[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 22, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        STATEMENT ON NOMINATION

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, as chairman of the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs, I am pleased to recommend to the Senate the 
confirmation of R. John Vogel of West Virginia to be the Under 
Secretary for Benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  The Committee held a hearing on January 26, 1994, at which Mr. Vogel 
presented testimony to committee members. He also has responded to 
prehearing and posthearing questions, and completed the committee's 
questionnaire for Presidential nominees. After having reviewed all 
these materials, as well as the FBI report, I am satisfied that Mr. 
Vogel is suited to serve in the position for which he has been 
nominated. On February 10, 1994, our committee met to consider Mr. 
Vogel's nomination and voted unanimously to recommend his confirmation 
to the full Senate.
  Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly about this nominee.
  As Under Secretary for Benefits, Mr. Vogel is afforded a tremendous 
opportunity to share his experience in veterans programs, acquired 
through his many years of service to our Nation's veterans.
  After having graduating from Wheeling College, Mr. Vogel served as a 
battery clerk and an artilleryman in the U.S. Army. Shortly after 
leaving the Army, he began his career with the Veterans' 
Administration.
  In over 25 years of VA service, Mr. Vogel has been a veterans claims 
examiner, a legal consultant, and an education specialist here in 
Washington, DC, and an adjudication officer in the regional offices in 
Portland, OR, and Washington, DC. In 1979, he became Director of the 
Portland VA Regional Office, and has also served as Director of the VA 
Regional Office in Philadelphia, as a Special Field Operations 
Representative in Baltimore, and most recently, as Director of the VA 
Medical Center in Bay Pines, FL.
  Mr. Vogel is in a unique position as a nominee for Under Secretary 
for Benefits, having held the equivalent position of Chief Benefits 
Directors in the Veterans' Administration from 1985 to 1990.
  By nominating Mr. Vogel to this position, President Clinton has shown 
great confidence in his work and appreciation for his commitment to 
veterans.
  Mr. Vogel clearly understands the special obligation we have to those 
who have served our Nation in the armed services. As a veteran of the 
Vietnam era and as a distinguished, long-term career employee of VA, 
Mr. Vogel has served this Nation and this country's veterans with honor 
and dignity. Among the many awards he has received throughout his 
career has been the Secretary of Veterans Affairs' Distinguished 
Service Award in 1990.
  In closing, I note that Mr. Vogel is being considered for the 
position of Under Secretary for Benefits at a time when the Veterans' 
Benefits Administration is truly at a crossroad. This job brings with 
it significant challenges. Mr. Vogel is presented with an enormous 
opportunity to bring to bear a career's worth of experience in veterans 
programs in order to meet those challenges.
  I look forward to working with Mr. Vogel as he seeks to meet the 
challenges faced by the Veterans' Benefits Administration.

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