Attention ALL Gulf War I Veterans

Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans

In April 2008, the Secretary of U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs established the Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans. The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to provide advice to the Secretary on the full spectrum of health care and benefits issues that confront veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the 1990-1991 period of the Gulf War. To carry out these duties, the Committee is expected to assess both the effectiveness of existing benefits and services and to determine the need for new initiatives and/or policies that relate exclusively to this population of veterans.

Upcoming Meetings

* January 14 - 15, 2009 - VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA
* February 18 - 19, 2009 - VA Medical Center, Decatur, GA
* March 18 - 19, 2009 - Waco, TX (venue TBD)
* April 7 - 9, 2009 - Washington, DC (venue TBD)

Committee Members, if you visit this link they give backlinks for each member

Chairman Charles Cragin

Members Martha Douthit, Daniel Ortiz, Henry Falk, M.D., M.P.H., Daniel Pinedo, Mark Garner,
Thomas Plewes, Lynn Goldman, M.D., M.P.H., Valerie Randall, John Hart, M.D., Edward R. Reese (Randy)
William Jones (Rusty), Steve Robertson, Kirt Love


Group Photo


DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ADVISORY COMMITTEES

Advisory committees are used extensively by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide advice and guidance on a wide variety of programs that deliver benefits and services to our Nation’s veterans. Advisory committees operate as another component of the “people’s voice” in our democratic form of government. Some of VA’s advisory committees have been mandated by Congress to ensure that federal laws, as carried out by the executive branch, are meeting their intended goals. Other VA committees have been created by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assess specific VA policies or programs.

Advisory committee members are generally acknowledged, by VA’s leadership and members of the veterans affairs committees in Congress, as “consumer representatives” of those millions of beneficiaries whose lives are affected each year by VA programs. Advisory committees must operate in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Advisory committee meetings at VA are generally open to the public, and notices of those meetings are published in the Federal Register.

One of VA’s principal objectives in managing its advisory committees is to ensure that committee members appropriately reflect the diversity of American society and the veterans’ population. Committee members are expected to have the technical, scientific and programmatic expertise demanded by the committees’ areas of interest and emphasis. Committee members are also expected to offer unbiased advice and to comply with all federal ethics standards.

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Follow this link for a list of Committees I assume are still in operation or setting up public hearings etc..

Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans

To provide advice to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the full spectrum of health care and benefits issues that confronts veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the 1990 - 1991 period of the Gulf War.