(Washington, D.C.) – An influential, new national panel - the Commission on the Future for America’s Veterans - will kick off a multi-state tour on Tuesday, Jan. 16 in Charleston. The two-day event will include a ‘town hall-style’ meeting on Tuesday in the West Virginia House of Delegates Chamber, as well as an open, public Working Session of the Commission to take place on Wednesday, January 17, 2007.

The Commission was created by five of the country’s most influential veterans groups – The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS, Paralyzed Veterans of America – and is charged with developing a system to ensure that veterans will still be receiving benefits and services in the long-range future. The Commission’s multi-state tour is entitled “Conversations on the Future for America’s Veterans.” The tour will begin in Charleston and continue across the United States during the next year via ‘town hall-style’ meetings, an interactive website and Blog(www.future4vets.org), and future planned webcasts, video conferences, and other Net communications.

The purpose of the “Conversation” is to actively engage the American people in helping the Commission develop a long term, strategic plan to meet the needs of veterans decades into the future. At the first ‘Town Hall’ meeting, to be held in the West Virginia House of Delegates Chamber at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the Commission will hear from and engage in dialogue with federal VA and state officials, veteran leaders, civic, labor and business leaders, and other interested veterans and concerned citizens.

“Despite admirable achievements by the Department of Veterans Affairs over the past decade, the fact remains that there is no long term strategy in place to meet the needs of a changing veteran population,” said Harry N. Walters, the Managing Commissioner and a former VA Administrator. “This private, independent Commission will operate outside the normal political process in order to develop a visionary plan that can meet the future challenges faced by those who have served our nation,” he said.

“In the end, we will only be successful if we fully involve the American people from the beginning of the process,” Walters said. “We must engage the very best expert among veterans, those who care for veterans and everyone else who cares about the future for America’s veterans,” he said.

Future meetings of the Commission are planned for Tampa, Fla., in March and San Diego, Cal. in May. The “Conversation” will also continue on the Commission’s website and Blog (http://www.future4vets.org) in order to stimulate debate among veterans, policymakers, academic and industry experts, and the American people on how best to sustain the delivery of benefits and services to a changing veterans’ population.

The Commission on the Future for America’s Veterans was established by leading veterans organizations in September 2006 as a private, independent, analytical body to examine the needs of veterans 20 years in the future, and develop recommendations for how the federal government should meet those needs. During the next 16 months, the Commission will hold meetings and conduct independent research to deliver a plan of action to the President, the Congress, and the American public by the spring of 2008

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