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VFW endorsement skips vet subcommittee chief

The political action committee for Veterans of Foreign Wars has endorsed 212 political candidates running for seats in the House and Senate in November, a fairly politically balanced group of 101 Republicans and 116 Democrats.

But the list is not without controversy: The PAC has endorsed the Republican challenger to Rep. John Hall, a New York Democrat who happens to be chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on disability assistance.

Hall has worked on legislation to cut the processing time for veterans’ benefits claims and to increase accuracy of claims but has disappointed some veterans by eliminating an advisory council on veterans issues.

Hall, whose congressional district includes parts of Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties, was the chief House sponsor of the Veterans Benefits Modernization Act, which orders the use of technology to process veterans’ disability claims. He is one of 150 lawmakers who received an A+ grade on a congressional report card issued Tuesday by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Instead of endorsing Hall, the VFW PAC backed former Marine Reserve Cpl. Kiernan Lalor, who deployed to Iraq in 2003 and who also volunteered for reserve duties in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Lalor, whose service ended in 2007, is one of the founders of Iraq Veterans for Congress, a group supporting Republican candidates. He is also a founding member of the Eternal Vigilance Society, a group dedicated to aggressive military action against terrorism.

The local VFW chapter in Hall’s district strongly supports Lalor amid concerns that Hall, a freshman lawmaker more famous for being the former lead singer of the 1970s pop group Orleans, had scrapped a veterans’ advisory committee that local veterans thought gave them a bigger voice on issues important to them.

This is not the first time VFW endorsements have caused a controversy. In 2006, the PAC endorsed five nonveterans running against veterans in congressional elections, including a high-profile battle for an open seat that pitted Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth, a VFW member and disabled combat veteran who was running as a Democrat, against Republican Peter Roskam, who had never served in the military.

VFW PAC officials said Duckworth’s campaign never returned a questionnaire about her views on veterans’ issues, which Duckworth denied.

Roskam, who received a B on the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America scorecard, ended up winning the election.

The VFW PAC did not endorse him again in the 2008 election cycle.

The VFW PAC does not endorse presidential candidates.