President Bush on Tuesday nominated retired Army Lt. Gen. James Peake to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is struggling to make the drastic changes needed to care for large numbers of wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I’m pleased to announce my nomination of an Army doctor and combat veteran who’ll be a strong new leader for this department,” Bush said in an appearance with Peake, 63, who served as Army surgeon general from 2000 to 2004.
Peake’s nomination comes as the administration and Congress are wrestling with the problems facing troops who return home with physical and mental wounds from the wars.
Bush said Peake’s first task in office would be to implement recommendations of a bipartisan commission that studied ways to improve care for wounded troops. The recommendations followed revelations this year of shoddy conditions and paralyzing red tape at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Speaking after Bush’s introduction, Peake said the U.S. disability system for veterans is “largely a 1945 product” and it is “time to do some revision.”
The appointment requires Senate confirmation.
Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), who was co-chairman of the commission to improve care for wounded troops, said Peake seems to be a good choice. “He’s been on both sides,” Dole said.
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But some advocates for veterans worried that as an outsider, he would not know enough to make quick changes.
“We’d feel more comfortable having somebody with much more intimate knowledge of the VA than someone from outside,” said David Gorman, executive director of Disabled American Veterans.
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Peake file
*Wounded twice in Vietnam. Awarded Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
*BS, U.S. Military Academy, 1966; MD, Cornell University, 1972.
*Would be first physician and first general to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs.