[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 196 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18368-S18369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SECRETARY JESSE BROWN

 Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, I rise today to express my admiration 
and respect for Secretary Jesse Brown and my appreciation for his 
achievements on behalf of our Nation's veterans.
  In choosing Jesse Brown as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, President 
Clinton couldn't have made a better choice from the standpoint of 
America's veterans. A combat-wounded Marine veteran of Vietnam, a 
former executive director of the Disabled American Veterans, Jesse 
Brown is a strong and aggressive advocate for the men and women who 
have served our country.
  During his tenure in the Cabinet, Jesse Brown has compiled a truly 
outstanding record of success. To cite just a few accomplishments, 
Jesse Brown has:
  Expanded the list of Vietnam veterans' diseases for which service-
connected compensation is paid based on exposure to agent orange;
  Expanded and improved health care services for combat veterans 
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder;
  Created a presumption of service-connection for ex-prisoners of war 
who contracted wet beri-beri and later suffered ischemic heart disease;
  Established a host of new clinics offering veterans more convenient 
access to VA health care;
  Expanded and improved services for women veterans, which include 
mammography quality controls and counseling and medical programs for 
women veterans suffering the after-effects of service-related sexual 
trauma;
  Successfully fought for a law allowing the VA to pay compensation 
benefits to chronically disabled Persian Gulf veterans with undiagnosed 
illnesses;
  Established environmental research centers focused on the 
environmental exposures of Persian Gulf veterans and launched extensive 
epidemiological and other research efforts aimed at identifying the 
causes of illnesses from which these veterans and their families are 
suffering;
  Made programs for homeless veterans a high priority--more than 
doubling the budget for specialized programs for homeless veterans, 
conducting the first National Summit on Homelessness Among Veterans, 
and carrying out a new program of grants to assist public and non-
profit groups to develop new programs assisting homeless veterans;
  Established a presumption of service-connection for veterans who 
experienced full-body exposure to mustard gas or Lewisite as part of 
our military's testing of these substances;
  Conducted an outreach campaign through which 602,000 veterans' home 
loans were refinanced at lower interest rates, saving these veterans an 
average of $l,500 per year; and
  Wrote to 44,000 Persian Gulf veterans and 47,000 Vietnam veterans 
notifying them of their potential entitlement to benefits and 
encouraging them to file claims.
  In addition to these efforts, Mr. President, Secretary Brown is 
working to improve the VA's benefits and health care systems, 
restructuring both its headquarters and field operations to enhance 
efficiency.
  There's no question Jesse Brown is an untiring and outspoken 
advocate--both within the administration and on Capitol Hill--for 
adequate funding for VA medical programs and benefits processing. But 
as one who strongly supports a balanced budget, Mr. President, I admire 
those who make us think hard about prioritizing scarce Federal dollars, 
who help us understand the consequences of the policy decisions we 
make, and who force us to defend our actions.
  Recently, Secretary Brown has been harshly criticized for speaking 
out on behalf of adequate budgets for the Veterans Administration. But 
characterizing his support as partisan--as some have done--ignores 
Jesse Brown's nearly 3 decades of steadfast commitment to our Nation's 
veterans and their families and his strong personal beliefs in our 
country's responsibilities to them. It also fails to recognize his own 
personal experiences as a combat veteran in Vietnam.
  Jesse Brown reminds us all that, even in these tight budget times, 
our Nation has an obligation to its warriors and their survivors that 
we simply cannot ignore.
  And that is why, Mr. President, that I am proud to call Jesse Brown 
my 

[[Page S18369]]
friend--and why I appreciate his strong support for the veterans of our 
Nation.

                          ____________________