Benishek Holds Live Call With Northern Michigan Veterans

WASHINGTON, DC: Dr. Dan Benishek (MI-01) and Rep. Jeff Miller (FL-01), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, recently held a joint conference call with thousands of Northern Michigan military veterans.

“As a doctor who worked in a VA hospital for 20 years, it was a great opportunity to speak with many of Northern Michigan’s veterans. I want to thank Chairman Miller for his leadership on the Committee and for his participation in this call. The Chairman was able to give many of our veterans his insight and expertise on important veterans’ issues,” said Dr. Benishek, a doctor from Iron River who worked at the Iron Mountain VA Center for 20 years.

“I want to thank my good friend, and fellow Veterans’ Affairs Committee Member, for hosting last evening’s teletownhall with the veterans of Northern Michigan,” stated Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

“This call was a great way to get feedback from our area’s veterans and I sincerely value their input. I remain committed to doing all I can to help those who served in uniform,” stated Benishek, who serves as Michigan’s sole member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The conference call allowed veterans throughout Michigan’s First Congressional District to speak live with both their elected representative and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman. Dr. Benishek and Chairman Miller fielded a wide array of questions during the call and were able to speak directly with veterans on issues of interest in Northern Michigan.

“It was evident that our veterans are concerned about the VA bureaucracy and want to make sure the many veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive the care they need. These are items the VA is doing, but needs to be doing better. A common area of distress is the painfully long time it takes veterans to receive the benefits they earned. In response, I am currently looking at ways we can ease this ‘backlog’ and improve care for our nation’s heroes,” added Benishek.

“Veterans have a lot of questions concerning their care and access from VA in these tough economic times. Let me assure everyone, veterans are, and always will be, a priority for this nation,” added Miller.