{"id":7478,"date":"2025-02-05T16:38:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T16:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7478"},"modified":"2025-02-05T16:38:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T16:38:56","slug":"secretary-collins-message-to-veterans-and-va-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7478","title":{"rendered":"Secretary Collins\u2019 message to Veterans and VA employees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-02-05T16:38:56+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>It is my life\u2019s honor to serve America\u2019s Veterans as secretary of Veterans Affairs, and I thank President Donald J. Trump as well as the U.S. Senate for their confidence in me.<\/p>\n<p>America is the greatest nation on Earth precisely because of the Veterans willing to step forward and defend our freedom. I\u2019ve witnessed this firsthand throughout my two decades in the military, as I\u2019ve served with some of the finest men and women our nation has to offer.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to being a Navy Veteran, I am an Air Force Reserve colonel and chaplain. During my time in the military, I\u2019ve learned that leadership is about listening, serving, motivating and setting a good example for those around you. That is the approach I will bring to the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>When President Trump offered me this job, he gave me simple instructions: take great care of America\u2019s Veterans. Here is how we\u2019re going to accomplish the task the president has set out for us:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We\u2019re going to deliver timely access to care and benefits for every eligible Veteran, family member, caregiver and survivor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We\u2019re going to put Veterans at the center of everything VA does, focusing relentlessly on customer service and convenience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We\u2019re going to challenge the status quo in order to find new and better ways of helping VA beneficiaries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We\u2019re going to celebrate the vast majority of VA employees who do a great job every day and hold employees accountable when they fall short of the mission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We\u2019re going to provide Veterans with the health care choices they have earned while maintaining and improving VA\u2019s direct health care capabilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>And we\u2019re going to do a better job reaching Veterans at risk of homelessness or suicide \u2013 especially those who have had no contact with VA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My commitment to my fellow servicemembers and Veterans will serve as my compass for the way ahead, and I am honored to be working with the men and women of VA to accomplish our noble and vital mission.<\/p>\n<p>Together, we will strengthen VA so it works better for America\u2019s heroes. Let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/secretary-collins-message-to-veterans-and-va-employees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VA Secretary Doug Collins shares insight on his vision for the department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news","category-trump"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Secretary Collins\u2019 message to Veterans and VA employees - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA Secretary Doug Collins shares insight on his vision for the department.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7478\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Secretary Collins\u2019 message to Veterans and VA employees - 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