The open letter from Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee — and the groups’ responses — pushed that conflict into the open. Mr. Burr, angry that only the American Legion has called for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, accused the groups of being “more interested in defending the status quo within the V.A., protecting their relationships with the agency, and securing access to the secretary and his inner circle,” than helping members.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans and the Paralyzed Veterans of America hit back hard.

“For years, the V.F.W. has come to Congress with hat in hand, and for years we’ve heard the same old story,” the heads of the veterans groups wrote to Mr. Burr. “You can be assured, Senator, that you’ve done a superb job showing us the error in our ways. You can also be assured that in the future, we will spend a substantial percentage of our time seeking to inform our members and our constituents of the repeated failure to act by our elected officials.”

To that sentiment, the national president and the executive director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America added, “Perhaps you should have shared with all veterans in your ‘open’ letter that you cared so much about their health care that you were not actually present during the testimony that the V.S.O. representatives provided, and you did not ask a single question.” V.S.O. stands for veterans service organizations.

“Regrettably, Senator Burr shows no interest in pursuing policy solutions, preferring instead to launch cheap political attacks on the integrity of leaders of veterans organizations that do not agree with him,” wrote Joseph W. Johnston, the national commander of the Disabled American Veterans.

via Veterans Groups Lash Out at Republican Senator – NYTimes.com.