Boozman Takes Chairman's Gavel

Boozman Takes Chairman's Gavel

From the Benton County Daily Record

Washington, Apr 21 -

U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark., took on a new role Wednesday, chairing a House subcommittee examining veterans' issues.

Boozman was named chairman, for the 2005-2006 session of Congress, of the Economic Opportunities Committee, a subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. "We've had meetings in the past, but today was our first official committee hearing. We had people from the Veterans Department, and the vocational rehabilitation people. What we're trying to do is ensure that veterans who have been injured are retrained in a manner such that they can continue to earn a living and support their families; that the counseling they're getting is adequate; and that they're provided the proper training so they can become employable again," Boozman said.

The meeting went well, he said. "It was really good. It's such an important subject now. My staff was out earlier in the week at Walter Reed (Hospital), visiting with people who had come back from Iraq and who had suffered significant injuries. Many of them were amputees. (The staff was) making sure (the veterans) were beginning to be provided with adequate information so they can start down a career path where they can again do what they want to do and support themselves," Boozman said.

Particularly with the nation at war, it's important that federal programs offered for veterans work well, and that no opportunity to help veterans is overlooked, the northwest Arkansas congressman said.

Boozman is not accustomed to the title he had at the meeting and will have for two years. "I'm the ‘Mr. Chairman,' which has kind of a new ring to it," he said.

http://www.boozman.house.gov/News/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=8115