Shinseki Confirmation Hearing
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Eric Shinseki, center, stands with Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Shinseki’s nomination by President-elect Barack Obama to become the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Gannett News Service, Heather Wines)
Abbreviated from Jen DiMascio’s post on politico.com: Retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki, who appears in line for breeze-easy confirmation as secretary of veterans affairs, vowed on Wednesday to “treat our vets with respect and dignity.” Shinseki also pledged to quickly implement the G.I. Bill passed last year by Congress and make sure the VA can start rolling out new educational benefits for veterans on Aug. 1 as promised. Other pressing issues include cutting into a sizable veterans health care claim backlog and merging electronic health records of the Pentagon and the VA – two issues he said are connected, because the backlog will be eased by moving toward a paperless, computerized system.
