From AF Times:
“New committee to help improve
care for Native American veterans”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis
McDonough tasked his agency’s new Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian
Affairs with helping the VA take more innovative approaches to serving Native
American veterans. The newly created panel, one of 27 VA advisory committees,
met for the first time on Tuesday to advise the VA on everything from COVID-19
efforts to homelessness among American Indians and Alaskan Native veterans. Its
15 members are Native American veterans, each from different tribal nations. “My
commitment to you was and is clear, that VA will not make decisions about you
without you,” said McDonough. He also outlined his goals for the advisory
group. “The work of this committee will be essential in helping us to find and
to develop better and more innovative ways to serve native veterans, their
families, caregivers and survivors,” he said.
Jack Austin, an Army veteran and
the Assistant Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, serves as the advisory
panel’s chairman. “I believe this is a great opportunity for our native
veterans’ voices to be brought to the table with hope of solutions for the real
struggles they face today,” he said. Veteran benefits, native cemeteries and
health care services for rural and urban communities are among the issues being
discussed during this week’s session.
Over 140,000 Native Americans
veterans currently receive their health care through the VA but have faced
significant challenges receiving care during the pandemic, something McDonough
charged the committee with helping to resolve. “There are many hard truths that
need to be addressed, and I will be here for my people addressing those truths
on their behalf,” said committee member Reyn Kaupiko, a Navy veteran and Native
Hawaiian.
The new advisory committee was
created by Congress in 2020 and members were officially appointed to their
roles in October. Although committee recommendations are not binding, other VA
advisory committees have had more than 90 percent of their suggestions
accepted, according to Jeffrey Moragne, director of the VA Advisory Committee
Management Office. In addition, the VA’s existing Office of Tribal Government
Relations serves veterans who are members of tribal nations.
The top Democrat and Republican
on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee said the new committee has an
important role to play. “Native Americans serve our nation in uniform at the
highest rates, and it’s critical these veterans are well represented at VA and
empowered to shape department policy to meet the needs of all Native veterans,”
said Sen. Jon Tester, chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and
former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Sen. Jerry Moran, the
top Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called the committee
“an enduring forum to learn more from these veterans and tribal leaders on how
VA and Congress can best serve this veteran population.” The committee meeting
will continue through Thursday.
^ This is a very important group
(Indians or First Nations Veterans) that has long been over-looked by the VA,
the White House and the country. They deserve to have their benefits and their
own specific issues addressed and fixed. ^
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