WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today applauded the swearing-in of Tom Bowman as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Bowman, a veteran himself who served as Isakson’s committee staff director on the Senate VA Committee for the past two years, brings a long career of working on behalf of veterans to the number two position at the VA, where he previously served in other roles for almost a decade.

“Tom has been a key player in all that we have accomplished in the committee over the past two years, and I know he will bring the same passion as he heads back to the VA to continue working on behalf of our nation’s veterans,” said Isakson. “I congratulate Tom on his swearing-in and look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Isakson delivered remarks at Bowman’s swearing-in ceremony, which was conducted earlier today by VA Secretary David Shulkin at the VA Central Office in Washington, D.C.

Bowman was commissioned into the Marine Corps through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program at the University of Texas in 1969, and he received his law degree from Western New England College School of Law in Springfield, Mass., in 1979. He retired from the Marine Corps as a colonel in October 1999.

In addition to his military service, Bowman also spent almost a decade from 2002 until his retirement in 2012 working at the VA, including as chief of staff under two former VA secretaries.

Bowman’s only break in service from the VA came when he served for one year as State Court administrator for the Rhode Island Judiciary and as chief of staff to the chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 2003-04.

Most recently, Bowman has served as majority staff director of the Senate VA committee since January 2015, when Isakson took over as chairman.

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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 115th Congress. Isakson is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs since he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations representing each branch of the armed services as well as more than 750,000 veterans.