Obama signs executive order that aims to transform govt into model employer of US veterans

November 9th, 2009 more images Obama to sign vet jobs order, meet with Netanyahu WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to make the federal government the model employer of America's veterans. Obama is to sign an executive order Monday evening to establish a Council on Veterans Employment and a Veterans Employment Program office within most federal agencies.

November 9th, 2009 more images more imagesObama to encourage federal hiring of veteransWASHINGTON — The White House is launching a program it says will turn the government into the model employer of military veterans. President Barack Obama was to sign an executive order Monday creating the Veterans Employment Initiative.

October 22nd, 2009 Obama signs veterans spending billWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a measure designed to keep funding for veterans' medical care steady amid future budget negotiations. Noting the Veterans Affairs Department is providing care for veterans without a Congress-approved budget right now, Obama said the new law would guarantee timely and predictable funding by laying out the VA budget ahead of schedule.

October 20th, 2009 Michelle Obama thanks Veterans Affairs employeesWASHINGTON — As her husband debates whether to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, first lady Michelle Obama told Department of Veterans Affairs employees Tuesday they are doing vital work.

September 23rd, 2009 VA IG says too many vets wait a year for claimWASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general says too many veterans' disability claims take more than a year to process. An audit released Wednesday has shown that a year ago, 11,000 veterans had claims pending more than a year.

September 15th, 2009 DAV seeks participates in online 'march'WASHINGTON — The Disabled American Veterans service organization is encouraging veterans and others to march in Washington — online at least. In what it dubs the "Million Claims March," the advocacy group is using social networking sites to encourage veterans to participate online in chats starting Tuesday about the backlog in disability claims at the Veterans Affairs Department and other veterans issues.

August 28th, 2009 Wis. veterans home official replaced amid scandalMADISON, Wis. — The official who ran Wisconsin's largest nursing home for veterans has been replaced amid an ongoing investigation into more than $800,000 in unauthorized spending.

August 17th, 2009 In Pa., Shinseki pledges to modernize VA systemPHILADELPHIA — The nation's top veterans affairs official says medical benefits for veterans will not change under the health care reforms being considered in Washington. U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki spoke Monday at a town hall meeting with veterans in Philadelphia, where he pledged to modernize the Veterans Administration for the 21st century.

August 17th, 2009 Veterans to routinely be offered HIV testsWASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department on Monday began offering routine HIV tests to veterans who receive medical care. Under the new policy, veterans must verbally consent to the test, and they can opt to decline it.

August 17th, 2009 Obama to address VFW on MondayWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will speak to the nation's largest organization of combat veterans. Obama will address the 110th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix on Monday.

August 17th, 2009 Obama: VA care not affected by health overhaulPHOENIX — President Barack Obama says a proposed overhaul of the nation's health care system is not going to change how veterans get their medical services. Obama on Monday told a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that no one in Washington is talking about taking away their benefits.

June 23rd, 2009 Philly VA to research homelessness among vetsPHILADELPHIA — A new federal agency dedicated to eliminating homelessness among veterans has been established in Philadelphia. The National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans plans to provide data, research and analysis to policymakers in hopes of ending the problem within five years.

June 15th, 2009 VA expands health care eligibility for nondisabledWASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department opened the doors of its health care system Monday to about 266,000 nondisabled veterans with moderate incomes, some of whom have been shut out of those benefits. The veterans eligible are from a category known as "Priority 8." They have no illnesses or injuries attributed to their military service, and they earn more than the average wage in their communities.

June 6th, 2009 Obama honors veterans, including family membersOMAHA BEACH, France — President Barack Obama is paying tribute to D-Day veterans, including one who visited the Normandy cemetery on the eve of the invasion's 65th anniversary and then died. Obama on Saturday remembered Jim Norene (nor-EEN), a member of the 101st Airborne who died in his sleep after visiting the American cemetery a day earlier.

January 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama signed an executive order Thursday to close the controversial prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba within a year. The order sets into motion a review of the cases of all the remaining 245 detainees at the facility and an evaluation of ways to relocate them.