[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 108 (Tuesday, July 19, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4651-S4652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MILCON APPROPRIATIONS

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, there is no question that we need to 
make smart decisions to tighten our belts and reduce our Nation's debt 
and deficit. American families have done it around their kitchen table, 
and we owe it to them to get our fiscal house in order.
  But there is also one group of Americans we owe an even greater 
promise to, a group we can never allow to become pawns or fall through 
the cracks, or be forgotten altogether in these budgets debates, and 
that is our men and women in uniform and the veterans who have 
protected our Nation for decades. That is why I am here today on the 
floor, in the midst of the whirlwind of debt and deficit rhetoric, to 
remind us all of the critical nature of the bill that is on the floor 
this week; to remind us all that no matter what fiscal crisis we face, 
no matter how divided we may be over approaches to cutting our debt and 
deficit, no matter how heated the rhetoric gets here in Washington, DC, 
we have to keep our commitments to our veterans and servicemembers, and 
we have to move this bill forward and we have to provide for those who 
wore or who are wearing the uniform with the peace of mind that we are 
keeping our promise to them.
  A couple of years ago we took a proactive step to make sure the 
nonstop wrangling over appropriations bills here in Congress didn't 
interfere with the health care our veterans have earned. Thanks to the 
work of Senator Akaka and many others, the VA spending for health care 
is now appropriated a year in advance, protecting it from an imperfect 
budget process that is so often affected by politics.
  But I remember when we passed advanced appropriations, we were very 
clear. Our foresight was not going to be an excuse to sit on our hands 
when VA funding was up for consideration. We were not going to allow a 
precautionary measure to get in the way of passing timely increases in 
veterans' health care, and so this bill is the test.
  Can we put politics aside for the good of our Nation's veterans and 
servicemembers? Can we show them that, despite our differences, we will 
work as diligently toward getting them the benefits and care they have 
earned as they have worked for our Nation? Well, I hope we can.
  I say that because the investments in this bill are a lot more than 
numbers on a page. They are life-changing programs for veterans with 
post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. It is 
support for suicide hotlines that are seeing more callers than ever 
before. It is providing roofs over the heads of our servicemembers and 
their families. It is timely investments in the very biggest priorities 
of our Nation's heroes.
  Today I want to talk about a few of the investments that are included 
in the bill we are considering today and how they translate into the 
lives of our servicemembers, our veterans and, critically, their 
families.
  There is an influx of young veterans coming into the VA system right 
now that we have not seen in a very long time. In fact, the VA 
estimates that the number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in its 
health care system will reach well over \1/2\ million at some point 
next year. That is an over 100-percent increase since 2008. This is a 
big challenge and one we have no choice but to step up to meet if we 
are going to avoid some of the same mistakes we saw with the Vietnam 
generation.
  That is why this bill includes nearly $3 billion to meet the health 
care needs of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is a 
nearly $600 million increase over last year.
  But it is more than just the sheer number of new veterans that will 
be coming home to the VA in the near future. It is the extent of their 
wounds,

[[Page S4652]]

both visible and invisible, that will require an untold resource from 
our Nation.
  Through the wonders of modern medicine, servicemembers who would have 
been lost in previous conflicts are coming home to live productive and 
fulfilling lives. But they will need a lifetime of care from the VA. 
That is why part of this bill includes significant investments for 
research in a number of areas, including traumatic brain injury, spinal 
cord injury, polytrauma injuries, and sensory loss.
  It includes funding that will go to maintaining world-class 
prosthetics such as the one that was worn by SGT Leroy Petry, whom I 
saw at the White House last week shake the hand of a grateful President 
Obama as he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
  It is also funding that comes at a critical time as amputations have 
sharply increased among soldiers in Afghanistan, many of whom are 
getting out of protective MRAP and Humvees to engage Afghan citizens 
and at the same time putting themselves at far greater risk of severe 
IED injuries. According to a recent Washington Post article, twice as 
many U.S. soldiers wounded in battle last year required limb 
amputations than in either of the two previous years.
  This funding also comes as mental health concerns continue to rise, 
and suicides among active-duty troops and veterans from these wars have 
risen to a level now on par with combat deaths. In April, the VA's 
suicide hotline took 14,000 suicide calls, more than they had taken in 
any month in the previous 4 years. This bill makes sure we are putting 
someone on the other end of that call. This bill funds efforts to give 
veterans access to mental health professionals, and ensures we are not 
leaving our veterans to go it alone.
  But this will do much more than help our newest generation of 
veterans. For generations we have faced the problems of homelessness 
among our Nation's veterans without making any real headway. Recently, 
through the success of programs such as HUD-VASH and the Grant and Per 
Diem Program, we are seeing real progress toward putting homeless 
veterans into safe and secure housing, and the bold goals laid out by 
the Obama administration to end veterans' homelessness once and for 
all. This bill includes nearly $1 billion in direct assistance to 
homeless veterans, and this bill helps those who have taken on the 
monumental but deeply personal task of providing care to an injured 
veteran in their family, those people who have left behind their own 
careers and personal lives, and even their own health care and benefits 
to care for those who can't take care of themselves.
  It includes major investments to meet the unique needs of one of the 
fastest growing groups of veterans, women veterans who, through health 
care and construction upgrades that improve privacy, will benefit from 
VA facilities that are more conducive to their needs.
  This bill also includes major investments to fund military 
construction projects worldwide, including readiness centers, barracks, 
hospitals, clinics, and schools. It also supports family housing 
construction projects that ensure military families have a satisfactory 
roof over their heads. And that, by the way, will create thousands of 
good-paying jobs.
  As we all know, the strength of our military is rooted in the 
strength of the families who support them. Investments such as these 
are what allow our servicemembers to go abroad knowing that their loved 
ones are being looked after by the Nation they are protecting.
  After nearly a decade at war, the consequences of sending our 
servicemembers into combat and the sacred obligation we have to care 
for those injured in service have become clear. But so have the 
shortcomings and the challenges we have to meet.
  Last week, I chaired a hearing on the gaps to mental health care that 
still exist at the VA, and the stories we heard were deeply 
frustrating. I heard the stories of two separate veterans who attempted 
suicide but were still left to wait for weeks, and even months, for 
appointments at the VA. We have to fix the VA in a way that meets that 
obligation so they are more flexible and responsive to the needs of 
today's veterans, and we have to do it in a cost-effective way by 
making sure we are getting the most value out of every dollar that a 
bill such as this one provides. Next week in our committee I will be 
examining the long-term costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to 
our newest generation of veterans, because I believe we need to address 
this problem openly and honestly.
  Like generations of servicemembers and veterans before them, today's 
heroes have done everything that has been asked of them. They have been 
separated from their families through repeat deployments; they have 
sacrificed life and limb in combat; and they have done all this 
selflessly and with honor to our country. We cannot allow our 
commitment to them to lapse or to get caught up in politics. That is 
why we need to pass this bill.
  We must also come to a budget agreement that avoids default and the 
consequences that would have on our veterans.
  We have to keep our promise, no matter what.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New York.

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