More than three weeks after more than 30,000 Department of Veterans Affairs employees were furloughed or forced to work without pay because of the government shutdown, VA Secretary Doug Collins on Wednesday called for Democrats in Congress to pass a continuing resolution to restore needed spending.
While most of the VA’s health care operations remain protected by advance appropriations, Mr. Collins acknowledged that it’s not business as usual because of the lapse in federal appropriations.
The agency oversees health care and other benefits for America’s military veterans.
Hit particularly hard at the VA by the government shutdown have been the Veterans Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery Administration.
The former office handles the department’s disability compensation claims, and the latter provides burials in national cemeteries for veterans, maintains the grounds as national shrines, and furnishes headstones or markers.
“The disability payments are still being made. We’re processing them, but we’re having them processed by people who are not getting paid,” Mr. Collins told reporters at the Washington VA Medical Center. “This is not right. It shouldn’t happen, and we need to fix that.”
According to the agency, more than 109,000 enrolled veterans and 3,800 applicants for the VA’s veterans readiness and employment program aren’t receiving counseling or case management services because of the shutdown.
Meanwhile, more than 16,000 personnel who are leaving the military aren’t able to receive VA briefings that assist them in their transition to civilian life.
“I have veterans who are getting out of active duty who are trying to get employment. They’re trying to get skills. Right now, they can’t do it because it’s shut down,” Mr. Collins said. “We’ve got people who are trying to make a life outside of their time in the service, and they can’t because Congress has decided they want to shut the government down.”
Mr. Collins, who represented Georgia for eight years in the House, called on his former congressional colleagues to end the impasse and vote to open the government “like they’ve done 18 times while I was there.”
“The uncertainty this shutdown creates threatens to erode the trust of America’s more than 17 million veterans who may question the government’s commitment to those who served,” Mr. Collins said Wednesday in a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York obtained by The Washington Times.
“Veterans should never have to doubt that their nation will uphold its commitments to them, and our dedicated employees should not have to worry about feeding their families or paying their bills, especially as so many continue to work tirelessly every day,” he wrote.
The shutdown means the VA will cease providing transition programming assistance and career counseling, along with shuttering the VA’s GI Bill hotline call center and all VA benefits regional offices.
“Quit holding my veterans hostage right now,” Mr. Collins said.
Veterans groups have called for an end to the government shutdown over concerns that it will hurt the delivery of services to veterans.
The Vietnam Veterans of America warned members to be proactive in continuing to pursue their pending claims and appeals during the shutdown.
“It’s important not to panic,” VVA National President Tom Burke said in a statement. “VVA, in the meantime, will continue to pursue all efforts to move Congress and the administration towards a rapid resolution to the current impasse.”
An extended shutdown would be damaging to the entire country, but especially for vulnerable populations that are dependent on government support, like veterans, Mr. Burke said.
