"NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2006

House VA Panel Hearing Plan Mutes Veterans' Voices

WASHINGTON-An overhaul of legislative hearings announced by the
chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee seems deliberately
designed to marginalize the influence of the nation's veterans on funding
levels for the Department of Veterans Affairs and other important public
policy issues, according to the Disabled American Veterans.

Last November Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) decided to end
a decades-long tradition that gave veterans groups the opportunity to
present testimony regarding a wide range of legislative priorities before a
joint
session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. The DAV and
other organizations tried, unsuccessfully, to get Rep. Buyer to reinstate
those joint hearings, which they viewed as an invaluable tool in
formulating public policy toward America's veterans.

When the new schedule of hearings and their format were announced in
January proved to be even more disappointing to veterans, DAV National
Commander Paul W. Jackson sent a letter of protest to Chairman Buyer.

The first of those hearings is scheduled for February 8, just two days
after the anticipated release of the President's budget proposal for fiscal
year 2007 on February 6, and copies of written testimony from veterans
service organizations must be submitted to the Committee by noon that very
day. The Chairman also imposed a three-minute limit on oral remarks by
representatives from veterans organizations, each of which could invite no
more than five persons in the audience.

"Both the timing of the hearings and the absurdity of a three-minute
limit for oral remarks make it all too clear that Chairman Buyer is not
interested in a meaningful dialogue with the veterans community," said DAV
National Commander Paul W. Jackson.

"How could the Chairman expect us to analyze and comment on the
President's budget request before it is even made public? Or is it his
intent to blunt criticism and suppress diverse points of view regarding
funding levels and policy initiatives in the President's budget?"
Commander
Jackson said.

"The revised schedule for hearings and the change in format amount to
a slap in the face of individual veterans as well as the groups that
represent them in the public policy arena. Chairman Buyer has slammed the
door in the face of America's veterans," Commander Jackson said.

The 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit
organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932,
represents this nation's disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single
purpose: building better lives for our nation's disabled veterans and
their families. For more information, visit the organization's Web site
www.dav.org."