Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki issued a dire warning Wednesday about the impact of a prolonged budget impasse, saying millions would see their benefit checks halted if the stalemate is not resolved in the coming weeks.
Shinseki said more than 5.18 million checks worth $6.25 billion could soon be held up.
“I will not be able to pay all these beneficiaries (without a budget),” Shinseki testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
He said that if something is not done by Nov. 1, “I will not be sending checks out.”
Source: FOX News – FOX News: VA chief issues dire warning, says millions of veterans might not get payments
World War II veterans brought to Washington, D.C. to see the WWII memorial surged past barricades to lay flowers in memory of their fallen brothers-in-arms while the National Park Service revealed who ordered the monument to be barricaded.
Carol Johnson with the National Park Service stood outside the site of the WWII Memorial and told reporters that the closure of the site was ordered by the White House’s Office of Management & Budget. She made it clear the National Park Service itself did not do the decision.
Tuesday a Congressman from Mississippi’s 4th District brought colleagues to the memorial site to move the barricades for a group of 91 Mississippi WWII vets who had been flown to D.C.
The act of civil disobedience by the Congressman came after he was denied by the National Park Service, then the Department of Interior and then the White House to open the memorial for the veterans.
“They did not lift one finger to help these veterans,” Congressman Steven Palazzo told Fox News’ Todd Starnes. “It is sad that they would not even make an exception for our World War II veterans.”
Palazzo said that while Park police were on hand none of them made any moves to stop the veterans from honoring their fallen comrades.
“They did the honorable thing and stood down,” Palazzo said. “We don’t fault them or the staff there one bit.”
Palazzo added that because it is an open-air memorial, there is more cost to forcing the public to stay away.
“It actually requires more effort and expense to shut out these veterans from their Memorial than it would to simply let them through,” Palazzo said.
