cheyenne & Arapahoe Tribes in Concho, Oklahoma. Later this year, we’ll be at the IHS facilities in San Diego and San Jacinto, California; in Mt. Pleasant with the Saginaw – Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan; the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, and in early September up in Kodiak and Kotzebue, Alaska, with the Alaska Native Vets. If you’d like us to come to you, please be in touch with Clay Ward, let us know, and we will get to work on it.
Now, let me ask for your help expanding Vets’ access by getting more Native Vets to apply for benefits related to toxic exposure. The last time we were together, President Biden had just signed legislation so VA could deliver care and benefits to millions of toxic-exposed Vets and their survivors—the PACT Act. Recall, these are new service-connected presumptions for more than 20 health conditions related to toxic exposures like Agent Orange, burn pits, and a lot more.
Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, Vets and family members have filed over 4 million [4.12M] claims. Native Vets and their survivors have filed over 14,000, and nearly 8,300 of those claims have been granted—a grant rate of 73%. That’s meant over $51 million in earned benefits for those Vets and their families.
But we’re coming up short. Only 30% of eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Vets have filed. So, again, that question—how many just don’t know? I need your help on that.
And I need your help telling Vets about the three new groups of Vets who are now eligible for VA health care under the PACT Act. Vets who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, or Afghanistan can enroll. Vets who deployed to any combat zone after 9/11 can enroll. Vets deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism can enroll. And Vets can enroll who never deployed, but who were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or serving on active duty here at home working with chemicals, pesticides, lead, asbestos, certain paints, nuclear weapons, x-rays, and more.
And Vets don’t need to wait to be sick to enroll. They shouldn’t wait. They may not need the health care access the PACT Act affords them today. But they might need it tomorrow, or the next day, or 30 years from now. All they have to do is enroll, and they have access for life. Help us with that. It’s critical Native Vets apply for their benefits and enroll.
In fact, let me say a quick word on enrollments. Last year when I met with the Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) out in Roseburg, Oregon, I promised we’d do better tracking demographics for Native Vets enrolling in VA health care. And we’ve made some progress on that. We’ve revised the VA health care enrollment form—the 10-10 EZ—to reflect “American Indian – Alaska Native.” Now, Vets can select two or more races.
This is important beyond just counting Vets enrolled. Precise demographic information will help us identify and correct health disparities in delivering care for Native Vets. And demographic data’s critical to effective clinical research, as well, like President and First Lady’s Cancer Moonshot. Chief Bill, I’m grateful to the TAC for holding us accountable on this.
We still have work to do.
Now, I’ll wrap it up by touching on two topics we’re working on hard that are as important as they are inextricably linked—traditional healing and suicide prevention.
When I talk about meeting Vets where they are, I’m not just talking geographically. I’m talking spiritually and mentally, as well. This is what I mean. For about two decades now, Marine Vet Buck Richardson in the Rocky Mountain Network has been devoted to bringing traditional healing practices to Vets who need and want them. He designed a contract that’s being implemented across that network to get Native Vets we’re serving access to Pipe Carriers, to Traditional Healers, and to Native ceremonies like Sweat Lodges, Talking Circles, Smudging, and End of Life ceremonies.
Thanks to Buck, when a Native Vet in hospice asked for end-of-life ceremonies, Chaplain James Patterson at Fort Harrison VA could meet that spiritual need. Chaplain Patterson sent a Pipe Carrier to the Vet, and that brought great peace, comfort, and healing to the Vet. It brought great comfort to his family, as well.
Right up the road from here at VA Black Hills, many Vets have told Chaplain Micah Covington how the sweat lodge ceremonies they offer have helped them reconnect to their spirituality, to their Native community, and their past. And a Vet in one of our residential treatment centers told the staff he needed to smudge, part of his healing and recovery. At first, a few clinicians were reluctant. But Dr. Teresa Boyd, the Network Director, was in full support.
I don’t have to tell you. It made a remarkable difference in that Vet’s recovery. In short order, the Vet—and four or five other Native Vets—were smudging, drumming, and singing traditional songs, re-connecting to their culture, and powerful traditions where they draw strength from.
Now, we already offer traditional medicine at some of our facilities—thanks, especially, to our great chaplains. But we need more formal recognition and integration of it as part of our health care protocols. So, IHS Director Roselyn Tso is fighting with us for formal recognition of Traditional Healing across federal health care. That means standardized codes so we can provide, bill, pay, or reimburse for Traditional Medicine for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai’ian Vets.
This fall, the White House Council on Native American Affairs is convening a Traditional Medicine Summit. The Department of Health and Human Services—HHS—will lead the summit. And a key objective of the summit will be to get this standardized. I appreciate HHS’s collaboration with us on traditional healing.
And you all know how important it is. If we’re going to serve our American Indian and Alaska Native Vets as well as they have served all of us, our sacred obligation, then we have to offer traditional healing practices as part of our treatment protocols.
Which brings me to my last point, and our number one clinical priority—preventing Veteran suicide. And for our American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans, preventing suicide means serving them in a more effective way, a more culturally competent way.
We’re crafting an enhanced model of community-based suicide prevention so we can better support our Native Vets. And with Tribes and tribal organizations, we intend to roll out the first version of this new model next year. Based on the Tribal Advisory Committee’s advice, we’re participating in listening sessions to inform that work. On Monday, we participated in a National Tribal Behavioral Health Listening Session with you.
And here’s a little bit of what we’ve heard from Native Vets already—it’s both instructive and revealing about where we’ve been coming up short. They’ve told us to move beyond ideas and take action—do more than write about it. Point well taken. They told us not to impose help, but to be collaborative—do nothing for Native Vets, without Native Vets. They’ve told us to recognize, understand, and embrace generational trauma, to appreciate how much language matters, to do better understanding and embracing cultural nuances, to meet Native Vets and Tribal leaders where they are.
And then, listen. Just listen. And we are listening. Informed by your wisdom, your insights, and your traditions, we’re working to do so much better to honor Tribal sovereignty, to shape a community informed, community driven approach. We need a model that finally, genuinely, and directly supports Tribes in developing, implementing, and sustaining local action plans that promote suicide prevention.
So, there’s a good deal of progress. But I’ll be the first to tell you, we still have a lot of work to do. And we have to do it together. We will continue to make every effort to consult with you and tribes before we make decisions that affect Tribal governments and Tribal citizens. And as those Vets advised us, we will not … will not make decisions about you, without you.
Hold us accountable to that. Hold me accountable to that. And if we come up short—anywhere or anytime—I want you knocking down my door. I’m depending on it. I need you. We need you. Most importantly, our Veterans need you.
Again, thank you for letting me join you this morning. And may God bless all our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
]]>Thank you, Adam Farina, for that warm welcome and my thanks to Conrad Washington for helping organize today’s event. Most of all, thanks to all our faith-based and community partners, Veterans, and VA teammates participating today. There is no audience that I look forward to talking with more than all of you—it’s a privilege to be here with so many great leaders from different faith communities. And I couldn’t be more grateful for all you do, and for our partnership serving Vets, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
The theme for this year’s conference is “Uniting Communities with Veterans.” Veterans’ impact resonates in the heart of every community across this great country. They are our neighbors, our friends. They’re our pastors, our first responders—cops and firefighters, teachers, local leaders, coaches, and loved ones. And I was reminded of the power of the Veteran community in one of the last places you might expect—behind bars—in the Cook County Jail, on the West Side of Chicago. A few weeks ago, I traveled there to hear from incarcerated Vets—and to meet John Coddington, one of the jail’s incredible correctional officers.
John’s dad was an Army combat Vet who served in Vietnam and passed away from exposure to Agent Orange. So when it was his time to serve, John joined the Air Force and deployed during the initial invasion into Iraq. He grew up in a proud Catholic family, but says he lost his faith after bearing witness to the horrors of combat overseas. That is a fight John shares with some of the great thinkers and doers of the Catholic faith, including none other than St. Francis. As the scion of a wealthy family, St. Francis was set to spend his life serving in the military but he gave it all up—his wealth and his military training—after his first military expedition. Because St. Francis felt called to a different fight: the fight against poverty.
Well when John Coddington came back home after his deployment to Iraq, he rejoined his community and started working at the local jail. In those early days, John pushed the jail to start asking inmates whether they served in the military as part of its intake process. That seemingly small but significant information helped John connect better with incarcerated Vets, started new conversations, and began building trust.
So John would listen to their stories, meeting with thousands of Vets coming from all walks of life. In one of the loneliest places in the world—behind the bars of a jail cell—those Vets finally had someone to talk to and to share their stories of service, sacrifice, leadership, and hope. They helped John heal, too. John says, “hearing their stories gave me my faith back.” He goes on, “Everyone who is here on Earth has a job to do, and this is mine. This is my purpose. Maybe this is why God put me on this planet.”
For the first time—in perhaps a long time—Veteran inmates received support rather than judgment, understanding rather than condemnation. Then John went one step further by helping fill out their VA benefits paperwork and connecting them to Veteran community organizations, maybe connecting them to some of you who are on this call.
And in 2013, with their innovative Sheriff’s support—Sheriff Tom Dart—the jail opened a dedicated tier for Vets in custody. Vets in the unit receive specialized counseling from Cook County psychologists, assistance with substance use issues, attend Vet resource fairs, and other programs that recognizes their unique circumstance as Veterans. They’re visited weekly by three of my VA teammates—Carmen Ramirez, Melissa Ornelas, and Nancy Lucena—who connect them with VA resources and establish early relationships with VA.
Most importantly, those incarcerated Vets have built a strong community, putting aside their differences, living together, breaking bread together, taking care of one another, explaining services available for Veterans, including as they transition from incarceration back to life with friends and family. In a jail notorious for its history of violence, the Veterans tier has only seen one reported security incident. The Vets hold themselves accountable, working together to squash any problems before they spiral out of control. Together, they run the Veterans’ tier with pride befitting of their service to our country, a bond that transcends walls and barriers.
And when they are released, John gives each Vet his personal phone number so he can keep helping them. We know the transition from jail back into the community can be fraught with challenges. So John works with VA—with Carmen, Melissa, and Nancy—to be there by their side, especially when times are hard, supporting them every step of the way. John has seen many of those formerly incarcerated Vets turn their lives around repairing broken relationships with loved ones, staying sober, finding stable housing, starting their own businesses, and always giving back to the Vets who are still in jail. One recently released Army Vet says, “I thank God John Coddington put me in that community. We developed a bond. He put a lot of responsibility on me—on all of us—to take care of each other.”
Veterans helping Veterans, always there for each other, never leaving behind a fellow Vet—no matter the circumstances. There is truly nothing better.
I tell John’s story because it’s the story of what real, positive impact looks like. John saw one way he could make a difference in the lives of his fellow Vets. Today, nearly 4,000 Vets have accessed VA services through John’s support.
His selfless work reminds me of what President Biden calls our nation’s most sacred obligation. That obligation is to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home. It’s a promise that our country makes to anyone who signs up to serve in the military, and it’s as simple as it is fundamental. If you fight for us, we’ll fight for you. If you serve us, we’ll serve you. If you care for us, then we’ll care for you when you come home. The thing is, the whole country makes that promise. But it’s our job at VA—with the help of partners like you—to keep that promise.
And, as you’ll hear from VA leaders joining you at this summit, we’re fighting to keep that promise in so many ways. We’re providing world-class care to Veterans. We’re delivering timely access to the benefits that Veterans have earned—including toxic exposure benefits, educational benefits, survivor benefits, home loans, life insurance, and so much more. And we’re giving Veterans the dignified, lasting resting places that honor their service and sacrifices.
But, as you’ll see throughout the course of the next couple days, we can’t do that great work without your help. Here’s why. One of our top priorities is getting more Veterans into our care. There are about 9 million Veterans enrolled in VA care right now—but there are about 19 million Veterans in America. Among the Vets who do receive their care from VA, approximately 90% trust VA to deliver their care. And we need to build more trust with women Vets, whose trust score is around 86%, and significantly improve trust with our younger, post-9/11 Vets. Across the board, the younger the Veterans, the less they trust us. So, we need to build that trust.
We need to reach those folks and bring them into our care, because Vets in VA care do better. And that’s where you can really make a difference. It’s one thing for a Veteran to hear about VA services from us. It’s an entirely different thing for them to hear about VA services from someone like John Coddington or from someone like you. Because you are the people in Veterans’ lives and communities every day. You pray with them, work with them, and spend time with them. You are the folks they know and love. You are the folks they trust. So, a recommendation from you can go a long way toward convincing a skeptical Veteran to give VA a try. And doing that can change their lives.
Now there are many ways you can support Vets in your community. You can attend events like this, where you’ll hear directly from the experts about all the services VA offers—so you’ll know exactly where to send Veterans in need. You can join the fantastic webinars that Conrad and his team host each month, discussions that tackle issues like suicide prevention, or women’s health, or Veteran homelessness—and explain how you can help Vets in need. You can join VA’s Rural Community Clergy Training Program—led by VA chaplains—that equips rural clergy with the tools they need to connect rural Vets to mental health care resources. You can host an event for Veterans in your community and invite VA leaders, connecting them directly with our services. And you can even start a Veterans’ support group in your organization if you don’t already have one.
However you want to partner, whatever you want to do, please work with Conrad and his team to do it—because we are always here to help. All I ask is that when that day comes when a Veteran comes to you, struggling, and asks for help, send them to us. We will not let you down. We will not let them down. We will stop at nothing to get Veterans the help they deserve.
So, thank you for being here today and for partnering with us every day. It’s an honor to work with you to serve Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors as well as they’ve served us. May God bless you, all our service members and Veterans, and the United States of America.
]]>Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Moran, distinguished Members of the Committee: thanks for this opportunity to testify.
Maureen Roepsch is an Air Force and Coast Guard Vet who comes from a long line of military service—her family members served in Vietnam, the Korean War, and World War II. Maureen qualifies for community care, but chooses to get her care at the Manchester VA Medical Center. After a recent routine mammogram, Maureen was diagnosed with breast cancer. She says her VA nurse navigator, Kelly Hunt, was by her side every step of the way, making sure that her surgery and radiation happened right away. Today, thankfully, Maureen’s cancer-free and receiving treatment to safeguard against recurrence. Maureen says, “It’s such a comfort knowing I have this team on my side.” She goes on, “The difference I feel when I get care at VA is significant. I feel like I’m home. The providers take that extra time to understand my complex health history … I feel like they see me.”
We owe Vets like Maureen, and all Vets, our very best. And we’re fighting like hell to give them exactly that. We are delivering more care and more benefits to more Vets than at any other time in our nation’s history. Since the March 5th expansion of health care eligibility to all Veterans with toxic exposures, we’ve enrolled more than 12,500 Veterans under that PACT Act authority alone. And over the course of the last year, we’ve enrolled over 400,000 new Vets in VA health care, 30% more than the previous year, and an increase in all 50 states. 6.5 million Vet patients had over 118 million clinical visits, 47 million in the community, 42 million in-person at VA, and 29 million via VA tele-health. That last data point bears repeating. Millions of Vets use VA telehealth.
Now on to benefits. We decided over 1.9 million claims, shattering the previous year’s record by 16%. We’ve all heard justifiable frustrations with C&P exams. But last year, we processed 2.4 million C&P exams—a record by nearly 30%—and took an average of just 31 days to complete them. In total, we delivered $163 billion in earned benefits to over 6 million Veterans and survivors, another record. And the PACT Act has opened the door to millions of toxic exposed Veterans and their survivors, bringing generations of new Vets to VA health care, and expanding benefits for many more. The PACT Act is also delivering additional benefits for Vets—the GI Bill, VR&E, home ownership, survivors’ pension, and so much more—benefits that not only improve Veterans’ lives but also strengthen the American economy.
We still have a lot of work to do. The President’s proposed budget fully funds VA so we can continue doing that important work. That work is also about preventing Veteran suicide, ending Veteran homelessness, supporting health care for women Vets, modernizing our IT systems, processing benefits, and honoring Vets with eternal resting places.
And no single investment is more critical to the Veterans we serve and VA’s future than the people we hire and retain. Teammates like Tarina Broughton, a housekeeping supervisor at our Cincinnati VA Medical Center. Tarina’s husband is a Vet, and she says she goes to work each day striving to provide the kind of welcoming environment she’d want for him at VA. That’s the kind of deep devotion that characterizes VA’s people. Tarina says she’s grateful for the critical skill incentive she received—the CSI. Her daughter’s prescriptions cost $700 a month, and the CSI has allowed Tarina to focus on her work as a supervisor without the financial stress of wondering whether she’ll be able to afford her daughter’s lifesaving medication.
Now today marks the first day of Nurses Month, where we honor VA’s 122,000 nurses. Let me repeat—122,000 nurses, the largest nursing workforce in the country. That’s up 14,000 nurses since January 2022. That’s one reason why we feel quite comfortable with the staffing numbers outlined in this budget.
The work of caring for the brave men and women who fight our wars—and their families, survivors, and caregivers—is in full swing and continues to grow.
The MISSION Act, COVID, and the PACT Act—all over just the past six years—have changed the American health care landscape and the statutory basis for the work we do at VA. Any one of those on their own would lead to monumental change for VA. But, together, they have changed the way we do business, creating some challenges, but mostly enormous opportunities for Veterans and VA.
Right now, we are at a critical moment for shaping and securing the future of Veteran health care in America. So we will work to reliably offer a VA care option to every Veteran—even Vets who qualify for community care under the MISSION Act.
We want to bring as many Vets as possible into our care, because study after study shows that Vets do better at VA.
We’ve made considerable progress. Whether in-person, via telehealth, in our community living centers, mobile medical units, or elsewhere, Vets can access VA care at almost every turn. What we do this year and over the next several years—building on the generosity of Congress and the innovative hard work of VA’s workforce, the best in the federal government—will determine what Vets can expect from VA and how we deliver that high standard of care well into the future.
This budget is the next step to continue delivering more care—the very best care—and more benefits for generations of Veterans to come. So, we look forward to collaborating even more effectively with you, to build on what’s working while being candid about and fixing what’s not.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
]]>Good afternoon, everyone. Francys [Crevier, CEO], thanks for the invitation to join you on this tribal land, the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank and Piscataway people.
All this country’s tribal land. So let me first recognize the tribal leaders, tribal elders, and Native Vets. And no Vet deserves more recognition—and thanks—than your president, my friend, Airborne Army Sergeant Sonya Tetnowski. Sonya, thanks for your continued service chairing VA’s Tribal Advisory Committee, the TAC, work that’s invaluable to me, to VA, and critical to the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai’ian Vets we’re privileged to serve.
President-Elect Murillo and members of the board, good afternoon. And, good afternoon, everyone. It’s good to be back with you to continue our work caring for this country’s heroic Native American and Alaska Native Veterans. As President Biden often says, our nation’s most sacred obligation is preparing and equipping the troops this country sends into harm’s way, and caring for them and their families when they return home.
The second part of that sacred obligation, that’s our mission at VA. But it is our whole nation’s obligation. And the fact is that alone, working individually, we can never meet it. When we work together, and do that well, then we can really change Vets’ lives, for the better. Veteran Patricia Tavella is just one example.
Patricia grew up in Phoenix, a member of the Tohono O’Odham Nation. And when we talk about the Native American tradition of serving this country at the highest rates, Patricia’s family is a perfect example. Patricia’s son, Army Veteran. Her older brother, Marine Vet. Older sister, Marine Vet. Another older brother, Air Force Vet. And when it was Patricia’s turn, she joined the Air Force, followed that tradition, because, she said, she just wanted to serve this nation.
Well, years after serving and a career in the medical field, Patricia’s life started falling apart—mental health challenges, struggles with sobriety, housing instability and, ultimately, homelessness. Fortunately, a friend was there for her in her moment of greatest need, told her about Tribal HUD-VASH, gave her the number [877-424-3838], and got her connected. A Tribal HUD-VASH Case Manager contracted with the Tohono O’Odham Ki:Ki Association came to her. He listened to her story, and he helped her enroll with VA.
Patricia chose VA Phoenix for the mental health care she needed, along with inpatient rehab services. There, she joined a women’s group, participated in talking circles, smudging ceremonies, and learned she’s not alone in her recovery. Today, Patricia has the stable housing she needs so she can focus on her mental health. She’s made great progress in her sobriety. And she’s accomplishing her list of personal goals—gardening, cooking, drawing, finding a job. And her Indian health provider and VA provider are working together so Patricia’s getting the right care, for her, at the right places.
Now, let me acknowledge right there and let you know how much I appreciate that ending homelessness among American Indian and Alaska Native Vets remains a top policy priority of yours. And we’re all in, along with HHS, HUD, the White House Council on Native American Affairs Health Committee, and you. We’re committed to continuing to build more and more collaborative and effective relationships with IHS, with CDC, this Council, and the UIOs you represent, bringing to bear a real whole-of-government approach.
Same for another one of your 2024 policy priorities, and our top clinical priority: addressing in a more effective way—which is to say, in a culturally competent way—the disproportionally high rates of suicide among Native Vets, the disproportionally high rates of suicide among Native Vets living in urban areas where they’re more disconnected from their tribes and traditions. With your help and the TAC’s advice, we’re crafting an enhanced model of community-based suicide prevention to better support our Native Vets. In fact, Alexandra Payan helped craft the concept of this path forward in Oklahoma last year. Thank you, Alexandra. And Alexandra and Chandos Culleen worked to connect us to tribal communities for listening sessions. Alexandra, please, pass on my thanks to Chandos.
And, Sonya, it was because of your advice at the TAC in February that we’re now including reps from Tribal Epidemiology Centers in those listening sessions, and we’ll see them at our gathering in August to help inform any data helping drive our direction.
All that’s good, so good.
But let me go back to Patricia’s story for a minute—here’s what’s not so good about her experience. Until that friend pointed her to VA—and thank heaven for friends—Patricia said she just didn’t know that VA was there for her. And we have to wonder—had she known, could she have been spared suffering, avoided getting to crisis before getting to help? And, by extension, we have to wonder—among the 144,000-plus American Indian and Alaska Native Vets living today, both urban and rural—how many more people like Patricia are out there, Native Vets who just don’t know that we’re there for them?
And that’s why I’m here. That’s why we’re all here, to do everything we can, together, to make sure every Vet’s needs are met, and to make sure every Vet knows we’re here for them, and knows what’s available to them.
And, with that in mind, let me revisit some of the things we talked about last spring—the co-pay exemption, our reimbursement agreements with UIOs, and the PACT Act. And I want to quickly bring you up to date on some of that work, ask for some help, and touch on a few other points.
Co-Payment Exemptions. It was right around this time last year that we started exempting co-payments for American Indian and Alaska Native Vets, Vets like Patricia who are getting some VA care. Since then, nearly 6,000 have applied for the waiver. Over 5,000 have been approved. And nearly 180,000 co-payments have been exempted or reimbursed, right at $3.2 million for Native Vets. Now, as Dr. Prairie Chicken briefed the Tribal Advisory Committee last February in Oklahoma, some Vets weren’t approved because their applications were simply illegible. And some weren’t approved because Vets didn’t submit tribal affiliation documentation necessary for eligibility.
But here are two things that concern me. First concern—about 65,000 Native Vets are enrolled in VA health care. Not every one of them may be eligible. Still, we want them to apply so we can help determine eligibility. So, we have a long way to go getting applications from about 59,000 more American Indian and Alaska Native Vets.
Second concern—among those who haven’t applied, how many just don’t know this benefit’s there, for them? I think we’ve got the waiver right. I don’t think we’ve got the communications piece right, yet. So, help us spread the word. Encourage Vets UIOs are serving to apply … maybe put a message and link on your websites to VA’s application site, and reach out to Dr. Prairie Chicken about providing outreach in your area.
Sonya, I’d appreciate your help with that, and whatever you, the Council, and the TAC think can help spread the word. Native Vets—just like all Vets—deserve to have access to high quality care when they need it, where they need it, no matter where they call home, and whether they receive that care at VA, a UIO, a tribal health facility, or IHS. That’s what our co-pay exemptions are about. That’s what our VA-UIO reimbursement agreements are about, as I said here last year.
So, reimbursement agreements, let’s turn to them for a moment. Right now, we have reimbursement agreements with six UIOs. We’re working with seven more. Frankly, I was hoping to see more uptake and relationship building between the local VA and UIOs. My sense was that they’d really catch fire. Yet, even among the six, we haven’t paid any reimbursements.
Tomorrow, VA’s Office of Integrated Veteran Care has an Urban Confer with you on this topic. They’ll dive into it in detail, present the updated agreement we’re working on. That updated agreement has some administrative changes—like expanding the timeframe facilities can submit claims to 36 months. And it includes reimbursement for more direct care services, durable medical equipment like eyeglasses and wheelchairs, and long-term care. Basically, we want to cover anything a Vet’s eligible for at VA. And we’re considering dropping the expiration-date entirely so we’re not endlessly renewing agreements unless there need to be changes. Bottom line—we’ve got to get this right for our Vets, and I look forward to hearing about your recommendations after the Confer.
I deeply appreciate your help on that.
And I’ll appreciate your help on the PACT Act benefits for American Indian and Alaska Native Vets. All American Indian and Alaska Native Vets should know about, and apply for, their toxic exposure benefits, their PACT Act benefits. We owe them that, yes? Remember, these are new service-connection presumptions for more than 20 health conditions related to toxic exposures—Agent Orange, burn pits, and a lot more.
So far, 14,000 Native Vets have filed claims. Nearly 8,000 have been granted. And that’s meant over $48 million in earned benefits for Vets and their families. But, again, I’m concerned. That 14,000 represents just 30% of those we estimate are eligible. And, again, that question—how many just don’t know?
In March, we made three new groups of Vets eligible for VA health care under the PACT Act. Vets who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, or Afghanistan can enroll. Vets who deployed to any combat zone after 9/11 can enroll. Vets who deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism can enroll. And Vets can enroll who never deployed, but who were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or serving on active duty here at home—working with chemicals, pesticides, lead, asbestos, certain paints, nuclear weapons, x-rays, and more.
Vets don’t need to wait to be sick to enroll. They shouldn’t wait. All they have to do is show they served in one of those locations, or operations, or participated in one of those activities that could have exposed them to toxins or hazards. It’s critical for Vets, to be sure. But it’s also an opportunity for us, at VA, to build trust among American Indian and Alaska Native Vets, their families, caregivers, and survivors of these wars where we don’t have trust. And it’s an opportunity for us at VA to restore trust, trust we’ve broken because we failed them in the past, failed to provide the culturally competent care we owe them.
A quick example. Vietnam Vet Robert Wilson of the Cheyenne Tribe of Oklahoma came home from Vietnam. Like so many Vietnam Vets, he was met with hate. And VA wasn’t a lot better. “After Vietnam,” Robert said, “the VA wasn’t much help to old timers like me, and we had bad experiences.”
Trust, broken.
Well, when VA Oklahoma partnered with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Veterans Department and brought VA benefits to those tribal lands, Robert gave VA another try. He filed for his PACT Act benefits, was given 100% disability, and he enrolled in VA health care. “Let’s just say VA isn’t what it used to be in the 70’s,” Robert said. “It’s come a long way, and in a positive direction.”
Trust restored.
And we need to build that trust, long before crisis, so we can do everything possible, together, to help them avoid crisis. Vets may not need the care the PACT Act affords them today. But they might need it tomorrow, or the next day, or 30 years from now.
All they have to do is enroll, and they have access for life. We just want them to know that. So, again, Sonya, everyone, help us make sure every Vet in your community knows about the PACT Act, and how to apply—even if it’s just a short message on your web page and a hot-link to our PACT Act site.
Here’s my point, and I’m finishing up. We cannot forget that in all the top-tier work we’re doing, the only thing that finally matters are the effects at the local level, the day-to-day delivery on tribal lands, in urban communities, the positive outcomes for the Vets. That’s what matters—good outcomes.
And that’s why our partnership, our collaboration is so critical, on so many of our shared initiatives. And that collaboration, it makes a difference. Patricia Tavella will tell you that “it’s meant the world” to her. “Fifteen, 20 years ago,” she said, “there was no such thing as collaboration like this, this coming together.”
That what we’re all about—this collaboration, this coming together, and doing it so well—like you always do—to fulfill that sacred obligation, to change the lives of all the Robert Wilsons and Patricia Tavellas for the better. No matter where Native American and Alaska Native Vets choose to get their care, we want them getting the excellent, culturally competent care they need, that they’ve earned, that they deserve—care that resonates with their spirit, that gives them the opportunity not just to survive, but to really thrive.
God bless all of you, and the Vets that—together—we’re devoted to serving as well as they have served all of us.
Thank you.
]]>David Isaacks, thanks for that kind introduction. Thank you also for your leadership of VISN 8, our largest health care network, and your service to our nation as a United States Marine.
Special thanks to Wende Dottor for your leadership here in North Florida/South Georgia.
Congressman Bean, thanks also for your remarks and support.
Major General James “Hammer” Hartsell, thank you for your advocacy on behalf of all of Florida’s Veterans, and for your service to the nation as a United States Marine.
Lastly, to all the other attendees—including staffers from Senator Rubio and Representative Rutherford’s offices, everyone who has supported our efforts, and supported Veterans in North Florida and South Georgia—it’s great to have you here.
Opening this outpatient clinic and domiciliary is the result of hard work and cooperation by many people. So, to the team that worked tirelessly on these facilities—engineers, planners, safety, housekeeping, quality assurance, interior design staff, and many others—thank you all for bringing us to this day.
The North Florida/South Georgia Healthcare System sets a high bar. More Vets come through your doors for care each year than any other system in VA. Your academic partnerships, with the University of Florida and more than 200 other educational institutions, not only provide training and supervision but also generate important research. And your healthcare system has a complexity level of 1a, a ranking reserved for only those VHA facilities with the highest volume; highest risk patients; most complex clinical programs; and largest research and teaching programs. You are at the forefront of health care services, providing care for Veterans in rural areas, in cities, in 50 counties, and across state lines.
I am particularly impressed by this team’s work to increase access to care for Veterans between October and February as part of our Access Sprints initiative. The North Florida/South Georgia Healthcare System was just named the top performer among all VA health systems across the country in increasing access to mental health care and specialty care. Nationally, by using locally driven innovations, like offering night and weekend clinics, VA saw 11% more new patients that we did a year ago.
And here in North Florida/South Georgia, we saw 59% more new cardiology patients, cut cardiology wait times over 28 days by 6%, and lowered the number of Veterans waiting for cardiology care in the community by 56%. On mental health care, Veterans in this region received same-day VA care at an 11% higher rate and saw wait times over 20 days drop by 41%. Those accomplishments are because of the amazing VA team here keeping Vets at the heart of everything we do.
The President often says that our most sacred obligation is to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home. The second part of that sacred obligation is ours to fulfill at VA. And to me, doing that job well means delivering the most access and best outcomes for Vets because, ultimately, it’s Veterans who are the judges of our success.
That’s why each decision we make, and every action we take, must be based on one principle—improving outcomes for Veterans, their families, their caregivers, and survivors. That’s what opening Jacksonville North is all about—improving outcomes for Veterans, increasing their access to the best care possible.
These facilities are simply amazing. They rival or exceed anything offered at any hospital system in the country, at VA or anywhere else. Jacksonville North VA Clinic will be able to provide primary care, mental health care, diagnostic services, prosthetics, physical therapy, occupational therapy, TBI services, and more, along with a 30-bed residential facility for general psycho-social programs. The Veterans who come here are getting the best of the best.
And we’re not closing the two Jacksonville outpatient clinics already here. We’re expanding them. In 2011, when we launched the Jefferson Street Clinic, over 29,000 Vets visited Jacksonville VA facilities for care that year. In 2023, twelve years later, the Jacksonville clinics provided care to nearly 69,000 Vets.
Demand for access to care at VA facilities here is at an all-time high, and it’s going to get higher for the next decade and beyond. In Jacksonville, in Duval County, and throughout the entire state, the Vet population is exploding. Florida now boasts the third highest number of Veterans of any state in the country, a testament to the many benefits and services our nation’s heroes receive here in Florida. And VA is committed to providing Vets with the care they need, where they need it, and that’s right here in North Florida/South Georgia.
In the last year, we’ve welcomed 33,000 Florida Veterans as new health care enrollees. Of those, one-third enrolled specifically because of the PACT Act, President Biden’s toxic exposure law. And last month, we began making millions of Vets eligible for VA health care years earlier than called for by the PACT Act. Specifically, all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving our country—at home or abroad—are now eligible to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits.
That includes all Vets who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other combat zone after 9/11. It includes all Veterans who deployed in support of the Global War on Terror. And it includes Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty here at home—by working with chemicals, pesticides, lead, asbestos, certain paints, nuclear weapons, x-rays, and more.
We’re doing this because VA care is proven to be the best, most affordable health care in America for Veterans. We want as many Vets as possible, throughout Florida, and throughout the nation, to come to us for their care. So, if you think you might be eligible, don’t wait to enroll. Apply for the care you deserve at VA.Gov/PACT.
In addition to accessing world class health care at VA, Veterans are also receiving record levels of earned benefits. In 2023, VA provided $11.5 billion in compensation and pension benefits to nearly 500,000 Florida Veterans. And so far, Florida Veterans have filed 140,000 PACT Act claims. From disability compensation payments to education benefits to employment assistance to housing support to burial benefits, we are providing more benefits to more Veterans than at any time in our nation’s history. And I have no doubt that Jacksonville North VA Clinic and Domiciliary will serve Veterans just as well as they’ve served our country.
Some of those Veterans are joining us here today. Let me tell you about one of those Vets, Martin Butler, who not only gets care at VA, but also gives back to fellow Veterans by working here, too. Martin served in the Navy, rising to Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman and earning the Fleet Marine Force Warfare designation. He had assignments all over the world, most notably seeing combat in Afghanistan as a member of the first Individual Augmentee Navy group to deploy.
Many of you know exactly what that means, but for those who don’t, Individual Augmentees are service members who volunteer for deployments. When help is needed, for particularly critical or dangerous assignments, augmentees raise their hands to join another unit, jumping into harm’s way, to help their brothers and sisters in arms. That’s Martin.
After retiring from the Navy in 2021, I’m pleased to say that Martin chose to get his health care with us, at the Jacksonville clinics and at Malcom Randall in Gainesville. In 2021, Josh Pridgen made the wise decision of hiring Martin as an analyst at the Jefferson Street Clinic. Last year, when a senior administrative position at the clinic became vacant unexpectedly, Martin offered to take on this additional role, while continuing to do his day job. And for nearly the last year, he volunteered to serve as the key member of the local Jacksonville leadership activations team responsible for opening the new facilities today, all while doing two other jobs.
Why did Martin raise his hand to take on these additional job duties? “Because,” he says, “It’s the right thing to do. Because it needs to be done. Because it needs to be done for our Veterans.” Veterans helping Veterans—always there for each other, always thinking of their country, never leaving behind a fellow Vet, continuing to strengthen our democracy. There is nothing better.
And when our nation needs him, Martin Butler answers the call. Thank you, Senior Chief Butler, for your service in the Navy and for your continued service here at Jacksonville North VA Clinic.
This outstanding facility is going to provide a lot of essential care for Vets in North Florida and South Georgia. And the domiciliary, through its residential treatment program for Veterans with mental health and substance use disorders, is going to provide lifesaving care. But remember that the most important element in caring for those Veterans will always be our VA people, so many of whom are here today. Because a state-of-the-art building, technology, and equipment enable better care, but they don’t deliver care, comfort, and compassion to Vets and their family members and their survivors.
People do. You do.
And when a Veteran comes here, concerned about a health issue, this building won’t comfort them. This building won’t make them get better.
You will.
We have the best people, in the most Veteran-centered region, in the most Veteran-focused state, dedicated to keeping our most sacred promise—serving America’s Veterans just as well as they have served us.
So, thanks to our great VA employees for all you do. And thank you all for joining us on this very special day here in Jacksonville.
Let’s cut that ribbon.
]]>Dr. Rodriguez [Lena, Senior Vice Pres., HACU], thanks for that kind introduction, and for inviting me to spend some time with so many here today who are devoted to the success of America’s students.
Dr. Flores [Pres., HACU] and distinguished members of the Governing Board—good morning, and thanks for your partnership with VA. I want to especially thank you, Dr. Flores, for keeping the lines of communication open with VA’s Executive Director of Education Services, Joseph Garcia—a Vietnam-era Vet, GI Bill beneficiary, and graduate of Hispanic-Serving Institution the University of Arizona.
And to all the Vets here this morning, thank you for serving … thank you for sacrificing for this country when we’ve needed you most.
Before I dive in, let me touch on a change coming for Vets getting GI Bill payments. Starting April 20th, just a few days from now, we’ll no longer send Vets’ or family members’ benefit payments to more than one bank account. It’s a change to help protect them from fraud and ensure we pay them on time, every time, without error. So, Vets and beneficiaries receiving GI bill payments and other benefit payments across multiple banking accounts have to select one account, by April 20th.
This shift impacts nearly 50,000 GI Bill beneficiaries, so we’ve been aggressively reaching out to them through text message, phone, and email on a weekly basis. And we’ve been reaching to all your School Certifying Officials. We’re down to 15,000 Vets left. For Vets who don’t consolidate accounts by April 20th, VA will consolidate accounts on their behalf—electing their non-education benefit pay account as their primary bank account. The easiest way for these Vets to make the change is to just log on to VA.Gov/Change-Direct-Deposit.
Importantly, not a single Veteran will miss a benefits payment or lose their education benefits as a result of these changes—even if they don’t switch their accounts by the deadline. So, help us spread the word to your student Vets on this transition.
I want to really focus this morning on just one thing, and that’s keeping our nation’s promise to student Veterans on your campuses. Here’s what I mean. When someone signs up to serve our country in the military—like your student Vets—we make them a promise. If you fight for us, we will fight for you. If you serve us, we will serve you. If you take care of us, we will take care of you when you come home. Our country as a whole makes that promise. But when it comes to our student Vets, we have a shared duty to keep that promise.
You know, it was 80 years ago this summer, June 6th, D-Day, that our World War II Vets assaulted the beaches of Normandy. Dr. Rodriguez’s grandfather, Private First Class Jesus “Rod” Rodriguez, was one of the first soldiers to fight on UTAH Beach. And it was only two weeks after D-Day that President Roosevelt signed the first GI Bill into law. The GI Bill, Roosevelt said, was emphatic notice to Veterans] that the American people would not let them down when they came home.
They fought for us. This country kept that promise. And with the GI Bill, that Greatest Generation transformed this country into the economic powerhouse, the world leader we are today.
Now, a lot has changed since then. But one thing that hasn’t changed—that promise, to today’s Vets, the Latest Generation. Last year, nearly 863,000 servicemembers, Vets, and dependents brought about $11 billion to campus communities across the country $1.8 billion [$1.79B] for Hispanic-Serving Institutions, alone, on behalf of 144,000 servicemembers, Vets, and dependents. And for the more than 13,000 Vets under the Veteran Readiness and Employment program at 425 HSIs last year, taxpayers invested an additional $848,000.
Here’s what else hasn’t changed. Like generations before, them, Veterans still make the very best students. I’m thinking of Vets like Chris Velazquez from Camden, New Jersey, who joined the Air Force because of his sense of duty, and to prepare himself for the future. After Active Duty, Chris reached out to Vet services at the University of Central Florida and used his GI Bill benefits to earn his degree in Mechanical Engineering. Today, Chris works on some our country’s most advanced defense systems at Lockheed Martin in Orlando.
Vets like Ruben Ramos, a first-generation American who knew the GI Bill was a path to college. After enlisting, Ruben deployed to the thick of the brutal fight in Iraq to retake Mosul from ISIS. When he came home, Ruben went to Vet services at Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista, and he was on his way—Associates Degree in Administration of Justice, BS in Criminal Justice, and a minor in Sociology. Today, Ruben’s again serving our country, as an Immigration Services Officer in San Diego.
Or first-generation American Vet Elizabeth Rocha, who joined the Marine Corps to find her own path, to find a sense of belonging and purpose. After leaving the Marines, Elizabeth used her GI Bill at Santa Ana Community College for her Associates in Business Management. Today, she’s at Cal State Fullerton earning her BA in Business Management, with her eyes on law school.
And all of them—Chris, Ruben, and Elizabeth—tell you how important the Vet services teams were to their success. Those teams were proactive in their support. They reached out to Vets and guided them, helping them find their way to the right future for them. They provided spaces devoted to Vets on campus, places where Vets could meet other Vets, could share their experiences—in the military and in school—could support and guide one another, coach and mentor their fellow Vets. In fact, older Vets Ruben met on campus showed him how to focus on school, how to stay positive, and how to succeed.
Vets helping Vets—there’s nothing better.
Here’s my point. As important as it is, it’s not about the money that thousands of student Vets bring to your schools year after year. It’s about keeping that promise to them, about doing everything we can to serve them as well as they have served all of us.
And that’s why I’m here, to ask you and your teams to fight like hell to give student Vets the opportunity to do much more than just survive. Let’s give Vets the resources, the support, the spaces, and the opportunities to thrive. It’s not just good for them. It’s the right thing to do. It’s keeping that promise. And it’s about the enduring strength of this nation.
So, if you don’t already have them, get Vet mentors on staff—Vets, who really understand student Vets, their unique strengths and challenges. If you don’t already have it, let’s give Vets a space for them, places where they can congregate and support one another. Let’s make sure student Vets are enrolled in VA health care and know about all the benefits services VA has available to them. Reach out to local Vet Centers and Veterans Service Organizations. Invite them to meet Vets on campus.
Because listen, student Vets’ mission doesn’t end when they show up to your schools … when they toss their hats at graduation. Long after their final formations, Vets will continue to strengthen our democracy in towns and cities across the country … just like PFC Rod Rodriguez. You see, after being grievously wounded in the bloody fighting of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, PFC Rodriguez—a GI Bill beneficiary—came home to Tolleson, Arizona. There, he built his family, and he helped build and strengthen his community as a public servant—city councilman, vice-mayor, mayor.
Dr. Rodriguez, my deep thanks to your grandfather for his courageous service to the nation in World War II, and back here at home in the years after. May we all serve Vets like PFC Rodriguez, Joe Garcia, Chris, Ruben, and Elizabeth as well as they have served us.
Thank you. Have a great conference.
]]>Karen [Flaherty-Oxler, Dir., Crescenz VAMC], thanks for that kind introduction.
Let me begin by welcoming our Veterans Service Organizations and all the Vets here this morning. Could I ask our Vets to stand, if you’re able, and be recognized?
Welcome to all our partners from the University of Pennsylvania and Emory University, as well as the entire CReATE Motion Center Team—congratulations on this big step forward for Vets.
And so many other distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen—good morning, everyone.
It’s always good to be in the City of Brotherly Love, and it’s all the better for such an important occasion for Veterans, and all Americans. I know we’re all looking forward to cutting the ribbon, so I’ll be brief. I just want to say a few words about why we’re here. One reason. The only reason. Veterans … the Veterans we’re honored and privileged to serve. You see, President Biden often says that it’s our nation’s most sacred obligation to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home.
The second part of that sacred obligation, it’s ours to fulfill here at VA. Now, we can never do all that we should without a lot of help from Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, partners in academia, our VA employees doing so much of the heavy lifting. And our shared commitment is to stop at nothing when it comes to serving Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, to serving them every bit as well as they have served all of us.
Because, when someone signs up to serve our country in the military, we make them a promise. If you fight for us, we will fight for you. If you serve us, we will serve you. If you take care of us, we will take care of you when you come home. The thing is, our country as a whole makes that promise. But it’s our job, VA’s job, to keep that promise. And we’re fighting like hell to do just that.
Over 3,700 VA researchers nationwide are on the very front lines of that fight, helping provide more health care to more Veterans than ever. They’re serving over 9 million Vets enrolled in VA health care, more than 170,000 who enrolled this fiscal year, so far. Let me add—since we’ve expanded access to VA health care for millions more Vets exposed to toxins and other hazards, we’re seeing, on average, 1500 new Vets enroll every day. And think about this. Statistics show that about 20% of non-Veterans have arthritis, or will have arthritis some time in their lives. For America’s Veterans, that number spikes to over 35%. Let me explain why, by telling you about just one of those Veterans—Master Sergeant David Gillespie, David, a Vet born not far from here in southwest Philly.
David comes from a tradition of service. His dad fought in the Battle of the Bulge with the First Infantry Division. His uncle was a nose-gunner in a bomber during World War II. Growing up, David heard their stories of service. And when it was his turn, he followed in dad’s footsteps, enlisting in the Army in 1976, Infantry, headed to Airborne School and, then, to the 82nd Airborne Division down in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Now, there are four things 82nd Airborne paratroopers do more than anything else. One—jump out of airplanes. Two—road march. Three—jump some more. And, four—more road marches. It’s a grueling job. Those marches are long miles—often at a slow run called the Airborne Shuffle, in combat boots, with a heavy ruck, starting early on hot, dark mornings, and ending in the blazing sun. And those jumps—paratroopers are loaded down with gear. They slam into the ground feet, knees, head. And as David will tell you, “Everything hurts after you jump, after you hit … like a ton of bricks.”
Then what do those troopers do? Well, they’re soldiers. The best in the world. They “shake it off,” David says, “and continue to march.” Continue to march, to jump. For David, ploughing in the ground nearly 180 times. And they might not know it then—they’re young, and tough—but that takes a toll. A few years down the road, a few decades, things can start breaking down.
For David, that meant the excruciating pain of osteoarthritis in his knees. In 2021, it meant a knee replacement. Eighteen months later, it meant another knee replacement. And listen, as good as they might be, knee replacements aren’t any sort of easy answer. There can be post-op complications, like infections, ongoing pain and stiffness, instability when standing up and walking.
Here’s the thing. We can do better for our Veterans. David—where are you? We are going to do better … for your brothers- and sisters-in-arms. As I said at the outset, that’s why we’re here.
Osteoarthritis. Right now, there is no cure. Not yet. We aim to change that. With the CReATE Motion Research Center, we aim to develop new therapies to treat osteoarthritis, to prevent the cartilage deterioration that leads to osteoarthritis, And—as with all our VA research—that’s for Vets, and for all Americans.
Our top researchers here in Philadelphia and Atlanta are conducting groundbreaking work that can help Veterans stay mobile while addressing this disease. They’re already conducting research to develop cell therapies, new ways to grow cartilage, and other state-of-the-art techniques to repair existing cartilage. It can mean better mobility and more flexibility that’s lost to osteoarthritis. It can mean fewer knee replacements and other surgeries like MSG Gillespie endured.
And that—that work, that research, those discoveries—that’s what fighting like hell for our Veterans looks like. And it’s the only reason we’re here.
With that, let me turn it over to Dr. Carolyn Clancy to tell you more. Dr. Clancy [VA Asst. Under Secretary for Health].
]]>Thank you, Tony Milons, for that kind introduction and for your outstanding leadership of the Atlanta Regional Office.
Before I get into my remarks, I’d like to give a shout-out to my teammates manning the One VA Experience at today’s event—a VA health care enrollment and benefits clinic. To any Vets in the audience, please go sign up for the care and benefits you’ve earned and that you deserve. They’re here for you. We all work for you.
Now, it’s a pleasure and a privilege to join you to honor the life and enduring legacy of Senator Johnny Isakson. Let me recognize Senator Saxby Chambliss, The Honorable Tom Bowman, Chris Carr, Josh Jacobs, Benita Miller, Representatives of Veterans Service Organizations, Senator Isakson’s Former Staffers, and state, local, and community leaders. Let me also thank Senators Ossoff and Warnock and Representatives Bishop, Scott, and McBath—whose bipartisan law made today’s ceremony possible.
Most importantly, I’d like to extend a special welcome to the members of Senator Isakson’s family who are here today, especially his wife, Dianne, as well as his children, John, Kevin, and Julie. Thank you for honoring us with your presence. Mrs. Isakson, I had the good fortune to work closely with Senator Isakson on several occasions. I was always struck by how kind, jovial, and good-natured Senator Isakson was every time I saw him. And over these months since the horrendous October 7th terrorist attacks against Israel, I am reminded that he was a great friend of Israel and the Jewish community—always working with his colleagues and presidents of both parties to strengthen our ally. He was an unwavering champion for fairness, unity, and progress, and as you know all too well, it was life-changing work that pulled him in many directions. Ma’am, you know better than anyone that his job was not an easy one. His responsibilities required a great deal of sacrifice, and a lot of support from you and your family. So for that, I want to say thank you for sharing such a good man with all of us.
The man who cared so deeply for you, his family, and the people of Georgia came to DC and fought every single day for the American people, and especially for his fellow Veterans. Senator Isakson’s life’s calling in public service was to serve his fellow Veterans. In fact, his highest aspiration was to lead the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. And having fulfilled that aspiration, he made maximum use of it.
- Veterans can access quality mental health care without stigma or shame—thanks to the passage of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, Senator Isakson’s first piece of legislation passed as the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman;
- Veterans can use their educational benefits beyond the initial 15-year time limit—thanks to the passage of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, or the Forever GI Bill;
- Veterans can receive timely responses to their appeals—as a result of the enactment of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act; Veterans can access care in the community—when and where they need it—thanks to the passage of the MISSION Act;
- Veterans living with the effects of exposure to Agent Orange can now receive the benefits and care they’ve earned and deserve with the enactment of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019.
And one of his lasting achievements—of which there are many—occurred after he retired, when his name was attached to the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020. This bill included the Deborah Samson Act—important because it strengthened programs and services for women Vets, including the establishment of the Office of Women’s Health.
These are just a few of his many legislative legacies that will endure and improve the lives of men and women who wore our nation’s uniform for years to come. He remained a champion for Vets until the very end.
As I was preparing my remarks for today, I recalled so many moments that showed how Senator Isakson helped to transform our nation for the better. One story in particular comes to mind, from early in my time as President Obama’s Chief of Staff. It was April of 2013 when President Obama asked Senator Isakson to organize a dinner with him and 12 Republican Senators. They had a lot to talk about. March Madness had just ended a few days earlier—Louisville beat Michigan for the National Championship—right here at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
But Congress and the President faced a number of pressing challenges, with particular disagreement stemming from the President’s budget proposal. Breaking bread together allowed the group to, in Senator Isakson’s words, “find common ground … [and] solutions that [were] right for America—not just a win for the President or a win for Republicans.” It was in that moment that I got a glimpse of Senator Isakson’s thoughtfulness and integrity. By answering the President’s call, he used his influence to turn what had been obstacles into conversations of civility and productivity. A dinner became a series of meetings stretching over months. Now, that dinner and the subsequent meetings didn’t solve everything. But it brought different people together, and broke down some long-standing barriers to move our country one step forward in the right direction.
And that was one of his many great gifts—bringing people together, lifting them up—whether it was listening to his Johnnyisms on the Senate floor for a good laugh or attending his bipartisan barbeque luncheon, Senator Isakson took every opportunity to bring people together.
I’ll close with one last thought. I will remember Senator Isakson for many things. But maybe highest among them will be the strength of his friendships, especially with the late, great Georgia Statesman John Lewis. Senator Isakson had a motto: “There are two types of people in this world: friends and future friends.”
One of those beloved friendships was with Max Cleland—a US Army Veteran of the Vietnam War and Silver Star recipient, a triple amputee, a US Senator, and the tenth Administrator of Veterans Affairs. How fitting it is that the Johnny Isakson Regional Office will forever stand right next to the Max Cleland VA Medical Center. We honor the bond of brotherhood and camaraderie that exists among these servicemembers, both in life and death. Just as they stood shoulder to shoulder in Georgia and in Congress, so too shall they be honored and remembered together in this sacred space. I can’t imagine a more perfect lasting tribute.
So today and forevermore, Senator Isakson’s name will be synonymous with the Veteran community that he was a proud member of and a tireless fighter for. And his name will be synonymous with the vision of VA—a VA that’s accessible, available, and responsive to every Veteran, whenever that Vet needs us, just as Johnny Isakson was to generations of Georgia’s Veterans and to all of America’s Veterans. That is Jonny Isakson’s legacy.
So today, we’re here to rename a building. But we’re really here to honor a great man, a patriotic Veteran, and a model public servant. May God bless Senator Isakson’s soul. May God bless our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. And may we always give them our very best.
]]>Thank you, Will Robinson, for that kind introduction. My thanks, of course, to all the service officers and DAV members—it is great to see so many of you here today. Good afternoon, everyone. Before I get into it, I’ll give a shout-out to my teammates manning the VA info booth today. They’re here for you. We all work for you. If you have any questions at all about our work at VA, talk with them—they’re here to help with any questions you might have and some you might not know you have.
I’ll begin with a story. Jennifer Alvarado joined the Navy as a 19-year-old single mom. She served her country honorably before she was medically retired in 2006. But after years of intimate partner violence, compounded by repeat military sexual trauma—or MST—Jennifer left the military in survival mode. Jennifer tried VA years ago but didn’t have a positive experience. So she left VA care, disappointed and further traumatized.
As the years passed, she struggled to hold down a job. She was at risk of homelessness and relied on food banks to keep a meal on her family’s table. As her life continued to spiral out of control, she found solace in drinking. And at one point, she considered suicide. But one fateful day, she decided to give VA a second chance.
So, where did Jennifer turn first? DAV. She walked straight into her local DAV office with a giant box of medical records. Jennifer dropped them on Joe Kauffman’s desk, a DAV service officer out of Philly, and said that she would not leave until he helped her. And that’s exactly what he did. While helping Jennifer, Joe connected her to Elizabeth DePompei, one of DAV’s fabulous comms people. And what happened next changed everything. Elizabeth listened—building a bond of trust, making Jennifer feel safe—for the first time in years. So Jennifer opened up. She accepted help.
Elizabeth’s here today, so I’ll speak to her directly. Jennifer says that you might not realize the impact you had on her and the impact you have on so many of her fellow women Vets. She shared her story and cried with you for countless hours. Most importantly, with your help—alongside Joe and many others at DAV—Jennifer started receiving the care she needs, earned, and so richly deserves.
She says that the care she gets today at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center is “phenomenal” and that she can’t imagine going anywhere else. There’s so much to take away from Jennifer’s story, which I’ll come back to later. But what strikes me most is that Jennifer trusts VA again and she’s getting the care she earned, all because she connected with this incredible team at DAV. Her story shows the impact you are having in communities and neighborhoods around the country. Serving Veterans. Saving lives.
This is what our work is all about—getting the job done for Veterans, together, whether that means providing the best care in the world, benefits they’ve earned, or a dignified last resting place that honors their service and sacrifice. And that’s exactly what you’ve been doing.
Let me quickly hit a few wavetops. Last year:
- Veterans submitted over 2.4 million claims—an all-time record, and 39% more than in 2022.
- Veterans submitted nearly 2.3 million intents-to-file—another all-time record, and 62% more than in 2022.
- VA processed nearly 2 million claims, surpassing the previous record by nearly 16%.
- VA delivered $163 billion in earned benefits to over 1.5 million Veterans and survivors—an all-time record.
- Vets had 116 million health care appointments—surpassing the previous record by 3 million.
- The Board of Veterans’ Appeals processed over 103,000 appeals—an all-time record.
- Over 46,500 homeless Veterans were permanently housed—surpassing our goal of 38,000.
- And 4.1 million Veterans now rest in VA national cemeteries.
Now look, behind all those statistics are Veterans—Veterans like Jennifer—like so many of you in this room. And all of those accomplishments are yours. All of you should be rightly proud. You play a critical role—a key enabler in achieving VA’s mission—in keeping our promise to Veterans. Like I said this summer in Atlantic City, we have no better partner than DAV.
And we aren’t letting up this year. Together, we’re going to bring new Vets to VA, we’re going to expand access to VA, and we’re going to help Vets thrive. We want to bring as many Veterans as possible into our care, because VA is proven to be the best, most affordable health care in America for Vets. That’s why, beginning March 5th, we’re making three new groups of Veterans eligible for VA health care—years earlier than envisioned in the PACT Act:
- Veterans who were exposed to toxins or other hazards during military service;
- Veterans who were assigned to certain duty stations in Southwest Asia or parts of Africa;
- And Veterans who deployed in support of certain operations after 9/11.
Here’s what that means for them. If they served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, or Afghanistan, they can enroll. If they deployed to any combat zone after 9/11, they can enroll. If they deployed in support of the Global War on Terror, they can enroll. And even if they never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or serving on active duty here at home—by working with chemicals, pesticides, lead, asbestos, certain paints, nuclear weapons, x-rays, and more—they can enroll, too. Bottom line: all Veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards—at home or abroad—are eligible to enroll in VA care, beginning March 5th. This is the biggest expansion of VA care in generations, and we want Vets to apply as soon as possible.
It’s quick and easy to enroll. They don’t need to be sick or file a claim to become eligible. All they have to do is show that they served in one of those locations or operations—or participated in one of the activities that could have exposed them to toxins or hazards. Even if they don’t think they need this care today, they might need it tomorrow, or the next day, or 30 years from now. All they have to do is enroll. Then, they have access for life. So, let’s not miss this opportunity: better, more affordable health care is waiting for Veterans. And they can go to VA.gov/PACT to get it. I appreciate your helping spreading the word on that.
One more important request before I close. Starting April 20th, we will no longer send a Veteran’s or family members’ benefit payments to more than one bank account. We’re making this change to help protect Veterans and families from fraud and to ensure that we’re able to pay Veterans on time, every time, without error. This will require all Veterans and beneficiaries who receive GI bill payments and other benefit payments across multiple banking accounts to select one account by April 20th. For example, if a Vet receives GI Bill payments to one of their bank accounts and disability compensation payments to another, they’ll need to select one account, for all benefits, by April 20th. This shift will impact nearly 50,000 of 800,000 total GI Bill beneficiaries.
Fortunately, VA has all of the contact information for these Veterans. We are aggressively reaching out to these student Veterans through text message, phone, and email on a weekly basis through April 20th. They will continue to receive text messages and emails until they have updated their information in VA.gov. We’re also working with schools, Veterans Service Organizations, and other relevant parties to make sure that Veterans meet the deadline. The easiest way for these Vets to make this change is to log on to VA.Gov/Change-Direct-Deposit. Importantly, not a single Veteran will miss a benefits payment of any type—even if they do not switch their accounts by the deadline. And for any students who do not consolidate their bank accounts for benefits by April 20th, VA will consolidate them on their behalf—electing their non-education benefit pay account as their primary bank account. We will ensure that every single Vet has access to the benefits they earned and deserve, and that no Veterans lose their education benefits as a result of these changes. So, my last ask—between now and April 20th, please, help us spread the word on this transition.
With that, I’ll end with something I said at your annual conference in Atlantic City, last summer. I said that the reason I come to these conventions is to hold myself—and all of VA—accountable to you. I said that if we at VA are not living up to the highest of standards, I want you to let me know. Because this work takes all of us. VA can’t—and doesn’t—keep our country’s promise to Vets alone. Partnerships like yours help us tackle some of our most pressing priorities on preventing Veteran suicide, ending Veteran homelessness, improving health care access, and more.
We cannot keep our promise to Vets without you. Because Vets trust DAV, they talk to you when something is not working the way it should. So your work helps us better understand what Veterans experienced in uniform, what they’re going through here at home, and how we can better help them, oftentimes bringing something to our attention that we did not know was happening.
We saw this in a prominent way last week, with DAV’s release of their report on women Veterans. This report was the result of hard work of Joy Ilem, Naomi Mathis, Elizabeth DePompei, and many other members of the DAV team. It detailed how VA can be better—how VA must be better—to support women Veterans’ mental health and to prevent suicide through gender-tailored care. Vets like Jennifer, whose story I told earlier. Her story—and the stories of several of her fellow sisters-in-arms—are included in last week’s report. Their stories—alongside the recommendations in DAV’s groundbreaking report—will make VA better, not just for women Veterans, but for all Veterans.
Jennifer says, “I have prayed to God for nearly 20 years for myself and for other Veterans, that the VA would hear us … that the right person would hear the right voice … to hold themselves accountable, to make the system better, and to do better for Veterans. Someone is finally listening.”
That’s because of you. You help us serve Veterans far better than we can alone. You make us better able to serve Vets by holding us to account. You and your work have a direct and positive impact on the lives of Vets. Jennifer said it best. I am blessed to see your inspiring work every single day. And I thank God for each and every one of you. We still can, and still must, be better—and do better—for the Veterans we serve. So, when you hear from a Vet who needs something—I want your first call to be to us. Together, we can solve any problem, big or small, with full transparency, holding nothing back, continuing to build trust by telling the whole story. We are proud of our accomplishments. But we are going to be candid about our failings—candid with ourselves, with you, with Vets, with Congress, and with the American people. Because America’s Vets deserve our very best, and we’ll never settle for anything less.
God bless you all. And God bless our Nation’s Servicemembers, our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
]]>Good morning, everyone. I want to first acknowledge that I am on the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank and Piscataway people—tribal land. In fact, all this country is tribal land. So let me recognize tribal leaders, tribal elders, and Veterans. It is my honor to be here with you today.
President M a c a r r o, thank you for that kind introduction. Distinguished members of the Executive Committee and the Veterans Committee—good morning. And Larry Wright [NCAI Exec. Dir.]—it’s always good to see you. Last December—just before President Biden’s Tribal Nations Summit—Larry and some tribal leaders joined us at VA to share their ideas for improving Native Veteran benefits and services. So, Larry, thanks for helping make that happen, and for our strong partnership. Most importantly, thank you for your courageous service to the nation.
Last July, I was honored to visit the Gila River Indian Community and meet some heroic Native American Veterans. One of them is a Navy Veteran, Phillip Morales, a member of Akimel O’odham and White Mountain Apache tribes.
Now, Phillip didn’t grow up connected to his tribes. But the path he walked and the challenges he overcame connected him with his people, and his culture. And I’m proud VA was a part of Phillip’s journey.
Phillip served with honor as a Navy Seabee, a builder. And while serving, he suffered traumatic events. Like many Veterans, when he left service he carried some deep, invisible scars. And after coming home, Phillip had growing mental health challenges. Those challenges cost him his job, his family, and his home.
Then—a turning point. At his lowest, Phillip said, “I couldn’t think of anyone else who could help me … except VA.” So, he went to the Phoenix VA. “They understood,” Phillip said, “and VA provides a place where Vets can talk, feel safe, feel stronger.” There, among his fellow Veterans, Phillip got the help he needed—housing support and excellent mental health services.
And Dino Haley out at VA Phoenix has been a big part of Phillip’s journey. You see, Dino is a VA social worker—and he’s a Navajo ceremony practitioner. When it comes to serving American Indian Vets like Phillip, Dino provides care that honors their culture, that honors their warrior traditions like healing ceremonies and talking circles.
Today—thanks to Dino and so many others—Phillip has a home. He has his tribe. He’s a part of his community. And he’s living a life he’s proud of. Now, I’m sharing Phillip’s story of courage and strength for a few reasons: because I’m so proud of him and Dino Haley and the kind of work he’s doing, because I’m so thankful Phillip came to VA for help, and because it’s an example of the promise our country makes whenever someone signs up to serve in the military.
That promise—if you serve us, we’ll serve you when you come home. If you take care of us, we’ll take care of you. If you fight for us, we’ll fight for you. Our whole country makes that promise. But at VA, it’s our solemn duty to uphold it. And keeping that promise, that’s why I made some commitments to you the last time we met.
I told you we’d continue making every effort to respect tribal sovereignty—to consult with tribes before we make decisions that may affect tribal members. And I told you that every decision I make would be determined by a simple principle—whether it increases Veterans’ access to care and benefits and improves outcomes for them. Now, we’ve not always done well enough by Veterans—especially American Indians and Alaska Natives. We’re fighting like hell to do better.
And we’ve made some progress, thanks to you and good people like Chief Bill Smith of the Valdez Native Tribe and our whole Tribal Advisory Committee led by Army Vet Sonya Tetnowski of the Makah tribe; Clay Ward of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and the team in VA’s Office of Tribal Government Relations; Dr. Prairie Chicken, a Traditional Lakota, leading the Office of Tribal Health team.
So, I want to spend a few minutes touching on some of the most important work we’ve done—together.
Last year, VA delivered more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. And this year, we’re going to keep fighting to reach even more Vets … to continue building trust … to meet Veterans where they are, rather than asking them to come to us. That’s our goal, always. More care and more benefits for more Veterans than ever before.
A few examples.
We signed our revised reimbursement agreement with Indian Health Service in December—after consultation with tribal leaders. It’s about providing American Indian and Alaska Native Vets the high-quality, affordable health care they deserve—no matter where they live. Here’s what that agreement means for Native Veterans.
At no cost to the Veteran, they can choose to get their care at VA. They can choose one of the 74 Indian Health Services facilities, the 120 Tribal Health Program facilities, or the 6 Urban Indian Organizations covered in the reimbursement agreement. We’re working with 13 other Urban Indian Organizations to see about getting them on board, too.
And this new agreement covers long-term care. It covers home health services. And it covers Purchased Referred Care, something I know tribal leaders have been asking about for a long time. And we are in consultation with Alaska Native leaders. We look forward to renewing our Alaska Sharing Agreement and Tribal Health Reimbursement Agreement soon.
We’re expanding Native Veterans’ access to health care in highly rural areas across Indian Country. In November, we entered an agreement for a VA clinic inside the Vinita Health Center on Cherokee land in eastern Oklahoma. And we’re going to do the same on the Hopi Nation in Polacca, and the Navajo Nation in Kayenta and Tuba City. And we are working with the Navajo Nation and IHS to expand VA services in the Chinle, Arizona, IHS facility. These shared spaces mean new access to VA care for hundreds of Native Veterans. It’s about meeting our Native Veterans where they live, rather than asking them to come to us.
And last spring, thanks in large part to your help, we implemented the copay exemption for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. This exemption honors our treaties with sovereign nations. It addresses health care access and disparities. It provides more health care options. And it builds on our work to strengthen our partnerships and trust.
Today, I can report that since we implemented that policy, VA has exempted or reimbursed more than 143,000 copayments totaling approximately $2.5 million for over 3,800 eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. And we are now collecting validated tribal affiliations for the purpose of the copay exemption.
Now, we know that there are still many who haven’t applied for the copay exemption. Here’s what we’ve learned. Historically, we have not had sufficient data to capture the full number of American Indian and Alaskan Native Veterans. Just a year ago, we believed there were only 10-20 thousand Native Americans enrolled in VA health care. Today, we estimate that there are more than 60,000 enrolled.
And that’s great news. We’ve standardized Race and Ethnicity demographic data—and that includes for Native populations. And we’re going to begin applying consistent collection standards to all VA forms and surveys, including the enrollment application for health benefits—the 1010-EZ. So, we encourage all eligible Native Veterans to apply for VA health care.
Now, let me touch on Veterans benefits.
First, we’re processing Veterans’ claims faster and providing more earned benefits than ever before. Last year, we received over 22,000 claims from American Indians and Alaska Natives—that’s more than a 40% increase over the previous year. For Native Vets and their families, that meant nearly $70 million in benefits—a 23% increase over 2022. That’s good news, and we’re going to fight to do even better this year.
And it’s so important that Native Vets have VA accredited Tribal Veterans Service Officers representing them, helping them get the benefits they’ve earned. That’s what the Navajo Nation Veterans Administration and the Gila River Indian Community have done—become VA-recognized Veterans Service Organizations with accredited representatives. And they started filing their Veterans’ claims for benefits immediately. We want—and Veterans need—more tribal governments to get that same VA recognition as a Veterans Service Organization.
That’s one reason it’s so important that two months ago President Biden signed the law granting a federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans service organization—NAIV. That charter gives Native Americans a seat at the congressional table with other Veteran Service Organizations like the American Legion, VFW, and AMVETS. And we’re ready to work on the VA recognition process with Commander Loudner and NAIV so that even more Native American Vets can have access to qualified tribal representation on their VA benefits claims.
Now, it was just over a year ago, August 2022, that President Biden signed legislation to care for Veterans exposed to toxins in Vietnam and in the last 30 years of war—the PACT Act. Thanks to your partnership, last year we held 40 toxic exposure claims clinics in Indian Country. The outcome—more than 6,400 toxic exposure claims granted to Native Veterans resulting in over $38 million in earned benefits for them and their families. And it’s a big reason why nearly 3,500 more American Indian and Alaska Native Vets have enrolled in VA health care since that law was signed.
We want to enroll more. Starting in March—thanks to the PACT Act—any Vet who served in Iraq, in Afghanistan, or any other combat zone after 9/11 can enroll in VA health care. Our biggest challenge—spreading the word … making sure every Veteran knows about this new eligibility.
And I’m asking for your help on this. Come March, let’s get as many of our Native Vets as possible to apply. If they’ve ever been denied before, let’s encourage them to re-apply. Because, listen—if they don’t need VA health care today, they might need it tomorrow, or the next day, or 30 years from now.
Phillip Morales understands this. His urgent message to his fellow Native American Veterans is this—“Tell people,” he said, “to go [to VA] sooner.” And he’s right. We need to get every Native Veteran the benefits they’ve earned, get every one of them enrolled in VA health care, long before there’s a crisis. Together, we can help avoid a crisis.
Here’s what I mean.
First point. Last year we permanently housed over 46,500 homeless Veterans. Over 1,000 [1,066] were Native American and Alaska Native Vets. But to any homeless Veteran right now, those numbers don’t mean much. So, I’m asking for your help. If you know of any Veterans who are homeless—or at risk of homelessness—let us know, and let us help. Get them to VA. You can call VA. Call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans anytime day or night. The number is 877-424-3838. We’ll get them connected to VA services. We need everyone spreading the word, helping get those Vets to VA.
Second point. In November, we released our report on Veteran suicide, and from 2020 to 2021 the suicide rate for Native American and Alaskan Native Veterans increased 53%. That constitutes a horrible tragedy. It’s absolutely unacceptable. And, it’s preventable.
Dr. Prairie Chicken and the Office of Tribal Health are collaborating with the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention to continue expanding and customizing suicide prevention tools so they’re culturally compatible with tribal communities.
And we know we have to reach more Native Americans and Alaska Native Veterans when it comes to suicide prevention. So, we are working with our partners at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to expand our suicide prevention efforts in Native Veterans’ communities. This will be a new, tribally driven approach that’s informed by your wisdom, your insights, and your traditions.
With the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, we’ve expanded access to local, community-based services providing suicide prevention for Veterans and their families. And we’ve provided nearly $5 million in grants to 21 community organizations providing suicide prevention services to Veterans within tribal nations.
And, now, the doors of emergency care at any health care facility are open to Vets in suicidal crisis—whether they are enrolled in VA care, or not. And it’s free.
But here’s the bottom line. No single organization can fix this. And, again, I’m asking for your help. If you know of a Veteran in a mental health crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line—9-8-8, press 1. That connects Veterans quickly and directly to the Veterans Crisis Line. Please, help us make sure all your people know that number. 988, Press 1.
And get any Veteran in crisis to VA or the emergency room. If you have challenges with emergency care access for Veterans on your tribal lands, tell us so we can work closely with you and fix that.
A few final words. We depend on—and I’m so grateful for—all the good work you’re doing to help us serve American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans as well as they have served this county. And if there’s ever a case where we’re coming up short, tell me, so we can get it fixed.
When I was in Anchorage last year, an Alaska Native Vet told me about the challenges they face having to travel to Anchorage or Fairbanks to get their benefits exams. Now, we’re working with the Kodiak Area Native Association and the Maniilaq Tribal Health Center in Kotzebue to see about using their space to conduct benefits examinations. And we’re also working to hold Alaska Veteran claims clinics outside of Fairbanks and Anchorage, closer to where many Alaska Native Veterans live.
Here’s my point. I want you to hold us accountable—accountable to you and, most importantly, accountable to the Vets we serve. I welcome that. It only makes us better.
And, in closing, I want to renew my commitment to you. We respect your tribal sovereignty. And at VA, we will not make decisions about you, without you.
Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your partnership. And thank you for all that you’re doing to help our nation’s Tribal Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
May God bless them, and may we always give them our very best.
]]>Good morning and thanks for that warm welcome. I hope you and those you love enjoyed rest, renewal, and joy during the holiday season. Tammy Barlet, thanks for your kind introduction. More importantly, thank you for your courageous leadership in the Coast Guard and your continued work advocating for your fellow Vets. My deepest appreciation as well to Jared Lyon, and to the entire SVA team who’ve been working hard around the clock—including over the holidays—to make this great event happen. Most of all, to all the student Veterans here in Nashville and watching across the country—thank you for your selfless service to our country, which continues through your work with SVA. You know, we at VA have no more important, no better partners than Student Veterans of America. Every single day, I see the real impact of your work … through the powerful community you build for Vets.
Before I get into it, I’ll give a shout-out to my teammates manning some of the VA info tables throughout NatCon. This year we’re taking up an entire row of booths covering nearly everything we do at VA—claims, mental health, military spouse employment, VA hiring, and much more. If you have any questions at all about our work at VA, come talk with my VA teammates—they’re here to help with any questions you might have and some you might not know you have.
We even have a Mobile VetCenter parked right outside. I recognize that the holiday season can be a uniquely challenging time for Veterans and their families, and for many of us. That’s natural. And know that if you find yourself struggling, you need not struggle alone. So if you want to talk to somebody during the course of this conference, please stop by the Mobile VetCenter for confidential counseling services. Of course, the Veterans Crisis Line is always open 24/7, 365 days a year. So if you’re ever in a crisis, please dial 988 and press 1. Let’s work together to ensure we all get the right mental health support that we need, and that we deserve.
And one final quick PSA—as you’re thinking about graduation and the next steps in your careers, consider making a career at VA. You’ve all already shown your commitment to serving your fellow Vets by building Veteran communities on your campuses. You can keep doing that work at VA. And there is no more noble mission than ours—caring for America’s Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. So, we want you at VA. We need you at VA. More importantly, your fellow Vets need you at VA.
When I spoke at NatCon last year, I talked about the ways we’re bringing the Digital GI Bill into the 21st century creating a modern, integrated system. I told you that we were modernizing the GI Bill—like everything we do now at VA—to ensure it fits your needs, rather than making you fit into VA’s needs. Well, we’ve spent the year doing just that. Now, a lot of the changes are happening behind-the-scenes, including the negotiation of a new contract to prioritize replacement of a 50-year-old IT system that processes your education payments. But let me tell you why these changes matter. They will make the GI Bill more efficient and modern than ever before. They will hold VA and our vendors more accountable to delivering for student Veterans. They will improve automation, making it easier for you to apply for and receive your education benefits—benefits that you’ve earned, and so richly deserve. They will put you in the driver’s seat so you can manage your own experience—quickly accessing your information and achieving your vocational and career goals, all on your time.
When it comes to your GI Bill, you shouldn’t have to worry. You shouldn’t have to worry if you’re going to get paid on time. You shouldn’t have to worry about platforms talking to each other. When it comes to any VA benefits or services, you shouldn’t have to worry. Our duty is keeping you at the center of everything we do. We are fitting our care and service into your lives, that are adapted to you and your needs, rather than expecting you to adapt to us. You are building new families, careers, and communities after your military service, all while going to school. If we’re going to keep our promise to Vets, we need to meet you where you are, when you need us, without exception.
The other thing we talked about last year was President Biden’s historic toxic exposure law—the PACT Act. This has been the largest expansion of Veteran health care and benefits in decades. In fact, since the PACT Act was signed in August 2022, Veterans and survivors have filed over 3 million claims. Over 1.3 million of those claims have been filed for toxic exposure-related benefits under the PACT Act. And over 5 million Vets have received toxic exposure screenings, paving the way to detect potential health challenges as early as possible. Now, we have a lot of work left to do, especially with younger, post-9/11 Vets. Younger Vets trust VA less than your older counterparts, and you’re applying for benefits and care at much lower rates. That could be for a number of reasons. But the bottom line is this: VA must be better and do better for all the Vets we serve. And to do that, we need your help. We need everyone’s help communicating with Veterans and families so that every Veteran gets the care they need, and the benefits they deserve.
Starting in March, all toxic-exposed Vets will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care under the PACT Act—including any Veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf War, or any other combat zone after 9/11. This will mean that millions of additional Veterans will get access to VA health care. Even if you don’t need this care today, you might need it tomorrow, the next day, or 30 years from now. And once you’re in, you have access for life. So, to those Vets and any Vets watching today: we want to serve you. At VA, we simply won’t rest, until we do.
Please, apply for your VA care and benefits now. Re-apply if you’ve been denied before. Stop by the VA Claims Clinic at this conference to meet with VA claims reps who will help you file a claim and answer any of your questions. We need every single person in this room to help encourage Veterans and families to get the care they need, and the benefits they deserve. With your help, we’re going to keep our sacred promise to those who served and sacrificed—to serve each of you as well as you served us.
You know, I love getting to work with SVA, every day—working to serve you, your families, caregivers, and survivors every bit as well as you have served our nation. As I was prepping for this speech, I took some time to re-read the SVA mission statement. I was struck by three seemingly simple but profound words: “To … through … and beyond.” You see, your mission doesn’t end when you show up to school. Your mission doesn’t end when you get through school and toss your hats at graduation. Here at SVA, you support each other far beyond the classroom, building a community that lasts a lifetime, creating impact that spans generations. You all join a long tradition of Veterans helping Veterans; always there for each other, always thinking of your country, never leaving behind a fellow Vet, continuing to strengthen our democracy. There is nothing better.
Think about it. A generation of World War II Veterans saved the world from the evils of fascism, Nazism, and imperialism. And when those Vets came home, settling down in communities around the country, colleges and universities saw their immense potential. Because here’s the thing. Vets make the very best students. The leadership, tenacity, and creative problem-solving—dedication to truth, and one another—that they learned on the battlefield is unrivaled in the classroom, in public life, and in business.
Now it’s true that the original GI Bill helped most Vets—16 million Vets—buy homes, get jobs, get training, get an education, transition back to a productive life back home. Here’s what else is true. Our country failed a million Black Vets—men and women, both—at the local, state, and federal levels. They fought for our freedoms overseas, only to be denied those very same freedoms here at home—as well as the benefits and care they so rightly deserve. And even though we failed them, they continued to serve our country both in and out of uniform. Student Vets served in the Civil Rights movement, integrating schoolhouses, universities, the military, and so much more. Student Vets fought for equal rights for all of us. And student Vets continued serving, defending and strengthening our democracy at home, in towns and cities across the country, long after they stood their final formations.
This “Greatest Generation” of Veterans became our pastors, cops, and doctors. They were our firefighters, teachers, carpenters, mayors, coaches, builders, dreamers, and doers. That’s your legacy. That’s your story. You’re following in those footsteps. Now, there are so many Vets whose names we all know. And there are so many more Vets whose names we may not know. Their impact resonates just as powerfully in their local communities, communities that are stronger, more vibrant because of you. Because of your service in uniform. And because of your continued service, since.
I’m thinking of Veterans like Katherine Martinez. Most of you know Katherine, some of you may not. Katherine’s worth knowing. She’s the first woman to become SVA president at Old Dominion University, and she’s a former SVA president at Tidewater Community College. Katherine’s dedicated her life and her work to preventing Veteran suicide. And it seems like I’ve seen Katherine everywhere, doing just about everything she can to help Veterans and their families, from service projects making meals for Veterans suffering from food insecurity to working out with military families on the White House lawn as part of the First Lady’s Joining Forces initiative.
What you might not know, however, is that for a long time, Katherine struggled with the idea of calling herself a Veteran. Despite her honorable service in the Navy, Katherine just thought that, somehow, her service didn’t count. Because Katherine was injured in the line of duty and couldn’t complete her enlisted contract, she thought that made her service count less. That was, of course, until Katherine heard about SVA. SVA—open to anyone in the military affiliated community—made her feel welcomed. You all made her feel welcome. And it was at this conference four years ago when Katherine found her people. Jared, Katherine says you were the first person who called her a Veteran. In Katherine’s words, “Jared kinda wouldn’t let me leave until I saw my service for what it was … that I was a Veteran like everyone else in the room.” That’s an example of the kind of impact all of you have … motivating, encouraging, uplifting one another.
Vet Jamie Springston has a similar story. Jamie’s a corpsman who served with Marine units overseas. When he returned home, Jamie struggled with PTSD and alcoholism. A fellow brother-in-arms—someone Jamie attended to after an IED blast in Afghanistan— stepped in when Jamie needed him the most. He brought Jamie to VA to get the care he needed, and that he deserved, that he earned—saving Jamie’s life, years after Jamie saved his. When Jamie got back in control of his life, he signed up for classes at Marshall University. That’s where he discovered Student Veterans of America. SVA, Jamie said, “has opened up doors … that I didn’t dream would be possible.”
I’ve met many, many other inspiring student Vets like Katherine and Jamie on trips around the country. Like Army Vet Kendarius Ivey at Tuskegee University; Marine Corps Vet Jenalee Wimer at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Navy Vet Kesha Westbrooks at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Air Force Vet Andrea Henschall at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and so many others.
Listen, you’re the bedrock of this country. And we need you to lead us into the future, now more than ever before. As unprecedented and unfamiliar as our challenges may feel today, we know that more challenges—perhaps even greater and more perplexing challenges—are inevitable as these next decades unfold. But here’s what I know. With you leading the way, we can meet any challenge. And at VA, we will stop at nothing to serve you every bit as well as you have served—and continue serving—all of us.
So, Jared, thank you for inviting me. Thank you, student Vets, for your service to our country—in and out of uniform. May God bless our Servicemembers across the country and around the globe. May God bless our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. And may God continue to bless our Nation. Thank you.
]]>Duane Sarmiento, thank you very much for that introduction, for your leadership of the VFW, and special thanks to your team for partnering with VA in hosting today’s ceremony.
Mr. President, Dr. Biden—as a military family and surviving parents of Iraq War Combat Veteran Major Beau Biden, you have brought to the White House unrelenting and forcefully demanding advocacy for Veterans and their families.
Madame Vice President, Mr. Emhoff; Chairman and Marine Veteran Mike Bost; Ranking Member Mark Takano; most importantly, to all the Veterans here today, your families, caregivers, and survivors, good morning.
It is fitting that we gather today at Arlington National Cemetery, on these hallowed, rolling hills overlooking our nation’s capital. With one sweep of the eye, we see the cost of freedom in the rows of marble headstones stretching into the distance, the final resting places of our nation’s heroes, and in the precision of the sentinels guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
And in today’s ceremony we see our nation’s Colors, flying alongside the flags of Veteran Service Organizations. I’m always struck by, and moved by the Veterans carrying those flags—a parade of patriotism marked by the same pride and precision as when they wore the uniform. We are here today to honor them. To honor each of you.
You are the unique strength of America. You reflect the exceptional diversity of our nation, coming from all backgrounds, ages, faiths, colors, and creeds. You represent, as the President reminds us, the very soul of America. And you continue to serve this country, to defend and strengthen our democracy long after you’ve stood your final formation. In fact, Vets are more civically engaged by nearly every measure: more likely to vote, to volunteer your time, to donate to charities, and to be involved in your communities. You are our neighbors, our friends. You’re our pastors, cops, firefighters, teachers, local leaders, coaches, and loved ones.
There are Vets whose names we know, and others whose names we may not know, but whose impact resonates in the heart of every community across this great country, which is stronger because of you, because of your service in uniform, and because of your continued service since.
I’m thinking of Veterans like David Muniz, a Navy Vet from Grand Junction, Colorado—one of VA’s more than 1,300 peer specialists, trained to help guide Vets through recovery from substance use or mental health challenges. David uses his personal experiences to inspire hope—a role model for his fellow Vets.
And Tammy Barlet out of Crownsville, Maryland, who patrolled the Persian Gulf during her time in the Coast Guard. Tammy found a passion in Veteran advocacy when she came home. Today, she’s a public health expert and VSO leader, supporting Veterans in higher education.
Veterans like Daniel Martin, an Army Vet out of Los Angeles, California. After the military, Daniel struggled. That is, until he heard about VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation Compensated Work Therapy program, which helped turn his life around. Today, Daniel’s the lead carpenter at West Los Angeles VA and a mentor in the very same VA program that offered him a second chance.
Or Clete Cashman, a 95-year-old Marine Corps Vet out of Dubuque, Iowa. Clete fought on the front lines during the Battle of Bunker Hill in the Korean War. He lost his best friend in that battle, and Clete was evacuated after being hit by shrapnel. I met Clete recently at a meeting in our Dubuque VA clinic. He came to the meeting because he said he “wanted to be part of any group that is figuring out how to take care of one another.” As is the case with all Marine Vets, he wasn’t there for himself. He came for others. “There is just too much hate,” he said, “and we need more love.”
And Tahina Montoya, our emcee for today’s event. Tahina has two jobs: one as an Air Force Reservist, another serving Veterans at VA. Proudly serving her country—in and out of uniform—every single day.
Veterans helping Veterans, always there for each other, always thinking of their country, never leaving behind a fellow Vet, continuing to strengthen our democracy. There is nothing better. That speaks to your sense of duty, your devotion to one another, and to our country. At VA, we will stop at nothing to serve you every bit as well as you have served—and continue serving—all of us.
As President Biden reminded us in his inaugural address, it is our responsibility to those heroes who lie in eternal rest here at Arlington, and to those Veterans still living, to ensure that “democracy and hope, truth and justice [do] not die on our watch, but [thrive].” Mr. President, Veterans are answering that call. And we are forever in their debt.
With that, it is now my great honor and privilege to introduce the 46th President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.
]]>Good afternoon. Eileen O’Reilly, thanks for that kind introduction, and for leading this important organization.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of America’s withdrawal from Vietnam. This year and every year, we remember the 58,220 American patriots who were killed or are still missing from that war. And we honor the 9 million Americans who raised their right hands and committed to serve and defend our Constitution as members of the Armed Forces during that tumultuous period in our country’s history.
One Veteran, Everett Alvarez, ejected from his A-4 Skyhawk on August 5th, 1964, shot down over North Vietnam. He landed in the water, among a small fleet of Vietnamese fishing boats, where he was quickly taken captive and became the first of 766 American Prisoners of War in Vietnam. Lieutenant Alvarez endured over eight years of captivity in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, marking the passage of time on the walls, and celebrating his own Catholic Mass every Sunday. He chose to hang on to every motivation he could muster—thoughts of home, the strength of faith, trust in his country, and a deep sense of duty to his fellow POWs. On February 12th, 1973—shortly after the US signed the Paris Peace Accords—Lieutenant Alvarez was finally freed.
His service didn’t end when he came back home. He remained in the Navy, retired as a Commander, and continued serving the Nation out of uniform—as Deputy Administrator at the VA, and as an advocate for his fellow Vets and their families. But my favorite part of Commander Alvarez’s story is what happened while he was recuperating after coming home. He met a wonderful woman, Tammy, and asked her on a date. That date—their first date—was at the White House, at an event honoring Commander Alvarez and his fellow Vietnam War POWs. Just a few months later, on October 27th, 1973, they married. And just last week, they celebrated their 50th year of marriage. Commander Everett Alvarez and Tammy are on another date—here this afternoon. Congratulations, and thank you for your courageous service to the Nation, your enormous sacrifice, and the high example of duty to country.
Veterans Day is Saturday. It’s a day we remember the millions of brave men and women—just like Everett Alvarez—who fought our nation’s wars and stood guard over our country during the periods of restless peace in between. It’s a day to reflect on what Veterans and their families have done and on what they’ve sacrificed for our country, for all of us. Because here’s the thing. When someone signs up to serve our country in the military, we make them a promise. If you fight for us, we will fight for you. If you serve us, we will serve you. If you take care of us, we will take care of you when you come home. Our country as a whole makes that promise. At VA, it’s our privilege and our honor to keep that promise.
So I’ll start with an update on what we at VA are doing to keep our promise to Veterans.
Since President Biden took office, VA has delivered more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. When it comes to the benefits Vets have earned and deserve, we’re processing their claims faster than ever before.
Here’s an example. Just over a year ago, President Biden signed his historic legislation designed to care for Veterans who were exposed to toxins in Vietnam and in thirty years of war in Central Command. The PACT Act. Sergeant Major Kenneth Erickson is one of those Vets. Sergeant Major Erickson served in the Army for nearly 30 years, with combat tours spanning from the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of Operation Desert Storm. Last May, the Sergeant Major was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and he filed for those new toxic exposure benefits. Our VA benefits team expedited the review of his claim. In less than a week, Sergeant Major Erickson was granted 100% service connection. And his benefits were backdated to August 10th, 2022, the day President Biden signed that bill into law. Because of that law, Sergeant Major Erickson has one less thing to worry about during the toughest battle of his life.
That’s what we mean when we talk about keeping the promise. Altogether, VA processed nearly 2 million claims in 2023—shattering last year’s record by 16%. That meant 1.5 million Veterans and their survivors received over $163 billion in earned benefits. We’re also providing more care to Veterans. This year VA delivered more than 116 million health care appointments to Veterans, exceeding last year’s numbers by more than 3 million appointments. And it’s not just more care, it’s better, world-class health care. Study after study shows we’re delivering better health outcomes for Veterans than the private sector, which is a big reason nearly 90% of Vets who come to VA now trust us to deliver their outpatient care. 5.4 million people—including 4.1 million Veterans—are taking their final rest in VA national cemeteries. And we’ve doubled our online Veterans Legacy Memorial program to nearly 10 million Veterans—a digital platform keeping Veterans’ stories alive long after they’re gone.
Now look, behind all those statistics are Veterans like Commander Everett Alvarez and Sergeant Major Kenneth Erickson. They are our neighbors. They’re our friends. They’re teachers, civic leaders, coaches, and loved ones. They’re continuing to serve America, to defend and strengthen our democracy, long after they take off the uniform. And all our work at VA adds up to the single statistic that matters most: Veterans lives saved, or improved, by the work we do, together.
That’s what we’ve done. Now a bit about how we’ve done it, and who does it. The VA workforce has been delivering for Vets during a period of rapid change, teaching us vivid lessons that have forever altered the way VA does business.
First, while the COVID-19 public health emergency came to an end six months ago, let’s not forget that VA’s clinicians and frontline staff provided world-class care through what has been a devastating, once-in-a-century health crisis. From the moment the pandemic hit, VA’s public servants mobilized around one core mission—saving and improving the lives of Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. They worked long hours. They sacrificed precious time with their families. They risked their own lives—and by extension the lives of their loved ones—to serve Veterans. Because, you see, that’s our promise. And there are Veterans at home with their families right now, happy and healthy, all because of the best workforce in federal government. I am incredibly grateful to every one of them.
Second, today’s servicemembers and Vets represent the most deployed force in our history. And our thoughts are with the brave men and women serving in uniform in this period of heightened readiness and urgent security challenges in the Middle East and around the world. Through this thirty-year, intense period since September 11th, 2001, many have experienced multiple deployments and came home gripped by both the visible and the invisible scars of battle and moral injury. All of them were exposed to particulate matter and toxic fumes from burn pits and other sources. Months or years later, some have developed—and others might yet still develop—conditions that followed them home from war, and impact their lives long after the guns fell silent. And it’s our job as a nation to provide those Vets, their families, and their survivors with benefits and care for those conditions. Because that’s our promise. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.
These important developments—the pandemic and our national commitment to recognize the need to care for burn pit exposures—have catalyzed a dramatic period of change and reform at VA, revolutionizing the way we do business. But one thing hasn’t changed: keeping Vets at the center of everything we do. So let me share four lessons we’ve learned during VA’s new, Veteran-centric era.
First lesson: we are fitting our care and service into Veterans’ lives, not expecting Veterans to build their lives around us. If we’re going to keep our promise to Vets, we need to meet them where they are, when they need us, without exception. So we’ve reached out to Vets and listened to what they wanted. And using a Veteran-centered design approach, we developed tools to ensure Veterans and their caregivers have positive, productive experiences when engaging with VA. We overhauled VA dot gov to make it the digital front door for all the services VA offers Vets. Medical appointments, filing a claim, applying for education benefits all go through that same front door. And the new VA Health and Benefits Mobile App gives Vets access to that digital front door, meaning Vets with a smart phone can have all their VA services right in the palm of their hands, wherever they are. So, while a Vet’s waiting to pick kids up from school, out on a lunch break, or watching a football game, they can refill a prescription, send a secure message to their doctor, take a quick telehealth appointment, access their travel reimbursement, and more.
It’s working. Not perfectly, but it’s working. We’ve seen a staggering 3000% jump in Vets’ virtual home visits since 2020—nearly 28 million total in that time span. By offering care that’s built into the lives of Vets at VA, in the community, via telehealth, and alongside focused processes and technological advances, we’ve decreased average wait times in nearly 60% of our facilities while still delivering the very best health outcomes for Vets. The same is true at VBA, where we reduced our average time to complete a claim by 15 days. And at the Board of Veterans Appeals, where using tele-appeals helped us set a single-year record of 103,000 claims decisions over the last year. As a result, Vets’ trust in VA has grown stronger. Here’s the point: we at VA are about shaping solutions for Vets that meet them where they are, that are adapted to them and their needs, rather than expecting Vets to adapt to us.
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Second lesson, VA’s people—not machines, not buildings, not computers—keep our promise to Vets. From ending Veteran homelessness, to delivering toxic exposure benefits, none of it happens without the best workforce in the federal government. They’re the most passionate, highest-performing public servants in the country. They’re folks who want to make real differences in the lives of Veterans. I’m proud and I’m privileged that they’d consider me their colleague and teammate. We owe it to them to have a workforce sized to meet the mission, that can ensure we operate to ensure Veteran patient safety and high-quality claims decisions. So, this has been a year of hiring at a record pace while retaining our experienced staff. This year, we strengthened our partnerships with our unions and both the Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans Benefits Administration grew at their fastest rates in 15 years. VHA now has more than 400,000 employees for the first time in history. And with 32,000 employees, VBA’s bigger than it’s ever been. We’ve also increased employee retention, even in one of the hottest labor markets in decades—a market with profound health care provider shortages. Why are we able to grow our workforce in this context? Because people want to work for our nation’s heroes.
People like Chelbie Long, a VA Nurse Aide. For her, serving Veterans at the Bay Pines VA is a family affair. Her brother’s a surgical nurse at Bay Pines VA, and they’re both following in mom’s footsteps—a nurse in the Bay Pines Community Living Center. And Navy Vet Crishawn Lloyd, a Veterans Service Representative—or V-S-R—at the Chicago Regional Office. Crishawn was inspired to work at VA because of the thorough, responsive care his VSR gave him when he was transitioning out of the Navy. Then there’s Hector Rodriguez, a Marine Corps Vet. Hector went from being homeless on the streets of San Diego to working as a caretaker at Miramar National Cemetery, thanks to VA’s Compensated Work Therapy program. Hector regularly returns to his former homeless camp, hoping to inspire and support other Vets in crisis. Veterans helping Veterans. There is nothing better.
Third, this work takes all of us. VA can’t—and doesn’t—keep the promise to Vets alone. From the White House to the Hill, from faith-based and community groups to Veteran Service Organizations, from private sector to universities, we all play a critical role. These partnerships are helping us tackle some of our most pressing priorities on preventing Veteran suicide, ending Veteran homelessness, improving health care access, and more.
We just launched the second round of grants under the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Program. These grants go to local organizations implementing innovative new suicide prevention services where Veterans live and work, meaning that we fund local people who know their Veterans best. Organizations like Nation’s Finest, which provides transitional and permanent supportive housing for Vets in rural communities across California, Arizona, and Nevada. This team recently helped a pregnant Vet fleeing domestic violence. They enrolled her in prenatal care at VA, connected her to Veteran resources, and provided her with temporary housing. She is just one Veteran of hundreds they help every year.
And working with state, local, and community partners, we are providing more housing and wraparound services to more homeless and at-risk Veterans than ever before. As we did last year, we are on pace again this year to exceed our goal of permanently housing 38,000 homeless Vets.
Part of the way we provided more care to more Veterans than ever before is through the community care program. Succeeding in the community means scheduling appointments faster. We’re doing that. It means paying our bills more quickly. We’re doing that, too. And it means incorporating the records of that care in the community into the Veteran’s record so that we recognize the full promise of VA’s integrated health care system, allowing providers and Vets to work together to build joint plans of treatment and medical interventions. A psychiatrist seeing a Vet for PTSD and TBI can see their Vet’s neurological records. Then, the team can huddle up with the Vet and their loved ones to discuss coordinated care plans along with the neurologist, social workers, clinical pharmacists, primary care providers, and any other team member involved in that Vet’s care. This kind of integrated treatment improves outcomes. It saves Vets’ lives. But if we are not getting the records of the Veterans care in the community, we decrease efficiency, increase costs, and reduce effectiveness. So, we have to see our community partners as just that—partners in our quest to provide integrated, Veteran-centric care that leads to high-quality outcomes.
Now, as I stand before you in the National Press Club I have to underscore our partnership with the press. We cannot keep our promise to Vets without you, the journalists who tell Veterans’ stories—journalists like Patricia Kime. You know, Patricia’s stories make VA better. Because they trust Patricia’s reporting, Veterans, VA employees, and other stakeholders talk to her when something is not working the way it should or the way we are telling you it is working. So her reporting and her stories help us better understand what Veterans experienced in war, what they’re going through here at home, and how we can better help them, oftentimes bringing something to our attention that we did not know was happening. For example, a couple months ago, Patricia noticed a software issue on the VA.gov website that was preventing some Vets from submitting claims appeals. She asked us for comment. Alerted to the problem by Patricia, we were able to immediately fix the bug, reach out to Veterans who were impacted, alert Congress to the issue that this important reporting identified, and prevent similar issues from happening again in the future. Patricia’s here today, so I’ll speak to her directly. Your work’s having a direct and positive impact on the lives of Vets. You make us better able to serve Vets by holding us to account.
You and so many great journalists—people like Leo Shane, Quil Lawrence, Ellen Milhiser, Ben Kesling, Eric Katz, Courtney Kube, Jory Heckman, and Orion Donovan Smith—are helping us serve Veterans far better than we ever could alone.
And just yesterday, investigative reporting from Dave Philipps in the New York Times uncovered the unseen TBI risks faced by Soldiers and Marines who operated heavy artillery weapons in the fight against ISIL. Because of his reporting, VA will be reaching out to those Vets who served in field artillery units to ensure they’re receiving the care they need. Those Vets served in Syria and Iraq, making them eligible for toxic exposure care under the PACT Act. Several of the Vets profiled in Dave’s piece are characterized as receiving less than honorable discharges. While VA cannot change a Vets’ character of discharge, Vets are not automatically disqualified from VA services because of discharge status. In fact, over the past 10 years VA has granted benefits or care to 73% of Vets with Other Than Honorable discharges. So to those Vets in that heartbreaking story and any Vets watching today, we want to serve you. Please, apply now. And re-apply if you’ve been denied before. And we need everyone’s help—every single person in this room’s help—communicating with Vets, so they get the care they need, and the benefits they deserve.
Fourth and finally, we’ve seen again and again that earning Veterans’ trust is critical to everything we do. Trust means many things for Vets. It means making it easier for Veterans to get care and benefits, ensuring that their VA services are effective, and that they feel respected when they come to VA. There’s no greater privilege than having that trust, and there’s no higher bar to meet. Since VA began measuring trust in 2016 through something we call the “V-Signal,” those three measures of trust and the Veteran experience—ease, effectiveness, and emotion—have increased. VA currently has 174 active surveys bringing in over 12 million responses over the life of V-Signal, allowing us to hear directly from Veterans about their experiences at VA. All of this information is released to the public through our quarterly VA Trust Reports and at va.gov/trust, tying trust metrics with our performance at VA.
Three of the VA teammates who help manage this intensive survey process that helps us ensure the Veteran experience and trust in VA’s care and benefits joined me at lunch here today. They all work in front-line Veteran Experience roles, helping VA measure and learn how to build trust better with Veterans. Let me tell you about them.
- Brianna Camera went into health care because her dad was sick when she was in high school. Her grandpa was an Army Vet, but he didn’t trust VA care when he left the military. And that’s her passion—making damn sure other Vets have a good experience with VA.
- Lynn Thiem comes from a long tradition of naval service. While she didn’t serve, she often says that there’s “seawater in her family’s blood.” Well, when her son joined the Navy as a rescue swimmer, Lynn was working on digitizing VA’s old paper records. She went on to lead the very first Veterans Experience project on machine learning, and today she brings her expertise to help VA make data-driven decisions to our benefits processes.
- And Richard Barbato served as an Army officer in the 82nd Airborne Division—All the Way! He fought in the initial invasion in Iraq. And in the years after, we’ve lost 40 of the Paratroopers he served with to suicide—including a best friend. Many of them rest today across the river in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. Richard came to VA to honor them. And, he says, “This has never felt like work. It’s a mission. I wake up every morning because of this mission.”
Now you see why I’m so excited and humbled to be a part of this team. They each share the same deep devotion to keeping our promise to Vets that characterizes all of VA’s people. Our mission is far from over. There are enormous challenges ahead, not least meeting the demand of the millions of veterans who have filed claims under the Pact Act and who will qualify to be enrolled in VA health care. But I know that with my VA teammates leading the way—public servants like Brianna, Lynn, and Richard—VA will continue serving Vets every bit as well as they have served all of us. And as we look to the future, we’re not trying to build a VA that goes back to the old normal. Instead, we’re going to continue to do better for Vets. We’re going to continue to be better for Vets.
And this future at VA isn’t because of me. It’s because of the 450,000 VA employees—in your communities and neighborhoods across the country—who keep Vets at the heart of their care. And it’s because of you, too.
So, again, to all the Veterans here today, and watching, thank you—for everything.
And, to the Press Club, my thanks for all that you do holding us accountable to Vets, and telling their stories in the powerful ways that you do. God bless you all. And God bless our nation’s servicemembers, our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. Now, Eileen, let’s go to questions.
]]>Britt, thanks for that kind introduction, and for your advice and counsel. And Leroy, thanks so much for the invitation to join you today, and for your leadership as President of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Let me also acknowledge Colonel Ralph Puckett, our country’s last surviving Korean Medal of Honor recipient. Colonel Puckett, I’m told you were in the Enlisted Reserve Corps during WW II, a combat Veteran of both Korea and Vietnam, the captain of the boxing team at West Point, and that you served as the Honorary Colonel of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Now, the Korean War is sometimes referred to as America’s “Forgotten War,” falling between WWII and Vietnam. But Colonel Puckett, you will never be forgotten. It’s an honor to be here with you, Sir.
And it’s good to see my VA colleagues: Skye McDougal, our VISN 16 Network Director; Fernando Rivera, our New Orleans VA Medical Center Director; members of our new VA Medal of Honor Program team—Debi Bevins, Jennifer Koget, Jennifer Silva, Annette Field, and Alice Entrekin. Could I ask you ladies to stand and raise your hands? These folks have been here for the duration of your convention. I hope many of you’ve met them or find the opportunity to meet them. They’re good at what they do, and they’re here for one reason—to assist you, and to provide whatever information you need about VA. And they’re grateful for the incredible support they’ve received from Jane Barnes, your society’s Executive Director of Healthcare and Advocacy—Jane, thank you.
Last, but most importantly, all the Medal of Honor recipients in attendance, your family members and guests. I am humbled to be able to spend some time with you. I’m humbled and I’m honored because you are members of the most exclusive organization in our nation. The narratives of what you did for your fellow service members, for our military, and for America describe unbelievable acts of valor—levels of courage and qualities of character that are hard, sometimes impossible, to comprehend. The depths of determination and heights of bravery you demonstrated set you apart and provide courageous examples for all those in uniform, for those who will wear our uniforms in the future, and for every American who understands what you did.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice in combat, for defending our country, and for your leadership today in communities across the nation. We are better Americans for your examples of courage, selfless service, and citizenship.
I want to talk for a few minutes about why VA exists, our priorities, and the scope of what we do. When young Americans sign up to serve our country in the military, we make them a promise. If you fight for us, we’ll fight for you. If you take care of us, we’ll take care of you when you come home. Our nation makes that promise, but it’s our job at VA to keep it. That’s why we exist.
And our vision for the future of VA is simple—provide more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. I believe providing more care and more services means less suffering for Veterans who served and sacrificed and sometimes can’t escape the lifelong visible and invisible wounds of war and service that they bear on behalf of the nation.
Of all Americans, and all Veterans, I believe you best understand the burdens borne by many Veterans. That’s why, in April of this year, we instituted our VA Medal of Honor Program. We want to serve you as well as you’ve served us, and that’s a very high bar to reach. But if we don’t get started, we’ll surely never get there.
Now, I understand some of you routinely use VA care and services. I know some of you have a hybrid model of care, using other care providers along with VA. And some of you are not engaged with VA at all. And all of that’s fine. If we at VA have done all we can to assist you, if you know what benefits and services you’ve earned, and if you’re getting all you need, all that’s fine. But we want to serve more of you. We want to provide more care and more services to you. That’s our goal for you, and for all Veterans.
Now, most people see VA as a big health care organization. For the most part, that’s true. The Veterans Health Administration, VHA, operates 173 VA Medical Centers networked with almost 1,700 sites offering outpatient-only care, 316 Vet Centers, and other outreach and mobile clinics. With that infrastructure, and over 9 million enrolled patients, VA’s the largest, integrated healthcare system in the country.
We have academic affiliations with over 1,400 educational institutions, including 99% of the nation’s medical schools—120,000 Health Professional Trainees receive training at VA facilities each year. VA’s medical innovations and research have made life better for Veterans and for millions of Americans—the first implantable cardiac pacemaker, the first successful liver transplants, the nicotine patch to help smokers quit, and leading critical investigations into Long COVID to name a few.
And VHA is providing a record amount of care—over 87 million outpatient visits 42.4 million at VA last year. Simultaneously, we’ve delivered more telehealth care than ever before—more than 2.4 million Veterans received part of their care through 11.6 million telehealth appointments.
But health care is just one of our three major operations. We also have the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). So, here’s what’s also true about VA. We’re second only to the Department of Education in providing education benefits, amounting to $10.3 billion annually to over 819,000 Veterans and family members. We are the Nation’s 12th largest life insurance enterprise. We insure every member of the military as well as their spouses and children, covered by SGLI. VBA guarantees almost 14 million home loans, and our foreclosure rate is the second lowest in the Nation.
And VBA has been working tirelessly to implement the historic toxic exposure law, the PACT Act, which can be the largest expansion of Veterans’ benefits in decades. Since the PACT Act was signed, Veterans and survivors have filed over 1.1 million claims for toxic exposure-related benefits. More than 630,000 of those PACT-Act related claims have been completed, and VBA has awarded over $2 billion in earned benefits.
VA also operates the country’s largest national cemetery system, NCA, with 155 national cemeteries, and an additional 122 VA-grant funded state cemeteries. Almost 70% of NCA’s 2,200 employees are Veterans—the highest percentage in the federal government. Fifty-five percent of those employees are disabled Veterans. NCA employees know the cost of freedom because they see it every day at work. And NCA also manages the award-winning Veterans Legacy Memorial, an online interactive web site that allows family and friends to share memories for nearly 10 million Veterans, and counting.
All of this is to say that in addition to providing health care, VA is a large enterprise designed and devoted entirely to serving America’s Veterans. And, again, our goal is to provide more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. That means reaching out to all Veterans—including the distinguished Veterans in this room. I understand your Society’s top priority is the health and welfare of the recipient members. Our priority at VA is the same, for all of you, and for every Veteran.
VA and members of your society are not strangers. We have an historic and enduring relationship. Some of our facilities are named, of course, for Medal of Honor recipients. Outside our VBA Office in Washington, we proudly display a plaque with the names of 98 Medal of Honor recipients who chose to continue serving other Veterans at VA after leaving the military. All told, about one in eight Medal of Honor recipients from the World War II generation ended up finding employment at VA—including Hershel “Woody” Williams, whose VA-career spanned 30 years. And I believe Brian Thacker is here today. Brian, also, had a long career at VA after his military service—23 years, I believe.
What I want to convey is that the members of your iconic society and VA have always been connected in important ways. And we want to further strengthen those connections in every way possible. That’s why I’m here today. That’s why we’ve established our new VA Medal of Honor Program team—and why five members of that team are here today.
In closing, I want to ask for your help. If you share with us areas in which VA is falling short, we’ll work tirelessly to fix it. We want to be advocates for all of you and build trust with you—with all Veterans. And I want VA to serve you well enough that you become advocates for your VA. This is an invitation for you, for all Vets, to build new relationships with VA—Vets who don’t have a relationship with VA, and Vets who may have tried VA in the past but didn’t feel welcome. We owe every Veteran better than that.
And when we can earn your trust, when you become advocates for your VA, you’ll be helping us accomplish our top priority and achieve our vision—more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. Thank you all for what you have done for our nation, and for what you’re doing now. Thank you for having me as your guest. I’m truly honored to be here. May God bless all of you and your families, our current service members, and
]]>Beth Ripley, thanks for that kind introduction and, much more importantly, thank you for leading the Healthcare Innovation and Learning Team bringing so many life-changing innovations to the Veterans we serve.
Dr. Carolyn Clancy, good morning. You once told an audience that our most valuable asset at VA is our people—a force of caring, compassionate, innovative professionals deeply committed to the Veterans we serve. Truer words were never said, and you are one of our most valued professionals. Thank you for your leadership.
And Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, thank you so much for your leadership, your candid counsel, and your unyielding commitment to Veterans. Your visionary leadership couldn’t be more important than it is right now.
I want to especially acknowledge all our VA employees doing the heavy lifting on the frontlines of VA health care.
And last but certainly not least, our Veterans—could I have all the Veterans here stand and be recognized? We’re here for you.
Good morning, everyone! And, Welcome home, Innovators! I want to begin by putting this year’s Innovation Experience in some context, because we’ve witnessed three really historic moments these last several years that have forever changed VA health care.
First historic change—of course, the pandemic, an extraordinary public health emergency. And from the second it hit, you and your teams mobilized around one core mission—saving and improving the lives of Veterans, their caregivers, and survivors during a time of dire need. It should be lost on none of us that—because of you—there are Veterans at home with their families, right now, happy and healthy.
Second historic change—Post-9/11 Vets are out of 20 years of war … the most deployed force in our country’s history. So many have come home with both the visible and the invisible scars of battle and gripped by moral injury reintroduced by the chaotic fall of Kabul.
Third historic change—the largest expansion of Veteran health care and benefits in decades, that you all are helping implement—President Biden’s toxic exposure law the PACT Act. That law’s bringing millions of Vets to VA, many for the very first time, and we hope it will bring many Vets back to VA to give them another chance to be cared for, by you. They do better in your care. That’s a fact.
And through all of that, you’re delivering more care to more Veterans than at any other time in VA history. So, three huge changes, and one thing that will never change, that can never change—the Veteran-centric care you bring to Veterans. And when it comes to innovation, it’s Veteran-centric care paired with new innovations, innovative solutions for Vets that only come from putting ourselves in the shoes of the Veterans we serve. That’s the unique strength of VA health care—your tireless patient-centric care fueled by regular innovation.
All of which is to say, American Veterans are depending on the extraordinary ingenuity and innovative spirit you bring to the table. They’re putting their trust in your hands. So we need you thinking big, about that, about Veteran-centric care so we can do even better ensuring Vets have timely access to the highest quality, evidence-based care in the country.
Now, before things get moving too quickly, I do want us to pause a few moments, really ground our thoughts and our work in one thing. Veterans. Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, and your deep devotion to caring for them, to serving them as well as they have served all of us.
Veterans Day is right around the corner, and I can think of no better time to come together like this, here in the nation’s capital, and be inspired, be inspired by reflecting deeply on what Veterans mean to each of us, so many of you Veterans yourselves, and by celebrating your great compassion. Because compassion for our Veterans has to be at the heart of, has to be the very foundation of the only kind of innovation that matters to us at VA. That’s innovation that makes Veterans’ lives better. That is the only reason we’re here—to fight like hell for Veterans, for all Veterans.
Here’s what that fight looks like. You know that women comprise our fastest growing cohort of Veterans. And we’re committed to providing women Vets the full range of health services they need for their health and well-being—gender-specific care, contraception, fertility services, reproductive health, family building, and more. We still have a lot of work to do. And Melissa Tran down at Orlando VA Medical Center—one of Medical Center Director Tim Cooke’s teammates—is leading us.
Here’s what I mean. Melissa’s one of VA’s great mental health care professionals. But it was her own very personal lived experiences that sparked her innovative spirit.
You see, when Melissa decided to be a mom, she had her own challenges—with infertility, with pregnancy. And her post-partum experience was difficult—struggles with doubt, feelings of failure, depression, anxiety. She learned first-hand how critical it is to have the right support. And she learned how damn hard it is to get support for maternal health care when resources are scattered across communities.
So, it was tough for Melissa, and she knew it was no easier for Vets. She decided to change that. She asked herself, Can VA do better by our women Vets when it comes to reproductive care? Can we give them in-house wraparound maternal health care services? Can we give them interdisciplinary care provided by VA teams specializing in perinatal care? Melissa’s answer, Yes. We owe it to them. And she got to work, determined to meet women Vets where their needs are with a customized, intensive, and individualized care plan. And that’s PREPARe—Peri-natal Reproductive Education, Planning, and Resources. PREPARe.
PREPARe’s designed to give Vet families the support they need to navigate life experiences like infertility and loss, like pregnancy, and post-partum health and wellness. And PREPARe’s designed to minimize adverse social determinants of care and health care disparities among Veterans by emphasizing inclusiveness—that means minority communities, LGBTQ+ parents, parents who adopt, parents with disabilities, all Veterans and their families.
What kind of difference is PREPARe making in Veterans’ lives? It’s changing their lives, for the better. One example—Frieda Martin, an Army Vet, and an incredibly good, incredibly strong human being. Truly inspirational. Now, while many Veterans cherish fond memories of camaraderie from their service, Frieda’s Army experience was shrouded in darkness—three miscarriages while deployed to Germany, and the brutal experience of Military Sexual Trauma that cut her time in service short.
Still, when our country went to war after 9/11, Frieda, now a Veteran, was determined to serve. And serve she did—deployed for over a decade to where the fighting was, as a contracted logistician and transportation specialist. She deployed to Kuwait, to Iraq, to Afghanistan, and then on to Djibouti. When she came back to the States, Frieda decided to try again to be a mom. And she knew she needed some help. Thankfully, Frieda found Melissa and PREPARe, because with all the pain and trauma she’d experienced, she needed exactly the kind of support PREPARe offers Vets.
And she embraced every service PREPARe offered that would help—that’s pre- and post-partum nutrition classes, lactation classes, yoga, hypnosis, meditation, mental health support for post-partum depression, whatever Melissa could throw at her, Frieda tackled it. Because she’s a fighter. Because she wanted to recover from the pain of Military Sexual Trauma. Because she wanted a healthy baby. Because she wanted to be the best mom she could be.
And guess what? She made it. Her little girl, Frieda Jr., is one year old now. And Frieda’s going to give Frieda Jr. a baby brother or sister sometime soon. Here’s what she’ll tell you about Melissa’s innovation, PREPARe. “It changed my life,” she said. “It made me a better person. It made me a better mom.” She said that PREPARe has empowered her “to deal with life, and I’m dealing with it.”
Today, Frieda is powerful. She graduated college. She runs her own insurance company. She’s living life on her own terms, she says. And she’s helping her fellow Veterans learn about all the benefits and services VA offers. Veterans helping Veterans, there’s nothing better than that. And that’s innovation at its very best.
And Melissa’s goal—get PREPARe embedded at every VA medical center, so all Veterans who want the service have access to it. Melissa taught other VA employees and Veterans about PREPARe at VA’s first ever Maternal Health Summit this past July. And so far, over 40 VA hospitals have consulted PREPARe to learn how to expand VA’s perinatal services at our medical centers across the country. And you know what, every Veteran deserves that kind of support, that kind of access. Talk about changing Veterans lives for the better. Tim, please tell Melissa how grateful we are for her work, for her vision, her compassion, and her innovation.
That’s just one great example of what Veteran-centric innovation in our fight for Veterans looks like. Veteran-centric innovation is about Veterans finding peace and tranquility they haven’t experienced for far too long, or finding relief from chronic pain and post-traumatic stress challenges thanks to innovative ways of using Virtual Reality and Immersive Technology. Veteran-centric innovation is Veterans making it to health care appointments more reliably, and more easily thanks to innovations like Dr. Indra Sandal and Ben William’s VHA Uber Health Connect. As one Vet said, without it “I wouldn’t be able to get to my appointments. It’s wonderful. I’m so blessed.”
It’s Veterans comforted by calls they get from the Compassionate Contact Corps Lori Murphy launched during the pandemic—volunteers reaching out to Vets at risk of loneliness, spending time with them, building lasting and fulfilling friendships. As one Vet said, “People aren’t meant to be all alone. These calls have been a dream come true.”
It’s innovation that puts health care device manufacturing right at the point of Veterans’ care.
Remember the groundbreaking GioStent we featured back in 2021? That was VA’s first-ever FDA cleared 3D-printed medical device for compassionate use that innovators down at the Charleston VA produced, hand-in-hand with the Veteran they were caring for. Well, that GioStent paved the way for more 3D projects tailored to meet Vets’ individual needs. It’s thanks to that kind of innovative spirit that we can say, At VA, if we can’t buy it, we’ll make it.
And Veteran-centric innovation is what our MISSION DAYBREAK grantees are after to help end Veteran suicide. I’m thinking about Battle Buddy innovators out at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies. They’re working with SoldierStrong to see if interactive AI can help assess a Vet’s potential for suicidal ideation, prevent a suicidal crisis, and connect Vets to the mental health interventions they need in the moment. I’m thinking about Televeda’s Hero’s Story Project, a mental health application that uses traditional healing practices like storytelling and talking-circle interventions to bring balance, beauty, and harmony to Native American and Alaskan Native Vets struggling with depression and suicidal ideation.
Listen, I could go on and on. You’re doing so much. And you’ll see some great examples these next few days. But let’s not forget—at the end of the day, we’re back to the very heart of the matter, to the only question that matters. Does what we’re doing—individually and as a collective group—make Veterans’ lives better? A national review of more than 40 peer-reviewed studies shows that VA care is consistently as good as—or better than—non-VA health care. That, folks, is a result of your hard work, Veteran-centric work, and the Veteran-centric work of your colleagues back home.
And we offer the best health care for Vets because we keep the Veteran-centric innovations coming. But we can never rest on our laurels. When it comes to meaningful, Veteran-centric innovations, we must keep trying. And, inevitably, trying means failing.
Trying, failing, and learning. That’s the hard road to meaningful, Vet-centric innovation. Let me ask, how many people here have failed trying to find the right answer to a tough problem? Show of hands. Yeah. Exactly. It’s a big club.
Now, there are rare cases when we get it exactly right, the very first time. But more often, genuine success that’s addressing the most difficult problems, that’s answering the most urgent needs is the product of failure after failure after failure. And because we’re in the business of serving Veterans, because we’re fighting like hell for them, if we do fail, we never, ever give up.
One of this country’s greatest innovators and public servants Thomas Edison taught us that “our weakness lies in giving up.” He said, “The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” It isn’t magic. It isn’t genius. Hell, it’s not even miraculous. It’s much more fundamental than that. It’s believing in yourself, and in each other, and then leaning on one another when you’re stuck.
It’s the spirit of High Reliability Organizations—people empowered by leaders to be problem solvers, a shared commitment to resilience, to bouncing back from mistakes, to learning, adjusting, and getting back on track. And it’s a tight, tight grip on that most powerful and beautiful vision we can have—making life better for the very best people this country has to offer, our Veterans, not just helping them survive, but giving them the opportunity and the drive to thrive, once again.
That’s what you’re about. That’s what we’re about here this week. And while innovation is critically important, there’s no replacing your core expertise—your human touch with our Veterans. So, think about how we can impact the care of many, many Veterans—without losing that personal impact you make on every Vet.
Remember, I said at the outset that Veterans have put their trust … put their very lives in your hands. I have no doubt that in your hands that trust is well placed.
May God bless all of you, our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. And may we always give them our very best. Have a great innovation experience!
]]>Chaplain Willis, thanks for that kind introduction, for your leadership, and for the critical spiritual care you and your team of chaplains bring to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. And I’m especially grateful, Chaplain Willis, for the work you’re doing in support of the President’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Conrad [Washington] so good to see you and the team from the VA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Thanks to you all for your commitment to strengthening VA’s partnerships so we can reach every Veteran.
Let me also acknowledge my good friend whom I admire greatly, Melissa Rogers from the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
And most of all, my thanks to our chaplains and faith-based and community partners.
It’s always a privilege to be among leaders from different faith communities. I couldn’t be more grateful for all you do, and for our partnership serving Vets, their families, caregivers, and survivors. And I’m grateful we’re together so soon after the vicious terrorist assault on Israel just over two weeks ago.
The brutality of that attack rightly led the President to identify it as “evil.” And there is no more accurate description of it. And as we’ve feared, there’s been a spike in extremist threats and hate crimes, including anti-Semitic and Islamophobic violence. A week ago Saturday in Illinois, we saw more of that evil—again, again, no more accurate description of it—in the vicious murder of a Palestinian-American boy, a six-year-old child, and in the brutal attempted murder of his mother. So, as President Biden has urged, “We must stand united—regardless of our backgrounds and beliefs—[and] affirm that an attack on any one group of us is an attack on us all and that hate can have no safe harbor in America.”
And you, our faith leaders, you help us hear our better angels. You are our frontline of defense against religious hate. That’s why this gathering—which is a celebration of unity, of community, of multi-faith partnerships—is so important, particularly now.
At its essence, this is a celebration of love. And strong love must be what we’re about.
Here’s what I mean. Recently I read about the time—nearly six decades ago—that American journalist Calvin Trillin found himself with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on a flight from Atlanta to Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. King was heading to Greenwood, Mississippi, into the thick of the civil rights fight. During the flight, Mr. Trillin listened to a conversation between Dr. King and another passenger—a young white man who was critical of Dr. King’s effort to end segregation, even suggesting that what the Reverend was advocating was contrary to biblical teaching.
He asked Dr. King, “Do you feel you’re teaching Christian love?”
“Yes,” Dr. King replied, “that’s my basic approach. I think love is the most durable element in the world, and my whole approach is based on that,” he said. “I’m not talking about weak love,” Dr. King explained. “Weak love can be sentimental and empty. I’m talking,” he said, “about the love that is strong, so that you love your fellow-men enough to lead them to justice.”
Strong love.
Now, that’s the toughest love of all, because it demands so much from us—demands that we pick up that yoke of leading others and lead them to justice. Strong love demands action. It moves us to advocacy, to alliance, to activism, education and to partnership in the common cause of justice. It’s that strong kind of love that bends the long arc of the moral universe a little closer to justice for the oppressed, for the marginalized, for the victimized, for everyone suffering injustice, and against the kind of evil that we witnessed that morning of October 7th in Israel. Because we know there is only one kind of justice, not one kind for me and one kind for you. And it is strong love that transcends race, transcends gender, sexual orientation, personal faiths—love grounded in shared humanity.
From my own faith, that’s the message I take from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians. Paul wrote, “Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” That’s the call of our faiths—individually and collectively—to sit together at the same table, to share in that communion, to break bread together. That’s the call of our national motto: out of many, one. And that’s the call of our shared humanity—to embrace King’s strong love in the hard work of building community, of building unity, and confronting evil.
Now, I am not so un-self-aware to come preach to a bunch of preachers. Yet Dr. King did say on that very same flight, in the conversation with the young provocateur, “We’re all preachers.” We preach with our words. We preach with our deeds and our examples.
Which is to say, we all have a role in this project of building community, building unity, confronting evil. I think that’s a high calling of our faiths—not just in times like these, but especially in times like these. And that is my prayer, that we remember and help others know that “we who are many are one body,” and that we will join hands and build unity, whatever our faiths, and grow a sense of community among all people.
Our VA Chaplains do that work—our Imams and Rabbis, Priests and Preachers, from Buddhists to Baptists, from the Native American Tradition to the Wesleyan Tradition. They offer Veterans care and compassion, lift them up, guide them, empathize with their challenges, put their arms around Vets during struggles, celebrate their victories with them and their families, perhaps give Vets a sense of peace in their last moments on this mortal coil, and embrace Veterans of all faiths, or of no faith at all.
VA Chaplains offer their wisdom and spiritual support to providers, to Veterans, to their families, and to those caring for them. They participate in medical rounds and patient care conferences. They provide meaningful spiritual care interventions. They offer interdisciplinary education for providers. They are often the first person a Vet is comfortable talking to about mental health challenges or concerns.
And their spiritual care offers concrete health benefits. That’s what we celebrate this week, the idea that you and your care is part of the integrated care that studies show us leads to better outcomes for Veterans. Research shows, VA patients who have chaplains or faith leaders involved in their health care leave the hospital sooner and better manage their pain and stress. That’s why our Chaplains and faith leaders are invaluable to everything we do here at VA—building trust, offering the light of hope to Vets and those serving Vets, often in their darkest moments.
You know, it wasn’t long after Army Vet Chaplain Paul Dordal joined VA’s Chaplain Service that he found himself on his own sort of road to Damascus at the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center. A fellow VA employee, a fellow Veteran, and a Muslim was in despair, on the floor of his office, sobbing at the loss of a beloved family member. Well, Chaplain Dordal’s first thought was to provide some spiritual comfort and then help his Muslim colleague get in touch with his Imam.
And in that moment of sorrow and pain, that Vet looked up from the floor and taught a lesson for all of us. “You’re a chaplain,” he said. “Can’t you pray for me?” So Chaplain Dordal began his prayer, “in the name of Allah.” Immediately, he felt a spiritual connection, and felt their shared commitment to faith. “It was,” Chaplain Dordal teaches, “a very profound moment as we recognized that though we are of different faith traditions, we have a deep respect for each other’s beliefs and values.” Years later, Chaplain Dordal and his new friend designed a space in the VA chapel facing Mecca, so Muslim Vets and staff have a private place to pray. And that, my friends, is just one of those miracles of our VA Chaplains, a miracle in which we are all called to share.
Chaplain Willis, thank you for inviting me. And, everyone, thank you for supporting America’s Veterans through unity, community, and prayer. May our God bless us all.
]]>Benita Miller, thank you for that kind introduction. Amir Farooqi, my sincere thanks to you and your team for all that you do to care for Veterans. A special shout-out to Sheila Austin and Erica Moore, the Chairs of the Tuskegee Centennial Working Group. Today’s event would not have been possible without their hard work behind-the-scenes. It’s a tremendous honor to join so many extraordinary Veterans, VA teammates, and community leaders to celebrate the history and enduring legacy of the Tuskegee VA Hospital.
Let me specifically thank: Mayor Tony Haygood; Councilwoman Norma Jackson; retired Rear Admiral Kent Davis, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs; Patricia Ross, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Veterans Services; Louis Maxwell, Macon County Commission Chairman; Karin Hopkins, Executive Board Member on the Tuskegee Chamber of Commerce; Michael Coleman, Executive Director of the Heart of Alabama Food Bank; civil rights leader Fred Gray; and so many other state and community leaders gathered here to celebrate this important anniversary—thank you all for being here. And to the Veterans in the audience today, thank you for your selfless service to our country.
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Tuskegee VA Hospital. Today, we commemorate the legacy of this historic hospital campus, and the Veterans, health care professionals, and staff who serve it. We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary Americans who were called to do extraordinary things, who had both the faith to see and the will to fight for a better and more equal America, who defended the rights and freedom of their countrymen even when our country did not assure them the same in return, and who devoted themselves to the promise of serving all Veterans.
We gather here to celebrate them.
A century ago, these hallowed grounds where we now stand were a key battleground in the fight for civil rights. But as is true across the story of our Nation, we cannot examine this anniversary in isolation. This hospital represents the culmination of generations of Black servicemembers who have been putting their lives on the line and protecting our way of life since before our nation was founded—during times of war and periods of restless peace between. And the service of Black Veterans from the great state of Alabama is such an important chapter in that history.
From the Revolutionary War, fought by thousands of Black soldiers in the Continental Army.
Soldiers like Jim Capers, a freed slave from Alabama, who saw action and suffered severe injuries in some of the bloodiest battles in our War for Independence. But whose wife, Milley, was unable to collect a widower’s pension because she, and their six children, remained enslaved at the time of his death.
To the Civil War, when 190,000 Black soldiers and sailors tipped the balance in favor of Union victory. Like the Black soldiers who made up the 51st Colored Infantry. After winning the Battle of Fort Blakely—the last major battle of the Civil War—their regiment traveled by boat from Mobile to Montgomery. Enslaved people lined the riverbanks, cheering the sight of the Black soldiers who were delivering them freedom.
From World War I, where more than 380,000 Black Americans fought in segregated units to save Europe from the fevers of nationalism and imperialism. Black soldiers like 1st Lieutenant Cleveland Abbott, whose father was born a slave in Alabama, and who saw action at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive—the largest and deadliest campaign of the war. At the urging of W.E.B. DuBois, Lieutenant Abbott returned home after the war to coach football at Tuskegee University—eventually becoming one of the winningest coaches in college football history and mentoring countless generations of young Black men along the way.
To World War II, where over one million Black servicemembers joined famed units like the Tuskegee Airmen, the Montfort Point Marines, the Buffalo Soldiers, and the brave women of the Six Triple Eight Battalion. One of those Black servicemembers was Petty Officer First Class Julius Ellsberry. He died aboard the USS Oklahoma, counted among the first American casualties during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was hailed by Black newspapers as the Crispus Attucks of his time. The local Black community filled the pews at his memorial service held at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. And his picture went up in Black homes and store fronts across Alabama with messages urging young Black Americans to join the Double V campaign—to fight for freedom at home and abroad.
From Korea and Vietnam, where hundreds of thousands of Black Americans were drafted into a newly desegregated military. Like General Chappie James, an alumnus of Tuskegee University, who fought in both wars. He would go on to become the first Black four-star general in any branch of the armed forces.
And finally, to the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. Fought by young Americans like Captain Kayla Freeman, a Tuskegee University grad with over 250 combat flight hours in Operation Enduring Freedom, and the first Black woman to serve as a pilot in the 200-year history of the Alabama National Guard. She follows in the footsteps of her heroes and fellow Tuskegee alumni: Mildred Carter, the first Black woman pilot in Alabama; and Colonel Nickey Knighton, the first woman to command a tactical combat arms battalion.
These heroes joined millions of other courageous Black Vets taking risks, overcoming adversity, and fighting battles, in and out of uniform, for equality, for opportunity, for inclusion, for a better and brighter future for all Americans, and for a stronger America. We can never underestimate, or over appreciate, the costs they bore for us. In the face of an unfair system, unimaginable discrimination, and an unjust society—they catalyzed meaningful change that helped edge us closer to that more perfect union. What enormous faith these men and women had. Faith in their God, faith in each other, and faith in America. They served, sacrificed, and endured untold hardships across our nation and around the world so that we can freely gather here today.
Now, we know that wars seldom end on the battlefield. For too long, too many Americans have fought too hard to protect our rights and freedoms in battles around the globe but were greeted here at home not with recognition of their own civil rights but instead with a brutal wave of discrimination and hostility, even violence. They were too often denied the benefits and disability pay they earned and could not depend on access to the quality health care they deserved. 100 years ago, we took one small step to correct these injustices by opening Veterans Hospital Number 91 right here in Tuskegee, Alabama. This hospital was built to care for over 350,000 Black Veterans returning to the segregated South at the end of World War I, the first and only hospital of its kind in VA history.
Shortly after opening, VA announced that the hospital would be led by the Department’s first Black director, Dr. Joseph Ward. Prior to coming to Tuskegee, Dr. Ward had a distinguished career. He was a Veteran himself, having served in the 92nd Division’s Medical Corps, one of only two Black soldiers to achieve the rank of Major in World War I. Following the war, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. And he opened a private medical practice and founded a medical school in Indiana—one of the only schools in the country educating and training Black women in nursing.
The Tuskegee Campus was the first VA facility in the nation to be administered by an all-Black medical staff, and they immediately faced serious threats. In fact, 50,000 Klan members marched down the streets of Tuskegee, burned a 40-foot cross, and planned to kill a Black leader and blow up the Tuskegee Institute—a plan which was fortunately thwarted. Still, Dr. Ward and his team bravely led the Tuskegee hospital and continued to blaze new trails. Undeterred by the hatred of others and guided by their desire to provide the highest standards of care for Black Veterans, the hospital was widely praised as a top-notch medical facility and quickly became one of the largest providers in the VA health care system. And over the next decade, half of all Black Vets who received hospital care were treated here at Tuskegee.
All of this came to a sudden halt twelve years into Dr. Ward’s tenure. He was investigated on charges that included mismanagement of government resources, which some modern historians believe had no tangible evidence and were potentially promoted by a handful of disgruntled members of the Tuskegee community. As a result, he was removed with prejudice from his position, returning to private practice in Indianapolis. Dr. Ward lived just long enough to see the end of racial segregation in VA hospitals, a cause he had long championed, before passing away in 1956.
I am moved by the leadership of Dr. Ward and his staff, even in the face of tremendous resistance and discrimination. Without their service, without their contributions, and without their sacrifice—there would have been no progress. They shaped our Nation, inspiring and charting a path for generations of Veterans and health care professionals to follow.
If it were not for Dr. Ward, this hospital would very likely not be here today. But here we stand.
We cannot re-write history. We cannot undo the harm that was done to Dr. Ward, or his brave staff, or the millions of Black Americans who have served our country in uniform—who have fought for equal rights for all Americans—for all of us who gather here today. But we can, and we must, do what we know to be right in this moment. As scripture teaches, “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous.” So earlier this year, I directed that VA leadership reach out to the keepers of Government records at the National Archives to ensure that Dr. Ward’s files accurately reflect his groundbreaking contributions to Veterans.
Today, we bend that arc of the moral universe a little further toward justice through two small but significant actions. First, VA partnered with the Heart of Alabama Food Bank last month to open the Dr. Joseph Henry Ward Veterans Food Pantry. This partnership is the first of its kind in the state of Alabama. Please, send any Vets or servicemembers who face food insecurity or hunger to this new food pantry.
And second, I am privileged to posthumously recognize Dr. Ward with the Secretary’s Exceptional Service Award. This recognition is both well-deserved and long overdue. I invite everyone to come view this award at the conclusion of today’s event, displayed here on the stage with me. Following the event, the award will be placed in the Oscar Cortez Gadsen, Jr. Museum on the Tuskegee VA Campus, forever reminding visitors of Dr. Ward’s trailblazing record of service.
At VA, we’re honored to follow in the legacy of Dr. Ward. Serving all Veterans as well as they served all of us. Because Vets, all Vets, each and every Vet, deserve our very best, and we will never give them anything less.
So let me leave you with this. As we look to the next 100 years at VA, we must double our commitment to win the fight for equality, for human dignity, and for civil rights. I challenge all of us to look to our left, right, front, and back and think about who might be getting unjust, unfair, or inequitable treatment today. We must work together to right these wrongs, and to ensure we’re combating institutional racism and discrimination, rather than perpetuating it. Because the United States of America, the strongest and most diverse country on the face of the planet, is strongest when it draws on the talents of all our people, each made in the image of their Creator and therefore endowed with certain unalienable rights.
The bottom line is this: we will not rest until every Veteran gets access to the world-class care and benefits they so richly deserve. We’re going to keep and honor this country’s fundamental promises to Black Vets—and to all Vets. We are going to continue earning Veterans’ trust, day by day. And we’re going to do that by being transparent and by delivering the very best outcomes. So, to any Vets who may have felt unseen by VA in the past or who didn’t feel like they belong: you are welcome, today and every day, at your VA.
Thanks again for having me. Thank you all for joining me in our noble mission, and for helping keep our promise and commitment to all of our country’s Veterans.
May God continue to bless the memory and legacy of Dr. Ward, and of this historic Tuskegee Hospital. And may God continue to bless all of you, and the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors we serve.
]]>Remarks by VA Secretary Denis McDonough:
Thank you, Shannon, for that kind introduction. Good morning, everyone. Thanks to all of our faith-based and community partners for being here today for this important event. Most importantly, thank you for your partnership and leadership in helping prevent Veteran suicide. Because there is nothing more important than saving Veterans’ lives, together.
I’ll start with a story. For 30 years, a Veteran—I’ll call him Steve—struggled with complications stemming from PTSD related to his military service. Thirty years. He tried VA years ago, but he didn’t have a positive experience. So Steve tried a number of different providers over the years, different medications, and different extended hospital stays. But one fateful day, in a moment of crisis, Steve’s minister encouraged him to give VA another chance. And what happened next changed everything. His VA doctor listened. The doctor began to build a bond of trust. And Steve opened up. He accepted help. For the next six months, Steve worked through an innovative care program. He received evidence-based suicide prevention therapy—therapy tailored to his personal needs—all via telehealth and in the comfort of his own home.
A few weeks ago, Steve sent a note to his local VA leadership. Here’s some of what Steve wrote.
“For the first time in over 30 years, my suicidal thoughts have totally decreased. After wishing to be dead for so long, I never thought my life could be lived without those thoughts. It’s been two months now, and I can’t believe how free I feel.
I use the skills I learned every day. And it feels good. No … it feels awesome.”
Now, let me stop there for a second. Veterans were trained to put a mission or others before themselves. That can sometimes make it harder for them to accept or ask for help. We need to reach Vets like Steve and bring them into our care, because Vets in VA care do better. And that’s where you can really make a difference. It’s one thing for a Veteran to hear about VA services from us. It’s an entirely different thing for them to hear about VA services from you. Because you are the people in Veterans’ lives and communities every day. You pray with them, break bread with them, work with them, and spend time with them. You are the people they know and love. You are the people they trust. So, a recommendation from you can go a long way toward convincing a skeptical Veteran to give VA a try. And doing that, well, it can change their life. I’ll come back to this later. But please, check in with the Veterans in your life who may be going through a rough time. Visit VA.gov/REACH for resources, today. Everyone can be part of the solution and help save Veterans’ lives. Every interaction a Vet has with clergy, friends, family, strangers, or loved ones has the potential to save a life.
Let me continue. Steve closed his letter by saying,
“I’m sending this letter because I need [you] to know that [you’re] making a difference. Keep up the phenomenal job. Thank you for your dedication to Veterans. And for saving my life.”
Now, there’s so much to take away from that. What strikes me most is that Steve is trusting VA again and getting the care he earned, all because he connected with a faith leader he trusted.
And his story shows the impact VA providers and our partners—folks like all of you—are having in communities and neighborhoods around the country. Serving Veterans. Saving lives. It is a testament—pun intended—to the amazing colleagues and partners I am blessed to work with at VA. I have the privilege of seeing your inspiring work every single day.
I especially appreciate any opportunity I get to work with and hear from VA’s incredible chaplains. Spiritual care offers concrete health benefits—research shows that VA patients who have chaplains or faith leaders involved in their health care leave the hospital sooner and better manage their pain and stress. So VA chaplains are key members of our interdisciplinary care teams—on-call around-the-clock, 365 days a year. They participate in medical rounds and patient care conferences. They provide meaningful spiritual care interventions. They offer interdisciplinary education for other providers. They are often the first person a Vet is comfortable talking to about mental health challenges or concerns. And they build trust, and offer the light of hope, to Vets in their darkest moments. Chaplains and faith leaders are invaluable to everything we do here at VA, offering wisdom and spiritual support to providers, Veterans, and their families.
Now, not too long ago, Veterans like Steve might not have felt so comfortable talking to VA because of stigma, discomfort, and fear. And at VA, we haven’t always gotten it right for Veterans of color, LGBTQ+ Veterans, and other underserved populations who may have tried VA in the past but didn’t feel welcomed, didn’t feel heard, didn’t feel seen. And maybe the same is true for Veterans who felt they couldn’t or shouldn’t talk about their faith at VA, either. Well, they can. And they should. And because we haven’t gotten it right, too many of our Veterans don’t come to VA for the care, benefits, and services they’ve earned, and so richly deserve.
But what VA is doing differently—what we didn’t do well for so long—is pairing Veteran-centric care with new innovations in suicide prevention. Listening to the Veterans we serve. Building trust. It’s so simple, yet so powerful. And that right there—trust—that’s exactly what our partnership is all about. You’ve earned the trust of Vets in the community. And that kind of trust can make all the difference in the world. With your help, we’re fighting to remove the stigma of mental health, the stigma of talking about suicide, and the stigma that keeps Veterans from reaching out for help. We’re fighting to counter the narrative that a Veteran who needs help is a victim or is broken. Too often, that narrative threatens to degrade our Veterans, perhaps make them feel like their value and human dignity is diminished because of these challenges. But let me be clear: it’s the narrative, not the Veteran, that’s broken.
So we’re working together alongside faith and community leaders to fix that broken narrative. In partnership with the Ad Council, we launched a national campaign called “Don’t Wait. Reach Out.” This campaign encourages Veterans to seek help for their life challenges before they reach a crisis point. Research shows that the time between suicidal ideation—thinking about taking one’s life—and the action is remarkably short. 24% take their lives within 5 minutes, 48% take their lives within 20 minutes, and 71% take their lives within 60 minutes. Think about that. The thought, plan, and attempt of suicide can occur in 60 minutes or less nearly 75% of the time. Now, if the attempt is paired with a highly lethal means such as a firearm, it results in death 90% of the time. Here’s my point: every minute—every second—matters for a Veteran in crisis.
“Don’t Wait, Reach Out” normalizes the act of reaching out before the thought, before the boiling point, before the crisis. Every time a Vet goes to the “Don’t Wait, Reach Out” website, they can access scientifically proven, clinically validated information that can help them prepare and plan for times of crisis. As they click on the various links, Veterans can see all of the different challenges they may be facing that are related to suicide. Perhaps it’s legal problems or incarceration, a new cancer diagnosis or the death of a child, the pandemic, a strained relationship, chronic pain, substance abuse, homelessness, financial problems, job transitions, and so much more. What “Don’t Wait, Reach Out” shows is that there is no single path to suicide. And it’s not always one thing, one problem, or one challenge in life.
When people come to a boiling point, they may not have a diagnosis for PTSD or substance use disorder. In fact, over 40% of Veterans who were enrolled in VHA for health care—and died by suicide—had no mental health diagnosis. And in a recent analysis of 365 research studies over 50 years, mental health indicators were only weakly correlated with suicide or suicide attempts. So that means that any of those interconnected, unpredictable, and complicated factors I highlighted can create intense moments of crisis that can lead to utter despair, hopelessness, and suicide. There is enormous power in reaching out. There is enormous power in bringing the Veterans we serve into contact with a real person. There is enormous power in linking them up with someone who is ready and willing to help them contend with any crisis. So I’ll say it again.
Please, check in with the Veterans in your life who may be going through a rough time, and encourage them to reach out if they need help. Visit VA.gov/REACH for resources, today.
I know you’ll discuss this work in more detail throughout the course of the day, but let me quickly tell you about six of VA’s Veteran-centric, innovative solutions; inspiring work designed to save lives and get Veterans the world-class care they need, wherever and whenever they need it.
First, we are now working with more than 1,000 local community coalitions engaged in ending Veteran suicide. These coalitions—faith-based and community groups, health technology companies, universities, Veteran Service Organizations, and others—now reach more than 7.5 million Veterans. These trusted partners, like so many of you in this room, work with Veterans in their neighborhoods, in their communities, around the country. Because Veterans need and deserve suicide prevention solutions that meet them where they are, rather than expecting them to come to us.
Second, we rolled out 988 Press 1, the brand-new national suicide prevention lifeline that connects Veterans quickly and directly to the Veterans Crisis Line. Since that launch, the hotline has fielded over one million calls, texts, and messages—with an average time to answer of just under 10 seconds. And every second counts in a time of crisis, so Veterans are getting the help they need when they need it most.
Third, we’re significantly expanding VA coverage through the COMPACT Act—opening doors of emergency care for Veterans in crisis, access to any health care facility—VA or not—for free emergency mental health care for any Veteran, whether or not they are enrolled in VA care.
Fourth, we announced a final round of prizes through our Mission Daybreak challenge totaling nearly $20 million across 40 teams to build-out proven new innovative solutions in suicide prevention developed by Americans in communities across the country.
Fifth, Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grants—an innovation advanced by several members of Congress, including your very own Senator John Boozman—are getting resources to local suicide prevention services where Veterans are, funding local innovations among people who know their Veterans best. Here in Arkansas we recently provided one of these grants to a non-profit group called Reboot Recovery. They provide faith-based outreach, education, and support for suicide prevention across the state, uniquely designed and tailored for Veterans and their families.
Sixth, and finally, we’ve brought on over 1,300 peer specialists. These peer specialists are all Veterans, trained to use their personal experiences with their own recovery to help struggling fellow-Veterans reconnect, find a sense of belonging, and access resources at VA and in their communities. Veterans helping Veterans, long after they take off the uniform. There’s nothing better than that.
Suicide is preventable. But it takes all of us, all of our collective heart and will, alongside the very best evidence-based solutions to save Veterans’ lives. And with all this work, and more, saving lives is exactly what we’re going to do, together.
In closing, I want to reflect on something President Biden often says about serving Veterans. He says: “It’s our country’s most sacred obligation is to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home.” The second part of that sacred obligation is ours to fulfill at VA. And it comes back to the promise our country makes whenever someone signs up to serve in the military. It’s a promise that’s as simple as it is fundamental. If you serve us, we’ll serve you when you come home. If you take care of us, we’ll take care of you. If you fight for us, we’ll fight for you. And in times like these—keeping that promise to Veterans has never been more important.
This is our promise, not just in September during Suicide Prevention Month. It’s our promise every single day. Like Steve wrote, thank you for your dedication to Veterans. The Veterans you help are blessed to have you. Very blessed. I look forward to continuing this important work, together. God bless you all. And God bless our Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. Now let’s get to the panel discussion and your questions.
]]>Let me tell you an immigration story, a story of heroism. It was 1916, and Marcelio Serna made his away across the Rio Grande from Chihuahua, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas.
He came here to build a better life for himself. For the opportunity to stay in this country—and to leave no question about his loyalty to it and his intentions to become a naturalized American citizen—he volunteered to join the Army and fight in World War I.
When Private Serna arrived in Europe, he was offered a discharge because he was not an American citizen. Marcelio refused. He refused, knowing full well the brutality and horrors of trench warfare that were ahead of him. So just two years after setting foot in the United States, he climbed into those trenches with his unit—Bravo Company, 355th Infantry, 89th Division. And he fought like hell—for his brothers-in-arms … sus hermanos en Guerra … for this country, for all of us.
Private Serna would volunteer to go alone on dangerous scouting missions. On one of these operations, he advanced to hand grenade range of the machine gunner who’d killed 12 of his fellow soldiers. Tossing in four grenades, he killed six enemy soldiers, captured eight more, and neutralized the machine gun nest. On another occasion, again, alone, Private Serna killed 26 enemy soldiers and captured 24 more. They surrendered because they thought they were under attack by a much larger enemy force.
It was one man, Private Serna.
And when American soldiers wanted to execute the enemy soldiers he’d just captured, he wouldn’t let them. He protected the enemy and told his fellow soldiers it violated the rules of that brutal, bloody war.
Nothing could stop him, not until two sniper’s bullets hit him—one in each leg, just four days before the Armistice. Imagine how powerful that young man’s hopes and dreams must have been. Imagine how strong his faith in this country was, to leave his home behind, to leave behind his family, his friends in Chihuahua and cross that river. Just imagine the enormous courage it took that young private to perform so heroically in those bloody trenches—the plain grit to cross enemy lines, alone, and seek out the enemy; the intestinal fortitude to stand fast by his morals and ethics when challenged.
Because of his bravery, General John Pershing pinned the Distinguished Service Cross on his chest—the first Hispanic American to ever receive that award, an award second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor. And French General Ferdinand Foch awarded him the French Croix de Guerre.
Private Marcelio Serna got his American citizenship 12 years after getting back from Europe. Today, he’s taking his final rest with his brothers- and sisters-in-arms at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery, buried with full military honors.
Marcelio Serna came here to make a better life for himself, that’s true. But, in so doing, Private Serna made a better life for all of us. And his is only one story. There are thousands of stories like his, stories of Hispanic and Latino, Latina, and LatinX people in this nation who have dedicated their lives to serving and sacrificing for this country in the times when we’ve needed them the most.
That’s why President often says our nation’s most sacred obligation is to prepare and equip troops like Marcelio Serna whom we send into harm’s way, and then to care for them and their families when they return home. Because when someone signs up to serve our country in the military—like the more than 236,000 serving today—we make them a promise.
If you fight for us, we will fight for you. If you serve us, we will serve you. If you take care of us, we will take care of you when you come home.
Si luchas por nosotros, nosotros lucharemos por ti. Si nos sirves, nosotros te serviremos. Si nos cuidas, nosotros te cuidaremos cuando vuelvas a casa.
Our country as a whole makes that promise. It our job at VA—yours and mine—to keep that promise. And that means fighting like hell for them like they have for us. But when it comes to our Hispanic brothers and sisters … nuestros hermanas y hermanos hispanos… we’re coming up way short. Here’s what I mean, a few data points.
First point. Right now, Hispanic Veterans represent over 8% of the more than 18.5 million American Veterans. By 2040, we estimate Hispanic Veterans will represent nearly 14% of all Vets. This year, 8.7% of completed benefits claims came from Hispanic Veterans—that’s growth over last year.
That’s good news. It’s a testament to the work of the folks in Center for Minority Vets, VEO, and focused efforts to reach minority and underserved Veterans. But when it comes to Hispanic Vets and VA health care, we’re coming up a little short—just about 7% of those we serve are of Hispanic heritage.
Second point. Right now, people of Hispanic heritage represent nearly 18% of our population. Over the next four decades, we expect that number to get to 27% of the American population. But people of Hispanic heritage represent just 7.3% of our VA colleagues.
All of which is to say, we’re all fighting like hell for Veterans. But let’s fight harder for our Hispanic Vets when it comes to their health care. Let’s fight harder to get more Hispanic people to VA to help serve our Vets, to work with us.
This Hispanic Heritage Month I’m asking all of you to join hands … to join me, join William [Vargas], James [Albino], and Karen [Basnight] in VA’s Hispanic Employment Program and let’s change that.
Let’s change it.
Hey, it won’t be easy. Nothing this important ever is, little of this magnitude ever can be. But what could be more important? What better way to celebrate our country’s Hispanic heritage than doubling down for our Hispanic Vets and employees serving them?
So, think hard about what you can do—individually and as a collective group—to help us reach every Hispanic Veteran and family member. Think hard about how you can reach—again, both individually and together—every one of them and encourage them to give their VA a chance. And, if they aren’t using VA because of some past poor experiences, help build the trust necessary, so they give VA another try.
One great way to do that is to get more Hispanic Vets to file for benefits under the new Toxic Exposure law, the PACT Act. And spread the word to your friends and family of Hispanic heritage.
VA’s hiring. What can you do to help us recruit more Hispanic men and women and get them to join you, join me in serving Vets? You know it—there’s no better mission in Federal government, and our Vets need them. We need them. Starting right now, let’s commit ourselves to fighting like hell for them, fight like we’ve never done before.
It is always my honor to spend time with all of you. Siempre es un honor para mí pasar tiempo con todos ustedes. Thank you for joining me in honoring our Hispanic Veterans, co-workers, volunteers, and fellow citizens making such an important difference for Veterans, and all Americans.
Monica [Rivera, VA Hispanic Association VP], thanks for that kind introduction. Gracias, Monica, por esa amable introducción. My thanks as well to The VA Hispanic Association, James Albino and the Center for Minority Vets team, Karen Basnight, and the good folks in the Office of Administration and Public Affairs who did the logistics and coordination heavy lifting.
Good afternoon, everyone. Buen dia a todos. Thank you.
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