Journalists testifying

NPR caught a great moment during yesterday's hearings of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Among those testifying were Jon Town, a wounded Iraq vet, and journalist Joshua Kors.

In March, Kors wrote an article in The Nation about doctors working for Veterans Affairs that were "purposely misdiagnosing" wounded veterans "to cheat them out of a lifetime of disability and medical benefits, thereby saving billions in expenses." The story brought national attention to stories like Specialist Town's.

When Kors told the committee that doctors admitted to being pressured by the VA to make these diagnoses yet refuse to go public for fear of reprisal, Rep. Steve Buyer (IN - 4 ), the Ranking Republican and former Chairman, pontificated on why Congress shouldn't allow testimony from journalists. Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense cut him off.

BUYER: They get to speak in generalities as the major premise and we don’t know how – with the regard to the credibility or embellishments – they get to use innuendo and the results can at times be reckless indictments –

SULLIVAN: Sounds very much like congressmen I know, too.

Listen to it at NPR about two and a half minutes in.