Principi Sworn In As VA Secretary

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Anthony J. Principi was sworn in today as the nation”s fourth Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Principi, a naval veteran of the Vietnam War, takes the reins of the nation’s largest health care system, plus a multi-billion dollar benefits program and a nationwide network of cemeteries. With an annual budget of $48 billion, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employs about 219,000 people at hundreds of medical centers, clinics, vet centers, benefits offices and national cemeteries.

“I am honored that I will assume the leadership of VA employees who have chosen careers of service to veterans,” Principi said in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “And, most of all, I am honored and humbled by the pospect that 24 million men and women who answered our nation”s call to arms may look to me for the benefits and services they earned.”

Principi served as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs from March 17, 1989, to September 26, 1992, when he was named Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs by President George Bush. He held that position until January 1993.

He served from 1984 to 1988 as Republican chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Principi was the Veterans Administration’s assistant deputy administrator for congressional and public affairs from 1983 to 1984, following three years as counsel to the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In 1996, Principi was appointed by the Senate Armed Services Committee to the Congressional Commission on Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance to review services and benefits for veterans and members of the military. He was elected chairman of the commission.

Before his nomination to the Cabinet, Principi was president of QTC Medical Services, Inc., a group of professional service companies. During the past decade, he was senior vice president of Lockheed Martin IMS and a partner in the San Diego law firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps.

A 1967 Naval Academy graduate, he served as commander of a river patrol unit in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. He earned several decorations for his tour, including a Bronze Star with a “V” for valor.

Principi and his wife Elizabeth Ann, also a Vietnam veteran, have been living in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., near San Diego. They have three children: Capt. Anthony Principi, Jr., USAF; Lt. Ryan Principi, USAF; and John Principi, a student at the University of California, Berkeley.