Cabinet Head Meets Veterans, Staff
WASHINGTON – Historic budget increases and a medical system that leads the health care industry are allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to meet its commitments to the veterans of Puerto Rico, said the Honorable R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, during his first trip to the island since taking office 13 months ago.
In meetings with VA staff and veterans at the San Juan Regional Office and medical center March 17, Nicholson highlighted VA’s record-setting budget proposal for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 and the Department’s new initiative to combat obesity and diabetes among veterans.
“Puerto Rican veterans have been important contributors to the nation’s defense,” said Nicholson. “VA is committed to honoring their service by providing world-class medical care and other valuable veterans benefits.”
In February, Nicholson announced a landmark VA budget proposal of $80.6 billion for fiscal year 2007. If enacted, the budget request will result in a 69 percent increase in the VA spending since fiscal year 2001, allowing the Department to meet the needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan along with those of veterans from earlier conflicts.
Nicholson noted that Puerto Rican veterans are expected to benefit from VA’s newly-launched drive against obesity and diabetes. About 29 percent of Puerto Rico veterans have diabetes, significantly more than the 20 percent rate among all veterans and much higher than the 7 percent rate for the general U.S. population.
This year, VA expects to spend about $870 million to serve Puerto Rico’s 130,000 veterans. VA maintains a major medical center in San Juan, satellite clinics in Ponce and Mayaguez and community-based outpatient clinics in Arecibo, Guayama, St. Thomas and St. Croix, plus Vets Centers, benefits offices and a national cemetery.
VA is nearing the end of a year-long celebration of its 75th anniversary. On July 21, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed an executive order uniting in one organization – the Veterans Administration – a number of veterans programs. The Veterans Administration became the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989.
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