[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 1 (Thursday, January 4, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S116-S117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. OBAMA (for himself and Ms. Snowe):
  S. 117. A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to 
improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans 
of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports 
on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
is significant both in the problems it seeks to address and the man it 
seeks to honor.
  Since the day he arrived in Congress more than two decades ago, Lane 
Evans was a tireless advocate for the men and women with whom he 
served. When Vietnam vets started falling ill from Agent Orange, he led 
the effort to get them compensation. Lane was one of the first in 
Congress to speak out about the health problems facing Persian Gulf War 
veterans. He worked to help veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic 
Stress Disorder, and he also helped make sure thousands of homeless 
veterans in our country have a place to sleep. Lane Evans fought these 
battles for more than 20 years, and even in the face of his own 
debilitating disease, he kept fighting. Today, veterans across America 
have Lane Evans to thank for reminding this country of its duty to take 
care of those who have risked their lives to defend ours.
  I am very proud today to introduce the Lane Evans Veterans Healthcare 
and Benefits Improvement Act of 2007. This bill honors a legislator who 
left behind an enduring legacy of service to our veterans. The 
legislation also is an important step towards caring for our men and 
women who are currently fighting for us.
  I am being joined today by Senator Olympia Snowe, the lead cosponsor 
of this bill. Senator Snowe has long been an advocate for veterans in 
her state, and I have been honored to work with her in the past on 
veterans issues. We have fought to reduce the backlog of disability 
claims at the Veterans Benefits Administration and to improve the 
military's ability to identify and treat Traumatic Brain Injury. Our 
introduction of the Lane Evans Bill is a continuation of these efforts.
  Today, more than 1.5 million American troops have been deployed 
overseas as part of the Global War on Terror. These brave men and women 
who protected us are beginning to return home. Six hundred thousand 
people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are now veterans, and more 
than 185,000 have already received treatment at the VA. That number is 
increasing every day. Many of these fighting men and women are coming 
home with major injuries. As a country, we are only beginning to 
understand the true costs of the Global War on Terror.
  The Government Accountability Office reported that VA has faced $3 
billion in budget shortfalls since 2005 because it underestimated the 
costs of caring for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The VA wasn't 
getting the information it needed from the Pentagon and was relying on 
outdated data and incorrect forecasting models. We cannot let these 
kind of bureaucratic blunders get in the way of the care and support we 
owe our servicemembers.
  To avoid these costly shortfalls in the future, we have to do a 
better job keeping track of veterans. That's why the first thing the 
Lane Evans Act does is to establish a system to track Global War on 
Terror veterans. The VA established a similar data system following the 
Persian Gulf War. That effort has been invaluable in budget planning as 
well as in monitoring emerging health trends and diseases linked to the 
Gulf War. The Gulf War Veterans Information System also has been 
important to medical research and improved care for veterans. The 
sooner we begin keeping accurate track of our fighting men and women in 
Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond, the better and more efficiently we will 
be able to care for them.
  The Lane Evans Act also tackles Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. 
Mental health patients account for about one-third of the new veterans 
seeking care at the VA. The VA's National Center for PTSD reports that 
``the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are the most sustained combat 
operations since the Vietnam War, and initial signs imply that these 
ongoing wars are likely to produce a new generation of veterans with 
chronic mental health problems.''
  This bill addresses PTSD in two ways. First, it extends the window 
during which new veterans can automatically get care for mental health 
from two years to five years. Right now, any servicemember discharged 
from the military has up to two years to walk into a VA facility and 
get care, no questions asked. After that, vets have to prove that they 
are disabled because of a service-connected injury, or they have to 
prove their income is below threshold levels. Unfortunately, it can 
take years for symptoms of PTSD to manifest. The time it takes to prove 
service-connection for mental health illness is valuable time lost 
during which veterans are not receiving critically needed treatment. 
The Lane Evans Act allows veterans to walk into a VA facility any time 
five years after discharge and get assessed for mental health care. 
This both extends the window and shortens the wait for vets to get 
care.
  Second, the legislation makes face-to-face physical and mental health 
screening mandatory 30 to 90 days after a soldier is deployed in a war 
zone. This will ensure that our fighting force is ready for battle, and 
that we can identify and treat those at risk for PTSD. By making the 
exams mandatory, we can help eliminate the stigma associated with 
mental health screening and treatment.
  Another problem veterans face is that the VA and DoD do not 
effectively share medical and military records. Older veterans often 
have to wait years for their benefits as the Department of Defense 
recovers aging and lost paper records. Under the Lane Evans Act, the 
Department of Defense would provide each separating service member at 
the time of discharge with a secure full electronic copy of all 
military and medical records to help them apply for healthcare and 
benefits. DoD possesses the technology to do this now. The information 
could be useful to VA to quickly and accurately document receipt of 
vaccinations or deployment to a war zone. The electronic data will also 
be helpful in future generations when family members of veterans seek 
information about military service, awards, and wartime deployment that 
go well beyond the existing single-sheet DD-214 discharge certificate, 
which is all veterans currently receive.
  Finally, the legislation improves the transition assistance that 
National Guardsmen and military reservists receive when they return 
from deployment. A 2005 GAO report found that because demobilization 
for guardsmen and reservists is accelerated, reserve units get 
abbreviated and perfunctory transition assistance including limited 
employment training. VA should provide equal briefings and transition 
services for all service members regarding VA healthcare, disability 
compensation, and other benefits, regardless of their duty status.
  Lane Evans dedicated his life to serving this country and serving 
veterans. The legislation Senator Snowe and I are introducing today, 
honors both the man and his mission, and will continue his legacy to 
the next generation of American veterans.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today as a proud cosponsor of S. 
3988, the Lane Evans Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act 
of 2007. After serving with Lane Evans in the House of Representatives 
for over a decade, I am honored to help introduce legislation that 
serves as a fitting tribute to a man whose unfaltering efforts on 
behalf of our nation's veterans went unmatched.
  I also applaud Senator Obama for introducing this vital legislation 
at a time when over 600,000 courageous men and women have returned from 
combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In the past, Senator Obama and I 
have worked in a bipartisan manner to bolster the military's ability to 
detect and treat traumatic brain injury, and most recently, we have 
fought to reduce the backlog of claims at the Veterans Benefits 
Administration, VBA. Once again,

[[Page S117]]

I thank Senator Obama for his continuing resoluteness and advocacy for 
our veterans.
  Since the beginning of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, nearly 1.5 
million brave Americans have deployed overseas to take part in the 
global war on terror. Of those 1.5 million Americans, at least 184,400 
have already received medical treatment from the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, VA. It is time the VA and the Department of Defense, DOD, have 
the capability to provide incoming veterans with timely and efficient 
medical treatment and postdeployment services. For too long now, 
provision of these critical services has been hampered by a lack of 
resources and policy restructuring.
  In 2005, the Government Accountability Office revealed that the VA 
faced a budget shortfall of $3 billion, due to the agency's inability 
to correctly gauge the benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. As a 
result of spending shortfalls, the VA was forced to dip into 
contingency funds that could have compromised the funding for other 
vital veterans programs. In order to remedy these unacceptable 
deficiencies within the veterans' benefit system, this legislation will 
significantly enhance the ability of the DOD and the VA to accurately 
track veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, by creating a data registry 
that will hold a comprehensive list of VA health care and benefits use. 
I remind my colleagues that a similar data system was established in 
1998 for Gulf War I Veterans, and has been invaluable in assessing the 
necessary budgetary planning for our injured veterans from that 
conflict.
  However, not all combat wounds are caused by bullets and shrapnel. 
Several studies have indicated that due to the nature of warfare in 
Iraq--with its intense urban fighting, terrorism and civilian combat--
may cause a spike in the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder, 
PTSD. According to the Veterans' Health Administration, as of October 
2006, of the 184,524 Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi 
Freedom veterans who have sought care from the VA, 29,041 have been 
diagnosed as having probable symptoms of PTSD.
  I strongly believe that we have a commitment to ensure that veterans 
with PTSD receive compassionate, world-class health care and 
appropriate disability compensation determinations. It is imperative 
that we do all we can to detect, diagnose, and treat our veterans 
suffering from PTSD as quickly as possible, in order to help our 
veterans and their families move beyond the psychological trauma of war 
and lead healthy, productive lives.
  This legislation's proposed data registry will further assist the VA 
with ongoing medical research into mental health, traumatic brain 
injury, and many other conditions. This legislation will also require 
the Department of Defense to conduct in-person physical and mental 
health exams with every service member 30 to 90 days after deployment 
to war zone, in order to ensure that potential cases of PTSD are 
identified and treated in a timely manner. By making the exams 
mandatory, the stigma associated with mental health screening and 
treatment can be eliminated. Additionally, multiple deployments to 
combat zones may factor into a higher susceptibility to PTSD, stressing 
the necessity for mental screening prior to redeployment, in order to 
ensure that no servicemember experiencing symptoms of PTSD is returned 
to duty without treatment. If the VA and the DOD continues its current 
mental health screening policy, nondisclosures of PTSD symptoms will 
continue to deter early intervention and future VA mental health 
services.
  This legislation addresses the difficulties associated with PTSD 
symptoms that develop over prolonged periods of time. Currently, the 
window for new veterans to obtain health care at the VA is 2 years. 
However, in many circumstances, it takes years for PTSD symptoms and 
other problems related to mental health to emerge. Therefore, this 
legislation will extend the window for VA mental health care from 2 
years to 5 years, ensuring the necessary mental health treatment for 
all veterans who are struggling to recover from the traumas of war.
  Further, this legislation will take large steps towards improving the 
transfer of military and medical records in order for veterans to 
receive the health care and benefits they deserve. This bill requires 
DOD to provide each separating service member a full electronic copy of 
all military and medical records at the time of discharge. By 
facilitating the enhanced use of electronic records, veterans will be 
assured the proper access and management of their required care. 
Currently, a lack of swift access to military records and medical 
records has hampered the VA's ability to treat veterans in need of care 
in a timely and effective manner.
  According to a December 2006 GAO report, while verifying veterans 
claims of PTSD, regional VA offices are unable to directly access and 
search an electronic library of medical and service records for all 
service branches, and therefore, must rely on a DOD research 
organization, whose average response time to regional office requests 
is nearly 1 year. Clearly, such a processing delay is not only 
inexcusable, it is potentially harmful to the veteran and his or her 
family. Increased access to electronic records will allow the VA to 
quickly identify the occurrence of stressful events or experiences that 
may lead to the necessary treatment for PTSD.
  Finally, this legislation will also require the VA to provide equal 
briefings and transition services for all service members regarding VA 
health care, disability compensation, and other benefits, regardless of 
status. Often times, guardsmen and reservists receive limited 
transition assistance and employment training, largely due to their 
accelerated demobilization. Thus, this legislation will provide 
equitable and fair transition services for all returning veterans, 
regardless of their service branch, component or military status.
  I have nothing but the utmost respect for those brave Americans who 
served in uniform with honor, courage, and distinction. The obligation 
our nation holds for its veterans is enormous, and it is an obligation 
that must be fulfilled every day. Since the attacks of September 11, 
millions of brave American men and women have answered our nation's 
call to service. Congress must now do everything in its power to answer 
our veterans' call, to ensure that they receive the medical care and 
treatment that they rightly earned and rightly deserve.
  Once again, I am pleased to join Senator Obama in introducing S. 988, 
because I believe it is crucial to the welfare of our Nation's 
veterans, and I urge my colleagues to voice their support.
                                 ______