VETS LEGISLATION
November 7, 2009
A large veterans' health
care bill is being held up in the Senate and awaits final passage.
It has been reported
that Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is objecting to the bills costs and has
placed
a hold on the legislation
which prevents action. S. 1963, The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus
Health
Services Act of 2009
contains many VFW supported provisions including:
Health care improvements
for female veterans, to include studies on barriers to care.
Improvements into training
and care for military sexual trauma.
Requiring VA to provide
a detailed plan on services provided to female veterans.
A pilot program to offer
child care at several VA facilities.
Mental health programs
for veterans in rural areas utilizing local community mental health centers.
Health care, living stipends,
counseling and support for family caregivers.
Enhanced programs for
homeless veterans.
VFW asks everyone to
contact their Senators, especially those of you living in
Oklahoma and urge quick
passage of this most important bill.
For information on contacting
your Senators click here: http://capwiz.com/vfw/dbq/officials/
Chairman Akaka’s Senate floor statement as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President, I have
come to the floor today to discuss an important veterans’ bill.
Before I do so, I wish
to express my great sadness about the horrible tragedy yesterday at Fort
Hood.
My thoughts and
prayers are with those wounded, the families of those killed, and to
all the soldiers and
civilians defending our great nation at Fort Hood.
Mr. President, as Chairman
of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I take my responsibility
to
the nation’s veterans
very seriously. We are an active Committee and are working hard to make
improvements in VA care
and benefits. I am delighted to note that the President signed the
Veterans
Health Care Budget Reform
and Transparency Act of 2009 into law last month. This measure will
provide
timely and predictable
funding for the veterans health care system. I’m grateful to all
who worked on this,
including the Committee’s
Ranking Member, and the Veterans Service Organizations that made this one
of their priorities.
Despite this success,
we, as a Committee, have not been able to achieve action on S. 1963,
the proposed “Caregiver
and Veterans Health Services Act of 2009”. This vitally important
veterans’ health
bill is being held up
by a single senator. Each day that this measure is delayed means
that vital benefits
for veterans are delayed.
This is a bi-partisan bill, the provisions of which were reported by the
Committee as S.801 and
S. 252, with the full support of our Ranking Member, Senator Burr.
This bill is supported
by many veterans’ organizations, including The American Legion, the
Veterans of Foreign Wars,
the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and
the
Wounded Warrior Project.
Various other advocates support this bill, as well, including the Nurses
Organization of Veterans
Affairs, the Brain Injury Association of America, the American Academy
of
Ophthalmology, the American
Association of Colleges of Nursing, and many others.
By blocking S. 1963, this single senator is denying veterans many benefits and services.
One of the key benefits
is caregiver assistance for our most seriously wounded veterans.
The Committee continues
to hear about family members who quit their jobs, go through their savings,
and lose their health
insurance as they stay home to care for their wounded family members.
For those family
members who manage to keep their jobs, their employers, including many
small
businesses already struggling
in these economic times, lose money from absenteeism and declining productivity.
The toll on the caregivers
who try to do it all can be measured in higher rates of depression, and
poor
health as they struggle
to care for these wounded warriors, an obligation that ultimately belongs
to the
government. This
legislation fulfills VA’s obligation to care for the nation’s wounded veterans
by providing
their caregivers with
counseling, support, and a living stipend. The measure also provides
health care to
the family caregivers
of injured veterans. These caregivers deserve our support and assistance.
As a representative of
the Wounded Warrior project said in testimony before the Committee,
“The time has surely
come to create a robust, nationwide wounded warrior family caregiver program
to address the urgent
needs of these family members.” S. 1963 creates such a program.
By blocking S. 1963, this
senator is also blocking benefits specifically for women veterans.
This bill, and Senator
Murray has been a leader on this, would do a number of things, such as
increase
funding for mental health
care for women who suffered military sexual
trauma, and for medical
services for newborn children.
With the help of Senator
Tester, this bill also would improve access to care in rural areas.
States which
have an especially high
number of veterans living in rural areas, such Montana, Nevada, Wyoming,
Florida,
Arizona, Arkansas, Virginia,
Idaho, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, would benefit greatly from these programs.
Mr. President, the bill
also attacks another problem – that of homeless veterans.
On any given night we
know that more than 130,000 veterans are homeless. We know that homelessness
is often a consequence
of multiple factors, including unstable family support, job loss, and health
problems. S. 1963
would also create programs to help ease the burden of veteran homelessness,
including programs aimed
at outreach, so veterans know that they are eligible for benefits.
This lone senator
also is blocking provisions that would improve quality controls for VA
health care,
from the facility level
to the national level. Two years ago, the VA hospital in Marion,
Illinois had nine
veterans die following
surgery. The VA’s Inspector General found that the Marion VA’s quality
controls
were not adequate to
ensure that veterans received good quality care. This month, the
IG published
another report on the
Marion hospital, finding that it still did not have adequate quality controls.
It is time for this body
to act, so that no more veterans receive less than the best care VA can
provide.
Senator Durbin drafted
provisions in this bill that will help improve overall quality
management so as to help
fix the problems at Marion and other facilities.
S. 1963 would provide
uniform allowances for VA police officers.
Many organizations have
expressed support for these provisions, including the Fraternal Order of
Police.
VA police officers ensure
the security of veterans and their families while they are visiting VA
hospitals
and clinics. To refuse
to provide for these officers because it is too expensive is not only penny-wise
and
pound-foolish, it cheapens
the sacrifices of these uniformed officers and
the nation’s veterans
who are protected by them.
Mr. President, while I
understand that the senator who is refusing to agree to allow this bill
to go forward
questions the cost of
the underlying bill. I would say that we cannot now turn our back
on the obligation
to care for those who
fought in those efforts. When we, as a body, vote to send American
troops to war,
we are promising to care
for them when they return. I firmly believe the cost of veterans’
benefits
and services is a true
cost of war and must be treated as such.
We are preparing to observe
Veterans Day. Let us remember that we owe our veterans our gratitude
and appreciation year
round, and not merely on the day set aside for the commemoration of their
service and sacrifice.
It would be truly disgraceful if veterans were made to feel forgotten,
except for
this one day per year.
Indeed, our gratitude should be as steadfast as the great monuments that
Americans
have built in commemoration
of the very service and sacrifices our veterans made.
There should be no ambivalence
in our attitude toward those who serve in the
United States Armed Forces,
and this legislation should be immediately cleared by the Senate.
President
of the United States
Barrack Obama
Vice
President of the United States
Joseph R. Biden
Department
of State
Secretary
Hillary Rodham Clinton
http://www.state.gov
Department
of the Treasury
Secretary Timothy F.
Geithner
http://www.treasury.gov
Department
of Defense
Secretary Robert M. Gates
http://www.defenselink.mil
Department
of Justice
Attorney General Eric
H. Holder, Jr.
http://www.usdoj.gov
Department
of the Interior
Secretary Kenneth L.
Salazar
http://www.doi.gov
Department
of Agriculture
Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack
http://www.usda.gov
Department
of Commerce..?
Secretary-designate:
Judd Gregg
http://www.commerce.gov
Department
of Labor..?
Secretary-designate:
Hilda L. Solis
http://www.dol.gov
Department
of Health and Human Services..?
http://www.hhs.gov
Department
of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary Shaun L.S.
Donovan
http://www.hud.gov
Department
of Transportation
Secretary Raymond L.
LaHood
http://www.dot.gov
Department
of Energy
Secretary Steven Chu
http://www.energy.gov
Department
of Education
Secretary Arne Duncan
http://www.ed.gov
Department
of Veterans Affairs
Secretary Eric K. Shinseki
http://www.va.gov
Department
of Homeland Security
Secretary Janet A. Napolitano
http://www.dhs.gov
110th
Congress Legislation -Vets Bills Enacted into Law-2008
Senate
Vets Committee Members
House
Vets Committee Members
Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).
SENATE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Aloha! As the Chairman on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
I am determined to honor this Nation's Veterans
by ensuring they receive the care and benefits they have earned through
selfless service.
I take my leadership role seriously and am constantly looking for new
ways to assist veterans.
CONGRESSMAN BOB FILNER
CHAIRMAN
HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
VISIT DOC'S SITES BELOW
