President Obama strode into a cramped room at the Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday, faced a few dozen employees in stackable chairs and spoke for 12 minutes. He made no news, shook some hands and hustled back to the White House, just two blocks away.
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2009 - President Barack Obama's fiscal 2010 budget proposal is necessary to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs into the 21st century organization he envisions, VA's top official said here yesterday.
VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki told the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on veterans affairs that the proposed budget is "critical to realizing the president's mission" for future veteran care.