Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Washington, DC) U.S. Senator Larry Craig, the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, plans to ask probing questions at Tuesday's hearing regarding the "seamless transition" of active duty personnel to veteran status.

"Two years ago I traveled to Iraq and Germany with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. The purpose of our trip was to examine how well the Department of Defense and VA were doing to make the transition for those wounded on the field of battle a smooth one.  In the same year, the committee held a series of hearings on this same topic. Two years later, I look forward to learning more about the progress in seamless transition between DOD and VA," said Craig.

The hearing titled, "Oversight hearing: DOD/VA Collaboration and Cooperation to Meet the Needs of Returning Service members," will be held on Tuesday in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building and will begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. It is scheduled to be webcast live and available for viewing later on the Committee's website:

The witnesses include:

• The Honorable Gordon H. Mansfield, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• The Honorable David S. C. Chu,Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, United States Department of Defense

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