The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States said
today’s resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki is in the
best interests of the nation’s veterans.
“The VFW was the first major veterans organization to call
for an independent investigation and, if warranted, for the dismissal and
criminal prosecution of those employees involved with gaming the system,” said
William A. Thien, the national commander of the 1.9 million-member VFW and its
Auxiliaries. “Throughout the political firestorm of the past several weeks, the
VFW remained steadfast in supporting an independent investigation and calling
for full accountability in this matter — especially for those in Congress, who
for years have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the concerns of America’s
Veteran Service Organizations.
“Change will not come easy to the VA, but change it must,
and the VFW will absolutely be part of its evolution, just as we were in the
years leading up to and after we helped to create it,” said Thien. “The new
secretary will inherit a host of ongoing challenges, but he or she must
immediately identify and fix what’s broken, to hold people accountable to the
maximum extent of the law, and to do whatever is necessary to help restore the
full faith and confidence of veterans in their VA,” he said. “Members of
Congress have an equal responsibility to put their individual political agendas
aside and do what they were elected to do. The VFW will never tolerate politics
as usual when it comes to the proper care and treatment of our nation’s heroes.
“Secretary Shinseki is an American patriot, an honorable man
whose personal integrity and commitment to duty and to others is above
reproach,” said the VFW national commander. “We support his decision to resign,
because the outside calls for his resignation were overshadowing the crisis in
healthcare issues veterans face, and that is what’s most important.”