WASHINGTON – Rita A. Reed, a native of Gardiner, Maine, was recently selected to manage the budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), now projected to be $58 billion under President Bush's proposed budget for fiscal year 2003.
Reed is VA's new deputy assistant secretary for budget. In this capacity, she is responsible for managing and directing all VA budget activities, including (under the FY 2003 proposal) $26 billion that supports the largest health-care system in the country, $32 billion for benefits programs and $138 million for the national cemetery system.
"This represents the culmination of a lifetime working for veterans," said Reed. "The budget office is an arm of VA's office of management. We ensure that funds are allocated to provide services for veterans in the most efficient and affordable manner."
Reed began working for VA in 1978, handling the budget for VA construction. Since that time, she has progressively accepted more challenging positions and for the last 11 years managed budget operations for VA's benefits programs. In that position, she directed a budget that provided more than $25 billion annually in benefits to disabled and needy veterans and their families, more than $2 billion in education benefits and $1 billion in support services.
Reed graduated from GardinerHigh School in 1969, and went on to earn a bachelor's degree from the University of Maine in 1977. In 1984, she graduated from George Mason University earning a master's degree in public administration with a concentration in finance. She also is an alumna of the Federal Executive Development Program at George Washington University and the Federal Executive Institute.
