[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 22 (Tuesday, March 5, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H657-H658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       LEAVE NO VETERAN BEHIND WAITING FOR A MEDICAL APPOINTMENT

  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, our President often proudly uses a very 
enthusiastic phrase committing our Nation to better education for our 
young people, ``Let us leave no child behind,'' and rightly so. 
Children are the lifeblood of our Nation. But today, with all of the 
military commitments overseas, I propose another rallying cry, leave no 
veteran behind waiting to get a doctor's appointment.
  Just as we must look ahead and nurture our children, we must look 
back in gratitude and take care of our veterans who have fought for 
freedom and democracy. Besides, investing in care for veterans is 
looking ahead, for timely veterans' benefits can serve as a powerful 
incentive in steering young people towards armed services careers.
  Not a day goes by when I do not hear from a frustrated veteran who 
cannot get an appointment at a VA outpatient clinic or an inpatient VA 
bed. I suspect the same is true for most of my colleagues. For too long 
too few resources have been provided to the VA health care system, 
resulting in understaffed, underfunded facilities.
  Last week Salvatore Stanzione, Assistant Executive Director of the 
Disabled American Veterans in Florida, presented to me some very 
disturbing trends. In my district and other parts of Florida, a wait of 
a year to see a primary care physician, and up to 16 months to see a 
specialist, is not unusual. Last Wednesday, Commander-in-Chief James 
Goldsmith of the Veterans of Foreign Wars shared that there are 37,000 
veterans waiting for medical appointments in Florida. Intolerably, 
veterans are kept waiting for the most routine appointments, like 
diabetes or high cholesterol monitoring. If managed on a timely basis, 
these conditions are more comfortable to the veteran and less expensive 
to the American taxpayer.
  Yesterday witnessed the bloodiest day of the Afghan War thus far. We 
mourn the nine American casualties of the downed Chinooks. In addition 
to those killed in battle, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld 
reported that ``There have been a number of wounded.'' Thankfully, he 
relayed that ``close to half of those are already back in the battle, 
and of the remainder, relatively few have life-threatening wounds.''
  Today we ask American sons and daughters to give their blood to 
advance liberty and to halt terrorism, but when tomorrow comes, we show 
our veterans a chair in the waiting room. Especially egregious is the 
long wait for those who served for a long period or sustained a 
service-connected disability.
  A Federal budget, just like that of a household or business, always 
faces difficult economic choices. But a household must first pay its 
creditors and buy grocery before it buys artwork and entertainment. 
This is the most basic necessity of obligation. Just like a household, 
America ought to first meet its obligations to those whom it owes in 
exchange for their service.
  To exacerbate matters, the government seems to shut the door on other 
options for health care accessibility. Alternatives have been proposed 
over the years on expanding VA health care options. We have debated 
Medicare subvention to little avail. This Thursday, the House Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services will again 
consider resource sharing between the two agencies.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from the First District of Florida (Mr. 
Jeff Miller) knows this fight. He has not one single inpatient bed in 
his district. His veterans have to go to Biloxi, Mississippi, for 
hospitalization. Meanwhile, he has DOD facilities with available beds. 
Coordinating arrangements so that his veterans could use these DOD beds 
would solve this problem.
  Mr. Speaker, we are a wartime Congress, and the Nation is in an era 
of renewed appreciation of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. 
Defense briefs top the headlines, and the box office movies feature 
current episodes on the wars in Somalia and in Vietnam. Let us embrace 
this mood and opportunity and commit this Congress to providing the 
attention and resources to the health care needs of those who have 
served. Yes, Mr. Speaker, let us leave

[[Page H658]]

no child behind; but, similarly, let us leave no veteran behind waiting 
for a medical appointment.

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