As part of the federal government's campaign to honor those who served and to highlight the efforts made to support them on Veterans Day, officials from multiple agencies have come forward today to discuss areas where progress has been made and to address those places where more is still needed.
White House officials have pointed to decreased backlog in the Department of Veterans Affairs, significant gains made in eradicating veteran homelessness – the New York Times reported that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is set to announce that his state, along with Connecticut and cities like Syracuse and Las Vegas, has ended veteran homelessness – and the fact that veterans can now get in-state tuition at colleges all around the country regardless of where they live, as definitive achievements made in the last few years.
Kristie Canegallo, deputy chief of staff for implementation at the White House, told the Department of Defense that progress had been made in health care, benefits and job opportunities as part of President Barack Obama's plan to help veterans. The Veterans Administration, she said, has received more staff, bigger payrolls to include more working hours, and is more engaged with local communities nationwide to better deliver care for men and women in their life after service. Ms. Canegallo acknowledged there was still a long way to go, particularly in paring down the bureaucracy in the VA. She hoped that Congress would "rationalize these programs" to increase the VA's efficiency going forward.
There is still plenty of work to be done, but veterans are finally receiving the attention they're due. Whether its the national crusade to end veteran homelessness or the fact that, since the post-9/11 GI Bill was instituted in 2009, almost $58 billion in education benefits has been extended to veterans, it seems that the country is fully behind its men and women in uniform.