[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3337-S3338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   VETERANS' BENEFITS ENHANCEMENT ACT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we are now 5\1/2\ years into the war in 
Iraq. We have been at war longer now than we fought in World War II, 
and we are creating hundreds of new veterans each and every year. Yet, 
too often, what we have seen is that this administration has failed to 
acknowledge the price our veterans and their families are paying in 
service. From the shameful conditions at Walter Reed Hospital a year 
ago, and VA facilities across the country, to a lack of mental health 
counselors, to a benefit claims backlog of months and sometimes years 
for our

[[Page S3338]]

veterans, our veterans have had to struggle to get the basic care they 
were promised. And now, just this week, in the last few days, we got 
more evidence that this administration has been covering up the extent 
of the toll this war has taken on our troops.
  Internal e-mails that became public in a court hearing showed that 
the VA has vastly downplayed the number of suicides and suicide 
attempts by veterans in the last several years.
  Last November, an analysis by CBS News found that over 6,200 veterans 
had, sadly, committed suicide in 2005. That is an average of 17 a day. 
When they were confronted then, the VA said: Oh, no, no, no, those 
numbers are much lower than that. Now we find that according to 
internal e-mails from the VA's head of mental health, Dr. Ira Katz, 
6,570 veterans actually committed suicide in 2005, an average of 18 a 
day. Those e-mails also revealed that VA officials also knew that 
another 1,000 veterans who are receiving care at our VA medical 
facilities attempt suicide each month. Those numbers offer tragic 
evidence that our Nation is failing thousands of veterans every year, 
and they reflect an administration that has failed to own up to its 
responsibilities and failed even to own up to the true impact of the 
war on our veterans.
  What is most appalling to me is that this is not the first time the 
VA has covered up the problems facing our veterans who have sacrificed 
for our country. Time and again, this VA told us one thing in public 
while saying something completely different in private. It is 
outrageous to me that our VA officials would put public appearance 
ahead of people's lives. Yet it appears that is what is happening again 
and again.
  When we as Members of Congress sit down to try to determine what 
resources we need to give to the VA, we have to truly understand what 
is going on. If there is a problem, we have to act. It is our duty and 
the duty of this administration to care for our veterans. By covering 
up the true extent of the problem, the VA has actually hindered our 
ability to get those resources to the veterans who need them. That is 
irresponsible, and it is wrong.
  I have come to the floor today because we now have an opportunity to 
extend benefits to our veterans. These benefits that are in the bill 
that is before the Senate today will help them with job training, 
insurance, housing, and other matters. The bill that is before us 
offers veterans peace of mind and will help them to readjust as they 
come home to civilian life.
  The Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act the Senate is currently 
considering expands traumatic injury insurance. It increases job 
training--vital to many of our veterans who are coming home. It extends 
housing benefits to veterans with severe burns, something we have to 
do. And critically, it restores limited pension benefits to Filipino 
veterans who fought for our country in World War II.

  This is a bill that we have done in our VA Committee that normally 
would come to the floor and pass straight through this body by 
unanimous consent. It is budget neutral, and it works to provide long 
overdue care for some of our Nation's heroes. But, instead, this bill 
has languished for 9 months. Why? Because the Republicans chose 
obstruction over our veterans. The majority leader and our chairman, 
Senator Akaka, have worked since last August to try to come to an 
agreement. They have tried to come to the floor and work out amendments 
and figure out a way to move this bill forward. But for 9 months the 
Republicans preferred to play political games and block this critically 
important bill. It is just part of an overall pattern we have seen on 
this floor with numerous bills we have been trying to bring forward.
  Today, finally we have come to an agreement--late, but finally have 
come to an agreement--and the Republicans have agreed to move this bill 
forward.
  Later this morning, we are going to have the opportunity to vote for 
legislation that extends important benefits to help our veterans 
transition back into civilian life. It expands home-improvement 
benefits to completely disabled servicemembers before they enter the VA 
system to help them adapt to their new homes. This will prevent months 
or even years of delays while they transition from the military into 
the VA care. The bill we are considering extends monthly educational 
assistance for veterans who are pursuing an apprenticeship or on-the-
job training, and it requires the National Academy of Sciences to study 
the risk of developing multiple sclerosis as a result of serving in 
conflicts since the gulf war. This last piece is one I have worked on 
extensively, as I have worked with gulf war veterans in my State from 
the early nineties who are now coming in with high rates of multiple 
sclerosis, to find out if there is a connection. It is a critical piece 
of legislation.
  But I am disappointed that the Republicans object to the provision in 
the bill before us that extends VA benefits to Filipino World War II 
veterans. Those now very elderly Filipino veterans were called to 
service by our country and by President Roosevelt in 1941. They served 
right alongside our U.S. troops. They fought to protect our interests 
as they were asked to in the Pacific. They consider themselves to be 
American troops, and we consider them to be part of our military.
  We have a moral duty to repay their sacrifice by providing them with 
the care they have earned, just as we should do with all of our 
veterans. But in 1946, when the war was over, our Nation turned its 
back on them and stripped away their rights to their veterans benefits. 
That act of Congress denied those men the access to health care and 
limited compensation to half of what their U.S. counterparts received. 
I believe that act of Congress was wrong, but I believe it is just as 
wrong that 62 years later we still have not corrected that injustice.
  Some on the other side are saying those benefits are too generous. 
Those veterans have been denied benefits for over 60 years. How can we 
say giving them a few hundred dollars in the last remaining months of 
their lives is too much? Sixty-two years later, those veterans are in 
their twilight years. They need and they deserve the care this country 
ought to give them. We cannot make up for lost time for these veterans, 
but certainly we can right this injustice. We have the opportunity 
today to do what is honorable, what is moral, and treat our Filipino 
veterans as the heroes they are, and it is long past time that we did.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill later this morning when we 
vote on it and to oppose the Burr substitute amendment which would 
remove those provisions for our Filipino veterans.
  Our veterans have waited 9 months for this bill to come before the 
Senate. Our Filipino veterans have waited more than six decades. Our 
veterans have all earned these benefits by sacrificing for us. They 
should not be forced to wait any longer.
  To our VA which has continually hidden the facts from us, we need 
them to be honest and forthright. This country wants to be there to 
support our veterans, and we cannot do that if we are being given 
misinformation.
  So my message to the VA is: We stand beside you as a country to work 
to make sure our veterans get the care and support they need. We expect 
you to do the same.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I yield myself whatever leader time I 
may use.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has that right.

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