Obama announces new efforts for vets in politically tinged North Carolina visit
Updated 2:05 p.m. ET, 8/26/2014
Charlotte (CNN) – President Barack Obama detailed Tuesday how his administration is attempting to rectify shortfalls in caring for war veterans, just as new threats abroad could require more sacrifices for American military families.
Speaking at the annual American Legion conference in Charlotte, Obama announced new executive actions aimed at improving mental health services and financial opportunities for servicemen and women, months after allegations of massive wrongdoing surfaced at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Michelle Obama: More than 58,000 homeless veterans in the U.S. is ‘a stain on our nation’s soul’
(CNN) - First lady Michelle Obama called the number of homeless veterans “a stain on our nation’s soul,” urging local officials to continuing working to fight the problem.
At an event in Washington on Thursday, Mrs. Obama told a packed room, “as Americans, the idea that anyone who has worn our country’s uniform spends their night sleeping on the ground should horrify us. So it’s truly our duty to right this wrong and put an end to veteran homelessness once and for all.”
First lady announces initiative to end veteran homelessness
Washington (CNN) - First lady Michelle Obama announced a new initiative at the White House on Wednesday to help end veteran homelessness across the country by the end of 2015.
The Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness is a call to action for mayors and other state and local leaders across the country to make a commitment to make sure all veterans in their communities have a roof over their heads.
Biden: U.S. 'behind' on caring for veterans
(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden said the United States needs to "get to the bottom" of the problems rocking the Department of Veterans Affairs at a Memorial Day event Monday.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and the Obama administration have come under fire over reports of excessively long waits for medical care for veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Vets groups blast GOP senator who accused them of defending the status quo
(CNN) - Major veterans’ groups this Memorial Day weekend harshly criticized the top Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee after he charged that the leaders of the service organizations are too cozy with embattled VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and won’t call for him to resign despite allegations of mismanagement and wrongdoing in his department.
Sen. Richard Burr accused them of being “more interested in their own livelihoods and Washington connections than they are to the needs of their own members.”
Biden: 'Assume every microphone is on'
(CNN) - Be wary of every microphone.
That was Vice President Joe Biden's advice Monday to a crowd at the kickoff for the Road 2 Recovery Memorial Challenge - where 200 cyclists, including injured veterans, ride 325 miles from Washington to Virginia Beach.
Miller: VA issues 'much larger' than Shinseki
(CNN) - Congressional chairmen of the House and Senate veterans affairs committees are still backing embattled VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, for now, amid a growing chorus of lawmakers calling for his resignation over the scandal that's rocked the agency.
Rep. Jeff Miller, a Republican from Florida and chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told CNN's Candy Crowley on Sunday that the issues with the VA are "much larger than the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs."
Obama touches on VA scandal in weekly address
(CNN) - President Barack Obama alluded to the growing scandal unfolding within the Veteran Affairs Department in his weekly address, acknowledging the agency's crippling shortfalls in providing health care.
"In recent weeks, we’ve seen again how much more our nation has to do to make sure all our veterans get the care they deserve," he said in a White House video released Saturday that coincided with the Memorial Day weekend.
Former VA secretary: Obama's ‘not taking responsibility’ for agency's misconduct
(CNN) - Former Veterans Affairs chief Jim Nicholson said President Barack Obama is "not taking responsibility" for the ongoing scandal that has rocked the agency under his administration's watch.
In an interview on Friday with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Nicholson also hit back at Obama’s sharp criticism of his tenure leading the VA, calling into question the former senator’s commitment to the cause when he severed on the Veterans Affairs Committee.
"He was on the committee but he never showed up," Nicholson said, appearing on "The Situation Room."
FIRST ON CNN: Congressman: Obama should let some vets get private care
(CNN) - The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is calling on the Obama administration to permit veterans waiting for care at VA hospitals to seek treatment outside that system, if they want.
Rep. Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican, called on President Barack Obama to issue an executive order that would allow those veterans to act on their own and charge the government for outside care.
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