[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E713-E714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATION OF 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION BEING 
                    MADE A CABINET LEVEL DEPARTMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 19, 2009

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 20th 
anniversary of the establishment of the Veterans Administration as a 
Cabinet level Department. For some time members of many communities 
from across the nation have given their loved ones to defend our 
freedoms as Americans, yet when they returned there was nothing in 
place to aid them in their transition to civilian life. All of this 
changed twenty years ago when the Veterans Administration was 
officially elevated as a cabinet level agency and renamed as the 
Department of Veterans Affairs. The intrinsic value of having a 
department such as this has benefitted our nation in innumerable ways 
and now more than ever we see its particular value.
  Changes in battle and warfare tactics have caused evolving 
consequences. It is essential to have a Department that is especially 
equipped to handle the consequences of engagement in combat, especially 
the impact of grievous physical wounds. I am especially supportive of 
our Department of Veterans affairs and even more pleased to have a 
person of character and sense of duty such as Eric Shinseki as the new 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The challenge of military personnel 
transitioning into civilian life becomes even more daunting especially 
during this period of economic downturn facing our nation. The 
Department of Veterans Affairs will have to be prepared now more than 
ever for the growth in the number of veterans needing our assistance to 
establish their lives once again.
  I believe it is our duty as a nation to ensure the well-being of 
those who have so valiantly given of themselves to protect our nation 
and I commend the values that have been upheld by the*Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
  I introduce into the Congressional Record the remarks made by 
President Obama at the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs as a Cabinet Agency on March 16, 2009.
                                                  The White House,


                                Office of the Press Secretary,

                                   Washington, DC, March 16, 2009.

 Remarks by the President at the 20th Anniversary of the Department of 
                  Veterans Affairs as a Cabinet Agency


            Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C.

       The President: Thank you very much. To Jim Benson for 
     helping to organize this; for Mahdee for your service to our 
     country--a Pledge of Allegiance that you've shown in your own 
     commitment to protecting this country; and obviously, to 
     Secretary Shinseki. It is an honor to join you and the 
     hardworking public servants here at the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs as we mark a milestone in the distinguished 
     history of this department.
       You know, 20 years ago, on the day the Veterans 
     Administration was officially elevated to a Cabinet-level 
     agency and renamed the Department of Veterans Affairs, a 
     ceremony was held to swear in the administrator of the old 
     entity as Secretary of the new one. And in his remarks that 
     day, President George H.W. Bush declared that the mission of 
     this agency is ``so vital that there's only one place for the 
     veterans of America: in the Cabinet Room, at the table with 
     the President of the United States of America.'' I could not 
     agree more.
       I could not be more pleased that Eric Shinseki has taken a 
     seat at that table. Throughout his long and distinguished 
     career in the Army, Secretary Shinseki won the respect and 
     admiration of our men and women in uniform because they've 
     always been his highest priority--and he has clearly brought 
     that same sense of duty and commitment to the work of serving 
     our veterans.
       As he knows, it's no small task. This department has more 
     than a quarter of a million employees across America, and its 
     services range from providing education and training 
     benefits, health care and home loans, to tending those quiet 
     places that remind us of the great debt we owe--and remind me 
     of the heavy responsibility that I bear. It's a commitment 
     that lasts from the

[[Page E714]]

     day our veterans retire that uniform to the day that they are 
     put to rest--and that continues on for their families.
       Without this commitment, I might not be here today. After 
     all, my grandfather enlisted after Pearl Harbor and went on 
     to march in Patton's Army. My grandmother worked on a bomber 
     assembly line while he was gone. My mother was born at Fort 
     Leavenworth while he was away. When my grandfather returned, 
     he went to college on the GI Bill; bought his first home with 
     a loan from the FHA; moved his family west, all the way to 
     Hawaii, where he and my grandmother helped to raise me.
       And I think about my grandfather whenever I have the 
     privilege of meeting the young men and women who serve in our 
     military today. They are our best and brightest, and they're 
     our bravest--enlisting in a time of war; enduring tour after 
     tour of duty; serving with honor under the most difficult 
     circumstances; and making sacrifices that many of us cannot 
     begin to imagine. The same can be said of their families. As 
     my wife, Michelle, has seen firsthand during visits to 
     military bases across this country, we don't just deploy our 
     troops in a time of war--we deploy their families, too.
       So while the mission of this department is always vital, it 
     is even more so during long and difficult conflicts like 
     those that we're engaged in today. Because when the guns 
     finally fall silent and the cameras are turned off and our 
     troops return home, they deserve the same commitment from 
     their government as my grandparents received.
       Last month, I announced my strategy for ending the war in 
     Iraq. And I made it very clear that this strategy would not 
     end with military plans and diplomatic agendas, but would 
     endure through my commitment to upholding our sacred trust 
     with every man and woman who has served this country. And the 
     same holds true for our troops serving in Afghanistan.
       The homecoming we face over the next year and a half will 
     be the true test of this commitment: whether we will stand 
     with our veterans as they face new challenges--physical, 
     psychological and economic--here at home.
       I intend to start that work by making good on my pledge to 
     transform the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 21st 
     century. That's an effort that, under Secretary Shinseki's 
     leadership, all of you have already begun--conducting a 
     thorough review of your operations all across this agency. 
     And I intend to support this effort not just with words of 
     encouragement, but with resources. That's why the budget I 
     sent to Congress increases funding for this department by $25 
     billion over the next five years.
       With this budget, we don't just fully fund our VA health 
     care program--we expand it to serve an additional 500,000 
     veterans by 2013; to provide better health care in more 
     places; and to dramatically improve services related to 
     mental health and injuries like Post-Traumatic Stress 
     Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. We also invest in the 
     technology to cut red tape and ease the transition from 
     active duty. And we provide new help for homeless veterans, 
     because those heroes have a home--it's the country they 
     served, the United States of America. And until we reach a 
     day when not a single veteran sleeps on our nation's streets, 
     our work remains unfinished. (Applause.)
       Finally, in this new century, it's time to heed the lesson 
     of history, that our returning veterans can form the backbone 
     of our middle class--by implementing a GI Bill for the 21st 
     century. I know you're working hard under a tough deadline, 
     but I am confident that we will be ready for August 1st. And 
     that's how we'll show our servicemen and women that when you 
     come home to America, America will be here for you. That's 
     how we will ensure that those who have ``borne the battle''--
     and their families--will have every chance to live out their 
     dreams.
       I've had the privilege of meeting so many of these heroes. 
     Some of the most inspiring are those that I've met in places 
     like Walter Reed--young men and women who've lost a limb or 
     even their ability to take care of themselves, but who never 
     lose the pride they feel for their country. And that is, 
     after all, what led them to wear the uniform in the first 
     place--their unwavering belief in the idea of America; that 
     no matter where you come from, what you look like, who your 
     parents are, this is a place where anything is possible, 
     where anyone can make it, where we take care of each other 
     and look out for each other--especially for those who've 
     sacrificed so much for this country.
       These are the ideals that generations of Americans have 
     fought for and bled for and died for. These are the ideals at 
     the core of your mission--a mission that dates back before 
     our founding--one taken up by our first President years 
     before he took office, back when he served as Commander-in-
     Chief of the Continental Army. Then-General Washington fought 
     tirelessly to support the veterans of America's Revolutionary 
     War. Such support, he argued, should ``never be considered as 
     a pension or gratuity . . .'' Rather, ``. . . it was the 
     price of their blood,'' and of our independence; ``. . . it 
     is, therefore,'' he said, ``more than a common debt, it is a 
     debt of honor . . .'' A debt of honor.
       Washington understood that caring for our veterans was more 
     than just a way of thanking them for their service. He 
     recognized the obligation is deeper than that--that when our 
     fellow citizens commit themselves to shed blood for us, that 
     binds our fates with theirs in a way that nothing else can. 
     And in the end, caring for those who have given their fullest 
     measure of devotion to us--and for their families--is a 
     matter of honor--as a nation and as a people.
       That's a responsibility you hold, that's the work that you 
     do--repaying that debt of honor, a debt we can never fully 
     discharge. And I know it's not always easy. I know there's 
     much work ahead to transform this agency for the 21st 
     century. But I have the fullest confidence that with 
     Secretary Shinseki's leadership, and with the hard work of 
     the men and women of this department, we will fulfill our 
     sacred trust and serve our returning heroes as well as 
     they've served us.
       Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United 
     States of America. Thank you, everybody.

                          ____________________