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1) https://www.va.gov/about_va/vahistory.asp
2) www.cnn.com/2014/06/24/us/senator-va-report/
3) www.cnn.com/2015/09/02/politics/va-inspector-general-report/
4) http://sks.sirs.com.proxy.eths.k12.il.us/webapp/article?artno=0000386453&type=ART
5) www.washingtontimes.com/.../3/va-still-plagued-by-problems-two-years-after-scand/

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The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run department devoted to military benefits. 4 major benefits programs that are run are disability compensation, pension, free or low cost health care, and education. The Department of Veterans Affairs, or simply known as the VA, has officially been around since the 1930s, but has historically been around since the 1600s. Since then, there have been many reforms on improving the benefits that veterans have received. In an article called by the VA called, History - Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), it states these reforms. One reform being that as the U.S. entered WWI, it established disability compensation, insurance, and vocational rehabilitation. Another being that after WWII, congress made the World War 2 GI Bill, which included many benefits for veterans.

In 2014, a scandal concerning the VA did arise. In an article by Curt Devine titled, Bad VA care may have killed more than 1,000 veterans, senator's report says. In this article, it says that there have been many veterans that have died because of delayed care. It also talks about how a VA hospital in Phoenix, Arizona changed their records to hide the real number of veterans that have died while waiting for care.

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Dear Mr. Trump,

It has recently come to my attention that this government is lacking. It is lacking in supporting this nation's veterans. Specifically, this government is lacking in the area of healthcare. It has also recently come to my attention that you are an avid supporter of veterans benefits. In an article by Dave Phillips called, The Results From Obama’s V.A. Reform? Still Waiting., it states, “Recently, Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, has seized on problems in health care for veterans, calling the waits for appointments "totally inexcusable" and saying that, if elected, he would crack down on employees who fail to serve veterans.” It also stated, “"We're going to take care of our veterans like they've never been taken care of before," Mr. Trump told the audience at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention last week.” One question that I have for you is, how will you do it? How will you make sure that all of your reform plans will work? In another article by Curt Davis called, 307,000 veterans may have died awaiting Veterans Affairs health care, report says, is says that, “The VA's inspector general found that out of about 800,000 records stalled in the agency's system for managing health care enrollment, there were more than 307,000 records that belonged to veterans who had died months or years in the past.” I do not think that is right. You most likely do not think that is right. That number is about 60 times more than the number of deaths in Iraq. Now, how do you plan on fixing this? One suggestion that I have is that the government should invest in the system used for processing veterans request for health care, or to hire more people so that requests are processed faster and more efficiently. If this happens then I believe that the amount of veterans whose requests are pending for a substantial amount of time can be shortened significantly. In another article by Dave Boyer called, VA still plagued by problems two years after scandal, it states, “The VA is still struggling with a lack of accountability, an inability to properly manage a budget rapidly approaching $200 billion, and a failure to provide veterans with timely access to care and benefits,” said John Cooper, a spokesman for Concerned Veterans for America. “The VA is broken, and if we want veterans to be assured of a VA that works, we need to systemically reform it.” One idea that I had about resolving this budget problem that is clearly affecting health care is by having veterans take a survey and decide on how to spend the 200 billion dollar budget based on the survey results. As you can see, I have done a fair amount of research on this issue. I have also done a fair amount of thinking about what actions the government could take to improve healthcare for veterans. I would like if you could really take into consideration of what I have said because I do think that they can help. I would lastly like to say this, I really hope you are the president that finally gives our veterans the benefit that they deserve.

Thank You,

Ezra Yang

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My steps echoed as I walked through the silent hall. I could soon hear someone screaming in anger. It got louder and louder as I neared my destination. When I arrived, I reached for the door handle, but someone beat me to it from the other side. The door flew open, and I immediately recognized my friend, Jason. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours. I recognized something that I knew too well in his eyes. I recognized the anger, the sorrow, the pain, but there was something different that I recognized. Something that I haven’t seen in a long time. Something that I only saw in Iraq, and at my mothers deathbed. I recognized the lifelessness in his eyes. His eyes told me it was almost his time. After what seemed like forever, he softly said, “Hey Luke”.
“Hey Jason”, I said half halfheartedly.

“How are the kids doing”, he asked.

“They’re doing great”, I replied. I lied. I haven’t seen my kids since my wife and I got divorced two months ago. “So how's your health?” I asked, but I already knew his answer.

“I think I’m going to die”, he responded softly. As soon as he said that he broke down in tears. He muttered words. Without even saying anything, he ran. Before I could say anything, he was already out of the building. I stared down the hall for a while, thinking about my own health. I had been diagnosed with cancer 3 months ago, and yet I haven’t been able to see a doctor. I’ve been in and out of the VA hospital for the past two months. Each time getting my appointment pushed back a few weeks. Every Time, I would silently say, so this is what I get in return after I killed for my country. After a while, I could feel the eyes staring at me. I looked into the waiting area, and people looked away. I took a deep breath, and walked in.

I slowly walked up to the receptionist. My hands were damp, and I could feel little beads of sweat on my forehead. “Hello sir. How may I help you?’ the receptionist asked sadly.

“Hi. I have an appointment with Dr. Shaw”, I replied with a shaky voice.

“Name?” she asked.

“Luke Dubler”, I replied. She started to type and that’s when I got even more nervous. She looked up from her computer, and I already knew what she was going to say.

“I'm sorry Sergeant Dubler, but I'm afraid we have had to reschedule your appointment”, she said without remorse. I could feel the anger swelling up inside of me. I stormed out without saying another word. All I could hear was the shouting of the receptionist telling me when my appointment was, but I didn’t care anymore. I walked out and the cold winter air hit me. As I stood there feeling sorry for myself, and thinking about my life, I saw a shadow on the ground that wasn’t mine. It got closer and closer. I was scared to look up and see what it was. When I finally looked up, I saw Jason. I saw the tears. I wanted to help him but I know there was nothing I could do now. As I stood shocked, I heard the loud thump.

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238,000 US Veterans Died Waiting for Health Care

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Over 238,000 of the 847,000 veterans in the pending backlog for health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs have already died waiting for treatment, according to a leaked document. We look at the report on the Lip News with Margaret Howell and Nik Zecevic.