[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 106 (Thursday, July 26, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8282-S8283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CARNAHAN (for herself, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Leahy, Mr. 
        Daschle, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Landrieu, and Ms. Snowe):
  S. 1250. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to improve 
transitional medical and dental care for members of the Armed Forces 
released from active duty to which called or ordered, or for which 
retained, in support of a contingency operation; to the Committee on 
Armed Services.
  Mrs. CARNAHAN. Mr. President, our Nation's Reserve components are 
assuming increasingly greater roles in the U.S. military. Today we have 
more commitments around the world but fewer Active Forces. For these 
reasons, we have increasingly come to depend on our Reserve components.
  Since the gulf war, our Army and Marine Corps have increased their 
operations abroad by 300 percent. Air Force deployments have quadrupled 
since 1986. And our Navy now deploys 52 percent of its forces on any 
given day.
  These deployments would be impossible without guardsmen and 
reservists. Last year's Reserve components served a total of 12.3 
million duty days, compared to 5.2 million duty days in 1992.
  It is time to recognize the contribution of our reservists and given 
them the benefits they deserve. We must find a way to provide immediate 
short-term relief to reservists who stand in need of our support, those 
who have just returned home from deployments abroad.
  Last month, Senator Leahy and six other colleagues set a goal to 
provide health care for all National Guard members and reservists. 
Senator Leahy's legislation recognizes the role that Reserve components 
now play in our national security. This bill authorizes a Defense 
Department study to develop the most feasible plan to provide health 
care for all Reserve components.
  Providing coverage to all reservists is a monumental task. It will 
require intense analysis in developing a cost-effective approach. But 
it is a worthy goal, one that will prove important to sustaining our 
force strength and our military morale.

  Today I am introducing legislation that will take the first step 
towards Senator Leahy's goal for covering reservists. The bill will 
significantly improve the quality of life for our men and women in the 
National Guard and Reserves. Reservists like SSG Jonathan Reagan, this 
young Army reservist just returned home from an 8-month peacekeeping 
mission in Kosovo. He served in the 313th hospital surgical unit 
providing care to military personnel and needy Kosovars. Yet when he 
returned home to Missouri, he found himself without health care 
coverage of his own.
  Sergeant Reagan had just finished graduate school and was looking for 
a job as a physical therapist. Currently the law allows military 
personnel to extend their military health coverage for 30 days after 
they return home. Well, that was not enough for Sergeant Reagan. He was 
uninsured and was forced to purchase his insurance out of his own 
pocket.
  Sergeant Reagan is not alone. Sergeant Jason Dunson served on that 
same deployment. He did not have health care coverage when he returned 
home to Springfield, MO, either. Luckily before he deployed, he 
transferred his 3-year-old daughter's health care coverage to his 
wife's plan. Unfortunately, his employer will not be able to cover him 
for a number of months.
  But the case of CPT Terri McGranahan is the most troubling. She 
volunteered to be a part of our peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. During 
her service, she worked at a health clinic that had been newly painted 
with a toxic sealant.
  When she returned home, her private health insurance company refused 
to retain her. Working in this clinic had made her very ill. Her 
condition resulted in pneumonia and eventually a spot on her lung.
  She did not detect the condition right away. When she finally sought 
medical treatment, the 30 days of TRICARE coverage had already expired.
  She asked the Army for help but was turned down. Moreover, her 
private insurer refused to cover her for a condition acquired during 
military service.
  Eventually, she would be able to obtain reimbursements from the 
Department of Defense, once it was fully clarified that her illness was 
service related. But how long will she have to

[[Page S8283]]

wait before she receives this relief? And why should she and her family 
be forced to undergo such stress as she endures a serious ailment, 
contracted while in the military service?
  Senators DeWine, Leahy, Daschle, Johnson, Landrieu, Snowe, and I have 
joined together to propose a short-term solution. Our legislation will 
allow Reserve and National Guard personnel to extend their TRICARE 
coverage for up to 1 year after their deployment.
  Already, the Carnahan-DeWine bill has been endorsed by organizations 
across the country, including the National Guard and Reserve Committee 
of the Military Coalition, the Reserve Officers Association, National 
Guard Association, Enlisted Association of the National Guard, and 
several other organizations promoting quality of life to serve men and 
women.
  The Joint Chiefs of Staff have indicated that this legislation would 
have a positive impact on military quality of life and retention rates. 
They further believe that such extension of benefits would assist 
members who, following activation and deactivation, decide to leave 
their civilian employment.
  We are not asking for an overly extensive benefit for Reserve 
components. Some may think this proposal is far too modest. I 
understand that in the other body there is a proposal to provide an 
even more comprehensive approach. But I believe that before we attempt 
to establish a full health care program for these service men and 
women, it is essential that we authorize the Pentagon to explore the 
most feasible option. The bill and the legislation authored by Senator 
Leahy will work to achieve this goal.
  In the meantime, I am proud to be pursuing this initiative in the 
name of our Missouri National Guard and Reservists, as well as our 
country's other citizen soldiers. As the Kansas City Star stated in a 
recent editorial:

       The United States has come to rely more and more heavily on 
     the military reserves and the National Guard.
       The men and women who make so many sacrifices to serve in 
     those forces should not have to worry about inadequate health 
     insurance coverage as soon as they return to civilian life.

  Mr. President, let's do the right thing for our Nation's citizen 
soldiers.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate Senator 
Carnahan on the introduction of S. 1250. I am an original co-sponsor of 
her legislation that deals with health care shortfalls among members of 
the National Guard and Reserve. This bill will enable citizen-soldiers 
to receive health insurance coverage for up to one year following an 
extended deployment. It is an important part of a larger effort to 
ensure that all members of the National Guard and Reserve have adequate 
health insurance.
  This bill arises out of the changing role of the National Guard and 
Reserve in defending our Nation. During the Cold War, the military 
reserves served as an ace-in-the-hole, ready to fight but held back as 
a force of last resort. As our military posture has shifted, reservists 
have started supplementing active forces and taken up a greater share 
of the burden of projecting our national military presence abroad.
  In many cases, these proud men and women are serving side-by-side 
with their active duty counterparts in deployments that can last upward 
of six months. I will not repeat many of the facts and figures that 
Senator Carnahan so adeptly underscored in her statement, but, suffice 
to say here, our citizen-soldiers are experiencing all of the same 
hardships, challenges, dangers that full-time servicemembers go through 
every time they leave their barracks or launch into the skies.
  This courage and sacrifice deserves our support, both in symbolic and 
concrete terms. Unfortunately, many are experiencing difficulties as 
they transition back-and-forth between their usual, employer-provided 
health coverage and the military TRICARE Prime coverage they receive 
when they deploy longer than 60 days. More disturbing are the cases 
where a reservist might be between jobs in their professions, go on an 
extended deployment, and return to that unemployed status with no 
health insurance coverage at all. There are innumerable variations on 
each one of these stories, but each points towards a larger problem.
  Cases like those add up, inevitably impacting military readiness and 
raising troubling moral questions. Military readiness diminishes when 
soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen arrive for deployment less 
healthy than possible. Basic questions of fairness come into play when 
two people can do exactly the same job, but receive different levels of 
respect and gratitude from the country. Congress has the responsibility 
to deal with these inequities and tailor a solution to address the 
problem.
  Recently, Senators Carnahan, DeWine, Daschle, Cochran, Johnson, and 
Snowe joined me to introducing S. 1119, the Selected Reserve Health 
Care Act. This bill commissions an independent, detailed study of the 
health insurance needs of our citizen-soldiers, but, more importantly, 
expresses the sense of Congress that every reservist should have full 
health care coverage. This is a long-term goal that may take some time 
to achieve. In the meantime, though, we should take steps to move us in 
the right direction.
  Senator Carnahan's legislation will ensure a smooth transition back 
to civilian employment after an extended deployment. It increases the 
time that a member of the reserve can remain on TRICARE following 
deployment from one month to a year. Though it merely extends an 
existing benefit, it will provide a much-needed stopgap for those who 
are unemployed or facing difficulties with their civilian insurance 
providers. This legislation is sensible and affordable, finding a 
balance between our responsibilities to our servicemembers and our 
responsibilities as caretakers of the national treasury.
  Senator Carnahan has shown tremendous leadership on this issue, not 
only co-sponsoring a companion legislation that I introduced almost a 
month ago, but, more importantly, by coming up with a realistic, 
concrete step to start addressing this complex problem today. I am 
happy to be an original co-sponsor of this legislation, and I look 
forward to working with her to enact both of these bills.
                                 ______