WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley has a veterans fellow based in his Des Moines office. Dave Allen is available to help fellow veterans and help bring their concerns to Grassley’s attention.
“I’m glad to have Dave available to meet with veterans and join in community events with service organizations,” Grassley said. “All over Iowa, I hear about health care concerns or trouble getting earned benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dave is putting his eyes and ears to work on this cause. As a veteran himself, he has the insight and experience to be able to do a great amount of good.”
Allen, of Des Moines, has 12 years of military experience and leadership skills, having served in the Iowa Army National Guard out of Camp Dodge and the United States Army in Fort Hood, Texas.
Allen was instrumental in helping Grassley’s office in the case of a veteran from Altoona who ended up with an expensive private hospital bill after treatment at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility. Allen spent significant time listening to the veteran on his experience. Ultimately, the hospital cleared the veteran’s debt.
Grassley launched his veterans fellowship program in 2015 to help provide an opportunity for those with recent military service and to serve as a liaison between his office and veterans.
Allen can be reached at VeteransFellow_Grassley@grassley.senate.gov or (515) 288-1145.
Grassley also has a veterans fellow working out of his Cedar Rapids Office.
Nathan Peterson can be reached at CRVeteransFellow_Grassley@grassley.senate.gov or (319) 363-6832.
Grassley has a long record of legislation and oversight to improve veterans services. Most recently, he has been focused on getting the Department of Veterans Affairs to fix the Veterans Choice program, which Congress approved to allow veterans to receive health care outside of the VA when services aren’t available in a timely fashion or when outside options are better for the veterans. The agency botched the program rollout and after Grassley weighed in, pledged to fix it.
Grassley is a cosponsor of legislation to make it easier for the VA to remove or demote employees based on poor performance or misconduct.
A photo of Dave Allen and Grassley is available here.
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