[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 40 (Thursday, March 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2905-S2910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAIG:
  S. 815. A bill to provide health care benefits to veterans with a 
service-connected disability at non-Department of Veterans Affairs 
medical facilities that receive payments under the Medicare program or 
the TRICARE program; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I rise today to talk a little bit about 
recent events reported in the media surrounding the care and housing 
provided to our returning, injured service members from Iraq and 
Afghanistan. Walter Reed, of course, is an Army-run facility. As such, 
it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Veterans' Committee, 
which I am proud to lead along with my Chairman, Senator Akaka.
  Never-the-less, the American public--rightly--does not care who runs 
the place or who oversees it in Congress. Collectively, VA and DOD make 
up a system of services provided to active and former members of our 
Armed Forces.
  Of course, we have all read about the poor conditions in Building 18 
at Walter Reed. I am not here on the floor today to defend poor 
physical infrastructure. It is bad, a free press reported it, senior 
officials were held accountable, and it is being fixed.
  I am here instead to talk about how the justified uproar over the 
conditions at Walter Reed seems to have provided an opportunity for 
some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to hone in on new 
strategy for criticizing the war. The strategy appears to me to be one 
of ``questioning the competency'' of those who work in our Federal 
system caring for our wounded servicemembers.
  Now I don't want to accuse anyone of politicizing the care and 
treatment of our most deserving citizens. But, I have to wonder when I 
hear my friends on the other side of the aisle using a slight variation 
on one of their ``catch-phrases'' from the 2006 elections. I've heard 
one of my colleagues lament the ``culture of command'' in the military 
as the reason for poor conditions at Walter Reed.
  I don't really know what the ``culture of command'' means, other than 
it sounds a lot like phrases used during the last election. But this 
time they are using that playbook with the care provided by the 220,000 
dedicated employees of the VA health care system.
  Speaking of which, I want to caution my colleagues who have used the 
case of the young veteran from Minnesota who tragically took his own 
life a few weeks ago as an example of what is wrong with the VA health 
care system. Some of us on the Veterans' Committee have been briefed 
thoroughly about all of the facts in this case. And while HIPPA 
prevents VA from defending itself in this situation, I am not so 
constrained.
  That said, I do not intend to reveal at this time the facts 
surrounding this case. But, I believe all of my colleagues would tone 
down their rhetoric on this example if all of the facts known to me 
were known to them.

  Still, there is no question that every individual instance of poor 
care or treatment is a tragedy. And, every one of them should be 
investigated. There should be accountability at the highest levels. And 
there should be consequences if VA is found to have been responsible 
for inappropriate treatment.
  But I have to say that using anecdotes of horribly unfortunate 
situations, such as the Minneapolis tragedy to castigate an entire 
system of health care and the people who provide is not fair. It is 
simply not fair.
  But then again politics sometimes has no fairness.
  Over the past 2 weeks, more than one Member has come to the floor or 
spoken in the press about how the VA system is failing our wounded 
service men and women. Frankly perhaps we have failed them by not 
taking actions to make those wounded in service the priority that we 
say they are.
  Instead, all I hear from Members on the other side is: we haven't 
given VA enough money. In fact, I hear we are preparing to throw $5 
billion at the VA in the supplemental Appropriations bill.
  I find that to be very interesting especially when I consider that 
this Senate just 3 weeks ago passed an FY 2007 Joint Funding Resolution 
written wholly by the new majority.
  This is what some of my colleagues had to say about the money 
provided in that bill for VA's health care system. One Senator from the 
majority said: ``We have included an increase of $3.6 billion . . . so 
that the VA can continue to meet the growing demand for health care for 
our veterans.''
  Another said: ``If we do not pass this resolution, which includes 
needed funding for the veterans health care system, we will have no one 
to blame but ourselves.''
  And still another Senator from the majority had this to say arguing 
for passage of the FY 2007 Resolution: ``We need a VA budget for the 
current year that meets their needs.''
  Yet now I hear that the VA is chronically under funded. The first 
chance the new majority had to provide all of the funding they believed 
was needed was 3 weeks ago. That's right, just 3 weeks ago. And 
apparently they neglected to do so.
  Frankly, I think the budget for 2007 was an excellent budget. And I 
voted for it. So, I am not going to run away from that right now. And I 
certainly don't know if I can support throwing $5 billion at it because 
the media is watching. Instead, I have a different idea.
  I don't want to wait for a commission to report to me on the findings 
of their review of the VA health care system. Those findings will be 
important, of course. I thank Senator Dole and Secretary Shalala for 
their willingness to once again serve.
  But, I say that we already have our own commission and our own 
investigators on the ground every single day. They are the veterans who 
use the VA health care system. And overwhelmingly they are proud of 
their health care system.
  In fact, I am so confident that the vast majority of our veterans 
feel that way that I announce today that I will introduce legislation 
to give ANY service-connected disabled veteran the choice to go to any 
medical facility in the United States.

[[Page S2910]]

  I understand that it may sound like I am agreeing with my Democratic 
colleagues and that I have lost faith in the VA health care system. 
Nothing could be further from the truth. Why? Because I believe the 
vast majority of our veterans will choose to stay right where they 
are--in the VA.
  Our veterans know that VA is not a bunch of nameless, faceless 
bureaucrats who deserve to be vilified at the drop of a political hat. 
Instead our veterans see everyday the caring dedicated men and women 
who treat them as they should be treated--with respect and compassion.
  Veterans overwhelmingly will continue to come to the VA because of 
its people. They are some of the most caring individuals in government. 
And they provide some of the highest quality of care in the country. 
So, I believe in empowering our veterans with this selection because I 
believe our veterans will select VA.
  It's not just me who believes in VA. For the seventh year in a row 
VA's health care system outscored the private sector in the University 
of Michigan's Consumer Satisfaction Survey:
  Ninety-one percent of VA's patients rated VA as having good customer 
service;
  Eighty-four percent of VA's patients were satisfied with their 
inpatient care compared to the private sector average of just 73 
percent; and
  Eighty-two percent are satisfied with their outpatient care compared 
with just 71 percent on average in the private sector.
  You might say: ``Well, then 10 or 16 percent were not satisfied and 
that's a disgrace.'' I agree. We should strive for 100 percent 
satisfaction.
  But what we should not do is force our most deserving citizens to 
stay in a system for their health care while we talk about how to study 
it or while we throw money at it and declare we've done something.
  I want to be clear. I think the number of veterans who don't trust VA 
for their care is small. But I also think that if they've been injured 
while serving this Nation, then we should not force even a small number 
of them to keep coming to us if they don't trust us.
  We have all of the objective studies, articles, and reviews that say 
we're good. Now let's find out what our veterans think. If they leave 
in droves, then we'll learn something. But if they stay, as I think 
they will, then we'll learn something too.
  So I say to my colleagues if you don't believe that our doctors and 
nurses are providing the best care in the best facilities right now, 
then I invite you to join me in giving those with service-connected 
disabilities the option to pick up tomorrow and go to a facility they 
trust.
  Don't just stand up and throw money at it. Stand in the well of the 
Senate and vote to empower our heroes by providing them with immediate 
relief.
                                 ______