Bush, candidates to address VFW convention in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Veteran health care is expected to top the agenda at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention, which has attracted a host of heavy-hitting speakers, including President Bush and four presidential candidates.

But VFW spokesman Jerry Newberry said he wasn't sure Bush or any of the candidates scheduled to speak during the convention would address the health care problems facing veterans.

"Hopefully they're going to address some of our concerns," Newberry said. "Hopefully they are familiar with, and knowledgeable about, the issues that confront the nation's veterans.

"The key thing is, our members, our delegates, aren't stupid people. They expect more than political rhetoric."

Presidential hopefuls set to speak are Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama and Republicans John McCain and Fred Thompson. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., was invited but declined, Newberry said.

Along with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care for veterans has been a recurring priority for the VFW, which has about 1.7 million members from among the nation's 25 million veterans, Newberry said.

He said the Department of Veterans Affairs has struggled to keep up with the demand in health care and that it needs to improve such things as wait times for veterans seeking medical care and how it processes compensation claims.

"There's about an 800,000 backlog in claims. That whole system needs to be cleaned up," Newberry said. "It's, you know, justice delayed is justice denied."

He also said the VA needed to amp up its treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic brain injuries, which is "occurring more and more frequently with this new generation of veteran."

A resolution likely to gain traction among the 10,000 convention delegates calls for mandatory funding for veterans health care, which is now discretionary, Newberry said. The VA has received budget increases in recent years, but some veterans groups have said they were not big enough to keep up with demand.

The number of veterans coming into the VA health care system has been rising by about 5 percent a year as the number of people returning from Iraq with illnesses or injuries keep rising.

The VFW's 108th annual convention, which runs Saturday through Thursday, is being held in Kansas City, where the VFW has its national headquarters, for the first time since 1999. Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon H. Mansfield was scheduled to address the convention Tuesday.

Bush is scheduled to address the convention Wednesday, and there had been speculation he would use the venue to discuss the upcoming report to Congress on the status of the increase of U.S. troops in Iraq. The VFW has supported the war, as well as the surge.

Gary Kurpius, the VFW's national commander and a veteran of the Vietnam War, recently returned from Baghdad, where he accompanied soldiers on patrols. He said the new strategy was "producing measurable results."

Clinton, a New York senator, and McCain, an Arizona senator, are scheduled to speak Aug. 20. Thompson, a former Tennessee senator who has not formally announced his candidacy for president, and Obama, an Illinois senator, are scheduled to speak Aug. 21. Political speeches and convention events are closed to the public.

Newberry said the VFW would not endorse a candidate but wanted to hear what the presidential hopefuls had to say regarding veterans issues.

"We're one of the most diverse organizations in the country. We have young members, old members, Republicans and Democrats, people of all faiths and all races. ... I can tell you my boss and I belong to different political parties," he said.

"Our mission is not to support any candidates or political persuasion. Our mission is helping those who have served and have continued to serve our country."

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