[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 10, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RURAL VETERANS HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of rural veterans 
and in support of H.R. 2379, the Rural Veterans Access to Care Act of 
2003. I would like to thank the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) 
for his leadership on this issue.
  No veteran should ever have reason to doubt America's gratitude for 
his or her service to the Nation and to the cause of freedom. America's 
veterans deserve nothing less than our highest gratitude, our deepest 
respect, and our strongest support. Veterans from rural areas, like my 
district, deserve nothing less than their comrades living in more 
populated areas.
  Michigan's First Congressional District has the highest population in 
any congressional district in Michigan. There are 65,000 veterans in my 
district, one-fifth of all the veterans in the State of Michigan.

                              {time}  2030

  They live over a huge area. The Upper Peninsula alone spans 450 miles 
from east to west. While the VA provides wonderful care in northern 
Michigan, it is far too hard for veterans to access health care. 
Recently, a Vietnam veteran from the Upper Peninsula had to go to 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the treatment that he needed. Milwaukee is a 
long way from home, so our veterans go as far as the Iron Mountain VA 
Medical Center, and they spend the night there. The next day they are 
put on a bus and they are shipped down to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And 
that is repeated once their treatment is done, whether it is 1, 2 or 3 
days. They are put back on a bus, they go back to Iron Mountain, 
Michigan, and then they spend the night and go on home.
  It is outrageous that they have to travel so many miles, in some case 
450 miles, just to get treatment. At best the distance is an 
inconvenience. At worst, it puts veterans' lives at serious risk. I had 
another case where a retired Navy veteran from Sault Ste. Marie had 
surgery at the VA Medical Center in Milwaukee to treat his cancer. 
After surgery, he was transported via van all of the way back to Sault 
Ste. Marie, 379 miles away. The next morning, his spouse had to take 
him to the emergency room in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and the 
emergency room could not help him. The nearest VA medical center in 
Iron Mountain could not help him either, so he had once again to be 
shipped by ambulance 379 miles down to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot have veterans being shipped back and forth 
across state lines. It is dangerous, and it is just not right. These 
two constituents represent the challenges faced every day by rural 
veterans across this country. Congress needs to act to address the 
specific needs of rural veterans. That is why I am a cosponsor of H.R. 
2379, the Rural Veterans Access to Care Act of 2003. The legislation 
would allow veterans to enroll in an option to seek routine health care 
closer to home.
  H.R. 2379 sets aside 5 percent of each VA region's medical care 
allocation to be used for routine medical care for highly rural or 
geographically remote veterans. The legislation would allow rural 
veterans to be closer to their health care providers, rather than 
traveling hundreds of miles for an appointment at the VA, which could 
be especially dangerous during inclement weather.
  In Michigan, I will also continue to work to open a community-based 
outpatient clinic in Gladstone. Over 2 years ago, the VA announced to 
open the CBOC, as we call them, in Gladstone. Yet during every 
successive round of CBOC openings across the country, somehow our 
region just cannot seem to get Gladstone funded. It is estimated a 
Gladstone CBOC would provide much needed basic health care to our 
veterans, in fact, to approximately 750 veterans alone in its first 
year of operation. This facility is critical towards keeping our 
promise to those who serve our country so well.
  I think today, Americans have a deeper understanding of the 
sacrifices of our military personnel than at any time in recent 
history. Our commitment to veterans must be more than just waving the 
American flag in times of armed conflict and recognizing them on 
national holidays. We owe it to our veterans to do more. We must be 
prepared to take their battle-borne scars of war and military service 
throughout their lifetime, and make sure they have the quality of 
service they need.
  Today I was visited by a couple from Chassel, Michigan, representing 
the VFW. They handed me the VFW's priorities for the coming year. We 
can see here the VFW priority goals for 2004. It says veterans health 
care now, we earned it. If you look at it, it says the number one 
priority of veterans is health care. They say underfunding of the VA 
budget, 6-month waits to see a doctor, denial of care to category 8 
veterans, little or no long-term care, little or no mental health care, 
and millions of fed-up veterans.
  Well, those of us who represent rural areas, and no matter where 
veterans are, we believe they should be taken care of. There are 
special challenges for rural veterans, and we stand here tonight to 
urge this Congress to pass H.R. 2379 to take care of all of our 
veterans, but especially those of us who have veterans who live in our 
rural districts.

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