Bush to nominate James Peake as VA Secretary

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/30/bush-to-nominate-james-peake-as-va-secretary/

Bush to nominate James Peake as VA Secretary.

Three months after Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Jim Nicholson announced his resignation, President Bush plans to announce a replacement. In a press conference at 1:05 PM EST today, he will nominate Dr. James Peake, who previously served as the U.S. Army surgeon general for four years.


UPDATE: When Peake left the post of Surgeon General in 2004, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who oversaw the Walter Reed scandal.

UPDATE II: Yesterday, the Senate leadership, frustrated with Bush’s delay in naming a new secretary, “demanded” that he nominate a permanent head:

Much has been said over the last six years about honoring the service and the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. But what matters to those who are fighting these wars is not the talk, but the actions we take. The lack of a qualified VA nominee more than three months after the resignation of the previous Secretary signals to our troops fighting today, to the veterans of wars past, and to the entire nation, that the Department of Veterans Affairs is not a priority for your administration.