^{July 25, 2005
Contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093}

(Washington, DC) U.S. Senator Larry, Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, announced today that the committee will hold a field hearing on Monday, August 1, at Boise's Gowen Field. The testimony gathered at the event will become part of the official record of the committee and could affect legislation which may be considered by the Senate.

Chaired by Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), the hearing will examine how well the U.S. is prepared for the return of our citizen-soldiers by taking a close look at the Idaho National Guard.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend, but unlike town meetings, the hearing will be a structured event where Chairman Craig will ask questions of witnesses. Joining Sen. Craig at the head table will be Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne, who served in the United States Senate from January of 1993 through January of 1999.

This past May Sen. Craig traveled to Iraq with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson, and Idaho Congressmen Butch Otter and Mike Simpson. There they met with members of the Idaho National Guard and visited medical facilities in Iraq and, later, Germany. A major purpose of the trip to was to examine the transition from battlefield hospitals to the VA care when they return to the United States.

When

• Chairman Larry Craig
• Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne
• The Honorable Dr. Jon Perlin, VA Under Secretary for Health
• Major General Larry Lafrenz, Idaho National Guard Adjutant General
• David McIntyre, TRIWEST, President and CEO
• Scott Reese, Mayor of Blackfoot and Chairman, Idaho State Committee, Employer of Guard and Reserve

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