Brig.
Gen. Carol Ann Fausone (ret.)
As
I have traveled the country helping veterans, one group that is underserved are
Native Americans. My friends in western State
Veterans Affairs departments have told me of the issues these Native American
veterans face. So it is with some pleasure that I learned the VA is going to focus on these veterans.
Native
Americans have the highest rates of enlistment into the armed services and that
there are well over 500 sovereign tribes. The VA has initiatives
such as the 2010
VA-IHS Memorandum of Understanding in which the VA and Indian Health Service (IHS); the 2011 Tribal
Consultation Policy in which the VA continues their discussion with tribes;
and the 2012
Reimbursement Agreement, in which the VA more easily reimburses IHS
facilities for the benefit of Native vets.
No
veteran should be left behind. Our Native American veterans deserve all
the benefits to which they are entitled.
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