IAVA Blasts VA For Bloated Bonuses
AP Reports that VA Gave Out More than $3.8 Million While Veterans Waited for Care and Services

NEW YORK - The nation's first and largest organization for the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), is deeply concerned about the hefty bonuses the Department of Veterans Affairs awarded its officials while the financially strapped agency struggled to care for the thousands of returning veterans.  Just months after the VA's stunning 2005 announcement that it underestimated the cost of veterans' care and faced a $1 billion shortfall, VA officials involved in the foul-up received bonuses of up to $33,000 each.

Click here to see the full list of bonuses

"Bonuses should be directly linked to performance.  Rewarding bureaucrats for failure while veterans wait for care is inexcusable.  The VA is already overstretched and underresourced and there are many veterans waiting for help.  This is more than $3 million that could have been put toward treatment for amputees, PTSD screening, and traumatic brain injury research.  Secretary Nicholson should rectify the situation immediately and the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee should investigate this and the numerous oversight questions that have been raised recently," said Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of IAVA, "Tonight the leading ten Republican presidential candidates will lay out their plans for the future of this country.  The more than 1.6 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan expect to hear how these candidates will address the urgent issues facing the VA and veterans."

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee member Senator Patty Murray's website includes an overview of the VA's budget crisis and the failures of VA bureaucrats to resolve it: http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=239496

IAVA, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, is the nation's first and largest organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, representing more than 60,000 members in all 50 states. To arrange an interview with Paul Rieckhoff or any other IAVA member veterans, contact Michael Houston at (212)-982-9699, or email michael[at]iava.org. For more information, visit http://www.iava.org/.

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