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With the events of today still fresh in my mind I can't help but reminisce about a story that an employee here at the Canandaigua VA told me about Mr. Principi. Many of you probably know Robert VanKueran he was the Homeless Coordinator for VISN 2 until two years ago. At that time, which coincided roughly with Mr. Principi's appointment to the Secretary's job in Washington, Robert became the Chairman of the National Homeless Veterans Committee at Mr. Principi's request.

In any case Robert once told me that while he was in Vietnam his platoon was involved in a battle which lasted several days. Many of his comrades had already fallen and there seemed to be no end in sight for them.

Remarkably an officer came up to the front lines to survey the status of the troops. When he saw the toll the fight was taking on the surviving soldiers he knew he needed to take action.

That man was Anthony Principi

Mr. Principi, called for replacements for the platoon, moreover he stayed with the troops until those replacements arrived, whether it took hours or days is unimportant, he stayed with them as they fought, giving them encouragement and reassurance. When the replacements arrived the men were taken out of the fight and returned to a place of relative safety.

There they were fed, hot meals as Robert recalled, they where able to take hot showers and were issued clean and dry clothes. Then they slept, long and hard. When they were rested, Mr Principi took them back to where the battle was being fought and their struggled resumed. Robert never forgot the man that gave them that respite. He knew that it was what they needed to carry on the battle and eventually win.

Those of you who know Robert know that he and several other veterans are credited with the concept of standown as it applies to the homeless, thousands of standowns have been held nationwide to provide the homeless with the same respite that Mr. Principi provided for Roberts platoon that day in Vietnam. Give them a days relief from their battle so that they can carry on.

It is hard to accept that the same man who showed such compassion on that foreign shore so many years ago, was the same man who came to Canandaigua yesterday. Oh granted he had the same drive that Robert credited him with in the story of how Mr. Principi and he had met. But instead of the drive to do what needed to be done, to show compassion and provide relief to the weary, he seemed driven only by the clock. Indeed a lot needed to be accomplished here yesterday, he needed to see what Canandaigua was all about, what the veterans needed, what the employees needed and what the community had to show him. Instead his visit seemed to be about doing what the politicians wanted, just to get them off his back and out of his hair. Not about caring and compassion not about making a decision that makes sense for veterans with a first hand look at some weary soldiers who take pride in a place where they can standown before they return to battle.

Opening In Canandaigua this week but soon to be spreading to a VA near you.

Hear great songs by the "Spin Doctors" and hear Bill sing those songs that are guaranteed to be classics like:

• "Downsizing is Rightsized to Me"
• "The VA Was Alright by Me"
• "Scorned In The USA"
• "Canandaigua On My Mind"
• "These Lies"
• "Send in the Clowns"

Yet I can't help but be struck by certain trends as they go on around me.

Of late the trend that I have begun to notice is an insidious one, one that should gnaw at the fortitude of every American, veteran or not.

Over the past few weeks it has come to the AFGE's attention that Mr. Feeley has set the wheels in motion to "backdoor" the CARES Commission, the will of the people of Western New York and ultimately thumb his nose at Congress, the Senate and those veterans who have served this nation so selflessly and with honor at their nations calling.

Last week the Bath VA began interviewing both registered nurses and nursing assistants from our facility to staff what is being called a 60 bed Psycho-Geriatric Unit. They also have listed an openings for RNs for their substance abuse program and a physician for the Domiciliary Unit. In fact since I became aware of the sudden increase in staffing needs in Bath, the facility has hired 3 nurses and 6 nursing assistants.

One needs only to follow the trends in this action. If you consider the turn of events and measure the resistance that has developed against the preliminary recommendations in the CARES Report it is easy to surmise that Mr. Feeley intends to go forward with his planned sacrifice of Canandaigua regardless of the outcomes of the hearing to be held here in October.

AFGE has taken the call to arms and advised out Congressional delegates that this flagrant insult to them and their authority is going ahead despite their objections. Indeed copies of this editorial will be sent to them once the final period has been struck.

As employees and advocates for our veterans we need to keep the ink flowing and our voices heard in protest, keeping our representatives informed of the underhanded approach that the administration has chosen to pursue. Indeed in a recent communiqué the SEIU put forth a call for the resignation of our network director and perhaps this call was not out of line when it was made. Perhaps this is the only way our closure can be stopped. Perhaps this was the reason our director was chosen for his position, expendability is an advantage when saving face.