VFW leader to lay out veterans' agenda for next administration, Congress, Nov. 10, 10 a.m.

The day before Veterans’ Day, Brian Duffy, oommander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), will discuss the needs of the nation’s 20 million veterans and the plans of veterans’ groups to move promised benefits by the new president and the next Congress at a National Press Club Newsmaker news conference on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Duffy will make his remarks at 10 a.m., in the club’s Bloomberg Room.

Duffy, who represents some 1.7 million VFW and Auxiliary members in 6,600 VFW posts worldwide, will discuss such issues as suicide prevention, health-care delivery, education and job training benefits and the future of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Health care delivery, particularly for the nation's aging draft-era veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, has been a major challenge for the VA despite significant budget increases in recent years. Some on Capitol Hill have called for closing VA hospitals and letting veterans get care elsewhere.

Duffy was elected July 27 to a one-year term at the VFW's annual convention in Charlotte, N.C. The Air Force veteran's career included deployments to Grenada, Panama, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Middle East. The VFW, which traces its roots to the Spanish-American War, requires its members to have served in combat zones overseas.

Like all Newsmakers events, this news conference is open to credentialed media and NPC members, free of charge. No advance registration is required.

Contact for the event is Newsmaker committee member Tony Gallo at 202-544-6973 or [email protected]