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Newsroom:

Frelinghuysen Praises President-Elect Obama for Choice of Veterans Affairs Secretary

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) today welcomed the selection of retired General and former Army Chief-of-Staff Eric Shinseki to serve as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“From his infantry days in the jungles of Vietnam to his term as Army Chief of Staff, General Shinseki has served this nation with distinction,” said Frelinghuysen.  “I look forward to working closely with him again to ensure that the VA supports and protects all veterans, particularly those who sustained visible and invisible wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan.  These heroes deserve nothing but the best from the VA and I am confident that a Secretary Shinseki will deliver for them.  I congratulate General Shinseki on his nomination and President-Elect Obama on his selection.”

Frelinghuysen and Shinseki have worked together in the past.  In addition to regularly testifying before Frelinghuysen’s Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Shinseki paid a surprise visit to Frelinghuysen’s Capitol Hill office in March of 2003 and met with members of the Jewish War Veterans Department of New Jersey.   Frelinghuysen was in attendance at Shinseki’s retirement ceremony at Ft. Myer, Virginia in June of 2003.

Gen. Shinseki served two combat tours in Vietnam as an artillery forward observer and as troop commander in the 5th Cavalry. He was severely wounded in action, losing part of a leg.  Shinseki served as Army Chief of Staff from 1999 to 2003.  Through a student exchange program, he spent a year at Hunterdon Central High School in New Jersey before attending West Point.