Veterans meet with Sen. Padilla, Rep. Levin to discuss looming VA cuts

Sen Alex Padilla left and Rep Mike Levin during roundtable discussing VA cuts Photo by Tessa Balc Times of San Diego Sen Alex Padilla and Rep Mike Levin joined with group stakeholders Wednesday in Del Mar to emphasize the impact of proposed governing body cuts on veterans In the wake of plans for the Department of Veteran Affairs to shed as a large number of as jobs Levin commented his constituents have come to him with concerns They are two-fold veterans wonder how they will continue to receive care while those who work at the VA are unsure of their job shield They re worried that they re going to be the next person who s going to lose their job whether they re willing to admit it publicly or not revealed Levin whose th District covers parts of San Diego and Orange counties I ve had private conversations with a great number of folks who work at our local VA who are concerned about what the subsequent day may bring The afternoon roundtable featured five speakers in addition to Padilla and Levin One of them Ian Foley a veteran who served in the Army and Navy for eight years disclosed Levin reached out asking him to speak He felt he owed it to the congressman to be there Levin basically saved my life the San Diego native revealed Foley who now lives in Carlsbad with his wife and two children for years has suffered from chronic illnesses without receiving answers to help manage the daily debilitating pain He announced he was on the brink of death when Levin connected him with the VA which became the first clinical provider to offer Foley a determination He had Crohn s Syndrome and doctors with the VA helped him find procedures to cope The VA didn t give up Through a series of evaluations and follow-ups they connected the dots That assessment changed everything Foley declared and his voice began to shake as he held back tears It gave me not just an explanation but a path forward a way to manage my condition regain a sense of control and heal Maria Sittmann CEO of the Veterans Anatomical Research Foundation a non-profit that works to advance healthcare for former amenity members highlighted the impact the organization already has felt since President Donald Trump took office In addition to the proposed VA cuts there s been a considerable reduction in grants awarded from the National Institutes of Healthcare and Department of Defense she declared Padilla is trying to help veterans in other tactics He introduced bipartisan regulation last week that will amend affordable housing stipulations that exclude veterans with certain disability benefits from receiving Section assistance But both the California senator and Levin mentioned there are presently no lawsuits regarding VA cuts though numerous other cases have been filed in attempts to stop Trump executive orders or actions take by Elon Musk s Department of Cabinet Efficiency Beyond legislative or legal strategies they reported they are counting on the population to push back against federal job cuts that hit veterans hard When residents opinion begins to shift then we think particular of the Republicans in Congress will begin to feel and hopefully act differently Padilla announced In the VA recorded a record number of healthcare care visits and benefits including more than million practitioner appointments Additionally according to Padilla and Levin nearly veterans have enrolled in VA robustness care since new act was signed in to expand VA benefits to those exposed to toxic substances California has the preponderance veterans in the nation and was home to of all homeless veterans in the U S last year according to the Department of Housing and Urban Evolution s January point-in-time count There are homeless veterans across the state including in San Diego according to the count Padilla and Levin also joined registered nurses and veterans at VA Physiological Center-San Diego Wednesday They delivered remarks at a rally organized by National Nurses Organizing Committee National Nurses United demanding an end to VA staffing cuts City News System contributed to this assessment