Pelosi Appoints Local Veteran Leader to VA Commission on Care

Contact: Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today announced the appointment of Michael Blecker, Executive Director of Swords to Plowshares in San Francisco, to the Department of Veterans Affairs' Commission on Care.

"Michael Blecker has dedicated his life to aiding his fellow veterans," said Leader Pelosi. "For three decades, Blecker has served at Swords to Plowshare in the Bay Area – aiding homeless, low-income and at-risk veterans find pathways to recovery with access to health care and social services, housing, skills development, and employment."

"As veteran who served as a U.S. Army combat infantryman in Vietnam," Pelosi continued, "Blecker's compassion, deep expertise, and unwavering service make him the perfect champion to fight for the care our veterans have earned on the VA's Commission on Care."

The Commission was created in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to evaluate access of veterans to health care and strategically examine how to best deliver health care to veterans throughout the VA health care system. The 15 member commission is composed of three appointments each to the President and the bicameral Congressional Leadership.

This is Leader Pelosi's first appointee to the Commission.

# # #