Brown on Visits to Chicago

In “VA Chief Logs Frequent Trips to Hometown” (Feb. 12), you discussed my travel schedule, and you questioned without substantiation my performance as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Performance can only be measured by results, and in the last two years we have accomplished much for the veterans of this nation. Results are a $1.3 billion increase in the VA’s fiscal year ’96 budget. Results are landmark rules that allow VA to compensate chronically disabled Persian Gulf veterans with undiagnosed illnesses that have not yet been connected to their military service. Results are expanded outreach and services for homeless veterans and those suffering from post-traumatic stress. Results are enhanced health care services for women veterans. Results are expanded benefits for former prisoners of war and veterans with conditions related to exposure to Agent Orange. And, results are an unprecedented level of cooperation between this Administration and veterans service organizations.

One of my most important responsibilities as secretary is to provide a communications link between this Administration and the veterans of this great nation. I travel frequently at the request of veterans and other organizations for the purpose of updating them on VA benefits and services and responding to their concerns. I have visited 37 states--there are VA facilities in each one--and 144 cities, without neglecting any geographic region of the country.

All of my trips to Chicago were for official business. Chicago is a great city and a major convention site, and I was invited to many national conventions of organizations including the Elks convention (10,000 delegates), the Disabled American Veterans convention (3,000 delegates) the McCormick Foundation Tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen (1,000 delegates), the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Department of the NAACP convention (1,000 delegates) and the Veterans of World War I 75th Anniversary convention (600 delegates). Events like these are important to me and to our veterans.

In addition, VA has a large presence in metro Chicago (four medical centers, a regional benefits office for Illinois and a data processing center), and I have participated in many events on behalf of these facilities.

Though I am a resident of Virginia, I own the co-op apartment in which my mother resides in Chicago, and I stay with her when I am in town. I do not seek reimbursement for my lodging in Chicago. On 14 occasions, Chicago was the site of an event as part of a multi-state trip. In those instances when there was a day or so between events, it was momentarily advantageous to the government for me to remain in Chicago at $38 per day rather than fly back to Washington for 24 to 48 hours and have the taxpayer pick up the tab for another flight to some other region of the country. On the rare occasion when I actually took personal time while in Chicago, I sought no per diem ($38 per day) and received none.

The article also stated that during my March, 1994, trip to the Virgin Islands, I only participated in “two-30-minute banquet speeches” and a radio call-in show. In fact, my schedule included official business for the duration of the visit: two town meetings with veterans and local officials, each of which lasted several hours (excluding preparatory and travel time between islands); meetings with the governor and lieutenant governor; two meetings with local veterans, military, government and business leaders; tours of our Vet Center and clinic in St. Croix and the Vet Center in St. Thomas, and a number of news conferences and the radio program to which you referred.

JESSE BROWN

Washington