VA secretary touts new vets' benefits
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U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth speaks with Rep. Peter Welch to veterans at VFW Post 648 in Rutland on Tuesday. Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran who sustained combat war injuries that cost both her legs and the use of her right arm. Cassandra Hotaling / Rutland Herald |
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: July 1, 2009
Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth toured Vermont on Tuesday with a double dose of good news for the state’s veterans.
In stops in Burlington and Rutland with Congressman Peter Welch, D-Vt., she spoke about the “largest increase” in benefits for veterans since the Vietnam War, in the form of a new GI Bill, and a promise for improvement in Veterans Affairs under the new administration
"There has not been a good relationship between the federal level and the states before," Duckworth told a room of about 40 veterans gathered in the hall of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 648 on Wales Street on Tuesday afternoon. "There's got to be a way to reach in between and create better relationships."
Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran whose appointment as assistant secretary was confirmed about two months ago, also spoke about her office's goals to remedy veterans' concerns including the wait time for benefits claims, care for veterans who live in the country's more remote locations, homelessness and keeping attention on the country's older veterans at the same time the VA begins to ramp up for the return of currently deployed troops.
Most of those issues were brought up by the audience, which asked questions of Duckworth for about 45 minutes.
Tuesday's trip was Duckworth's first visit to a congressional district since she was appointed by President Obama, according to Welch.
Prior to the town hall-style discussion, Welch and Duckworth touched on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, set to go into affect Aug. 1, that will allow eligible veterans who served at least 90 days of active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, the chance to receive an in-state, undergraduate education at a public institution at no cost. Under a portion of the bill called the Yellow Ribbon Program, veterans can also receive dollar-for-dollar matching funds from the VA, to cover costs above that of a public education, if they choose to attend a participating private college or university instead.
Welch said he was happy that all Vermont colleges "have plunged in."
"A grateful nation owes this to the veterans," Welch said of the bill's enhanced benefits. "The cost of the war has to include caring for the warrior."
Joyce Rivers, veterans' advocate at Norwich University in Northfield, which has about 200 veterans and serving military personnel enrolled as students, attended the meeting in Rutland with three students who are working to produce The War At Home Project, a follow-up to The Vermont Fallen, which was also produced at the university. She said before the meeting that she felt the enhanced Post-9/11 GI Bill is "the best thing we can do" for veterans.
She said she doesn't think news of the bill, which was passed by Congress last year but goes into effect next month, has sparked an increase in applications from veterans looking to take advantage of its benefits yet, but thinks the effects will be seen in the coming years.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com
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