[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 129 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7959-S7960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Alexander, and Mr. 
        inhofe):
  S. 3407. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize 
commanders of wounded warrior battalions to accept charitable gifts on 
behalf of the wounded members of the Armed Forces assigned to such 
battalions; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, in the years since the War on Terror began, 
we have seen the creation of new Wounded Warrior Battalions and Warrior 
Transition Battalions in the Marines and the Army. These units were 
built from the ground up with one purpose in mind: to ensure that 
seriously wounded service members receive the medical care and benefits 
that they have earned. The service personnel who command and administer 
these units are some of the most competent and dedicated professionals 
in our armed forces, and they deserve our praise.
  These professionals have done much to improve the quality of care 
that is given to our Nation's wounded service members, but many of the 
young men and women who find themselves assigned to a Wounded Warrior 
Battalion still face a tough journey on their road to recovery. 
Thankfully, the challenges that these men and women face rarely go 
unnoticed in their communities. Over the past several years we have 
heard countless stories of private citizens, church congregations and 
other community groups stepping forward to donate their time, money and 
other charitable gifts to our wounded service personnel. It is not 
uncommon to hear about donations of $10,000 or more being offered to 
help provide additional resources to help our wounded recover.
  Unfortunately, the military's gift-acceptance rules have not been 
updated

[[Page S7960]]

to take into account the generosity of the American people. For 
example, if a North Carolinian wished to provide a gift of just over 
$12,000 to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Lejeune, the 
acceptance paperwork for this donation would spend months working its 
way through a complicated bureaucracy before finally arriving on the 
desk of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Our taxpayers and our 
wounded veterans are not being served very well when gifts of such a 
small dollar amount must be approved at the very highest levels of 
command.
  That is why I am introducing the Friends of Wounded Warriors Act. 
This legislation will streamline the gift-acceptance process by 
empowering the commanders of Wounded Warrior Battalions and similar 
units with the authority to accept charitable gifts of up to $100,000 
for the benefit of the members of their unit. This will enable these 
commanders to cut through the red tape that is currently the cause of 
needless delay in getting extra resources to our wounded service men 
and women. I hope you will join me in making a commitment to ensure 
that out-dated processes for accepting gifts do not stand in the way of 
the generosity of concerned citizens and communities seeking to 
contribute to the care of our wounded and ill service members.
                                 ______