New VA Secretary Doug Collins optimistic about department’s renewed focus on the veteran.
The new Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, took a cue from The American Legion’s primary mission as he addressed the Legion Family at the commander’s call Monday at the 65th Washington Conference.
“Letting people know that it’s OK not to be OK. … We’ve got to be a people that embrace those that have found the time because of struggles (to ask for help),” Collins said. “We’ve got to Be The Ones to do that and pull forward.”
Less than three weeks since his confirmation as VA Secretary, Collins spoke the day before Legionnaires, Sons and Auxiliary members head to Capitol Hill to meet with their senators and congressmen.
A former congressman himself, Collins — a member of American Legion Post 7 in Gainesville, Ga. — encouraged the Legion Family to assert their priorities to their elected officials.
He also emphasized the VA’s first priority: “serve the veteran.”
“That’s our only job, that’s our only mission,” Collins said. “The veteran is back to being the only constituent of the VA. The VA itself only exists for the veteran.”
Collins said 60 percent of constituent calls to legislators are related to VA issues. That’s too high, he said.
“My goal, if I had one of those overarching goals, is that anytime a servicemember, a veteran, has to call a senator or a congressman to get the benefits that you have earned, the VA has failed,” Collins said.
Collins also talked about conversations he’s had with Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and how the two departments are tied together.
“I believe that DoD and VA are basically brothers, sisters, however you want to call us; we’re twins. We just catch each other at different times in our careers,” Collins said. “And if we’re doing it right in the VA, then that helps DoD because DoD then knows that VA is OK, and DoD can then go out and recruit and we can bring our best and brightest. And we don’t have men and women who served that tell their children, ‘Don’t join,’ because they had a problem in DoD or they had a problem in VA.”
On Feb. 13, the VA implemented a new flag policy at its facilities, limiting displays to the U.S. flag and POW/MIA flags only. Collins said Monday that it’s an effort to unify the department.
“We’re going to make sure everybody’s welcome to get the benefits they deserve,” he said. “We’re going to be welcoming at the VA, but we’re also going to be unified at the VA.”
Among other topics, Collins addressed concerns about potential benefit reductions as federal agencies seek to reduce expenses.
There are no “cuts to benefits and healthcare for the veteran. Period. It’s not happening,” Collins promised, while also expressing his optimism for the future.
“I still believe deeply in this country,” Collins said. “I believe that our best days are ahead of us; I believe that the things we’ve got to do is break out of this mire that we can’t fix things, because we can fix things. With your help and my help, when we work together, there is no stopping, and the best day for a veteran is lying ahead of us.”
- Washington Conference