BVA National President Sam Huhn called on Congress to rethink its priorities in the area of eye trauma research and to better oversee the implementation of the new Department of Defense (DoD/ Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Vision Center of Excellence.
BVA Director District 5 Dr. George Stocking, left, and Director District 3 Joe Parker prior to Congressional testimony that outlined BVA's legislative priorities for 2012.
Presenting oral testimony as one of ten Veterans Service Organization representatives on a panel before a joint session of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs, Sam also emphasized crucial pending legislation relating to Special Adaptive Housing grants and beneficiary travel for blinded veterans.
“If accessible housing grants and travel assistance for blind rehabilitation training are not possible so that disabled veterans can live independently at home, the high cost of institutional care in nursing homes will become the much less desirable alternative,” Sam told the Committees.
Other organizations represented on the panel were American Ex-Prisoners of War, the Fleet Reserve Association, the Military Officers Association of America, Gold Star Wives, the Jewish War Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Air Force Sergeants Association, the National Guard Association of the United States, and AMVETS.
Director District 1 David VanLoan shared time before hearing and throughout week in Nation's Capital with grandson David VanLoan III.
Sam’s remarks were the culmination of five days, March 19-23, of Legislative Committee meetings at VA and on Capitol Hill, mid-winter meetings of the National Board of Directors, and the renowned cherry blossoms that had bloomed earlier than expected due to the unseasonably warm weather in the mid-Atlantic region.
