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http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2008/12/30/opinion/doc495ade012fae2730880586.txt

To the Editor,

Although many improvements have been made to The Veterans Benefit Administration, there are still many areas of much-needed improvement. We are fortunate that as president, Barack Obama has vowed to make some of these adjustments within the first months of his administration.

As president, he will fully fund the VA. The current administration has consistently underfunded our veterans’ benefits, forcing them to settle for the system they had instead of the system they deserve.

Troops are not divided into income class or priority groups when they volunteer to serve our nation, yet that is exactly how they are treated when they enter the VA system. As president, Mr. Obama will provide veterans care for ALL veterans who have served. One of his first acts as president will be signing an executive order reversing “Priority 8” veteran status.

There are more than 800,000 claims pending within the Veterans Benefits Administration — over 100,000 cases each year containing significant errors. As a senator, Mr. Obama voted to hire more workers for the VA. As president, Barack Obama will hire additional claims workers and convene our nation’s leading veterans groups, employees and managers to develop an updated training and management model that will ensure VA benefit decisions are rated fairly.

On any given night, more than 200,000 veterans are homeless, more than 20 percent of America’s homeless population. The VA’s homeless services, however, reach only a quarter of this population. Barack Obama has been a leader in the fight to end homelessness among our nation’s veterans. He will establish a “zero tolerance” policy for homeless veterans when he takes office.

There is a large percentage of employers who discriminate against and penalize reservists. As president, Barack Obama will hire extra workers to investigate and assure employers are adhering to the letter of the law regarding reservists.

As a grateful nation,we can support these actions by petitioning our congressmen to vote “for” veterans funding and legislation to support our veterans. There are also many organizations that support our veterans-consider volunteering some time or money for those who have served so bravely in the past ... and future.