WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says if elected he'd like to name a woman to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs for the first time as 2020 hopefuls take aim at President Donald Trump's record on stemming military suicide and helping female vets.
"I think leadership plays a huge role so absolutely I'd seek to name a woman to lead VA," Buttigieg, a former Navy intelligence officer, said in an interview with The Associated Press. His comments went a step beyond his 21-page wide-ranging plan released on Monday.Of the Cabinet and Cabinet-level roles, four have never been held by a woman: Veterans Affairs, Defense, Treasury and White House chief of staff.
Story continues"Our veterans deserve leaders who will fight for them as ardently and as forcefully as they have fought for us," Biden wrote in a Veterans Day statement with his wife Jill. Sanders, a former chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee who voted against Trump's plan, says the expanded program goes too far in its investments in the private sector, rather than core VA health care , which many veterans view as better suited to treat battlefield injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Sanders joins Buttigieg and Massachusetts Sen.
It is inappropriate to name “token” genders in advance of qualifications. We do not need token jobs. We need to be given a fair opportunity for those jobs for which we clearly qualify. Vets deserve the best, candidate, whatever race, gender or sexual orientation that may be.
I'm all for appointing a female to any role. However, appoint the person best fitted to the job. Don't decide ahead of time it will be a male or female or you just come off as pandering for votes.
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