[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 19756-19757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO AMERICA'S HEROES

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, over the past 4 years, as we have watched 
the heroism of our men and women in uniform, our Nation has gained a 
new awareness for the service and sacrifice of American soldiers. In 
communities all across our country, Americans are praying for the safe 
return of loved ones serving abroad. They are sending letters and care 
packages and small reminders of home. But they are counting the days 
until they can show the thanks they feel and our soldiers deserve face 
to face.
  Few values bring Americans more closely together than our gratitude 
and respect for the men and women who serve in uniform to protect us. 
And today, all America is united in gratitude for the service of our 
Armed Forces and for the many sacrifices their families must make to 
accommodate their absence.
  Regrettably, there are troubling signs that the tremendous burdens we 
have placed on their shoulders have begun to come at a cost. In recent 
weeks, we have learned that the National Guard and Reserves are having 
difficulty recruiting and retaining enough soldiers to defend our 
country. For the first time in a decade, the Army Guard is unable to 
meet its requirement for 350,000 soldiers. Too many soldiers are 
leaving and recruiting can't keep up.
  A regular survey of reservists has found that the percentage of Army 
Reserve members who plan to reenlist has fallen from 69 percent in May 
2003 to 59 percent in May 2004. There can be no doubt, the stress of 
long deployments and active duty are having an effect on recruiting.
  Increasingly, our national security is put in the hands of the 
citizens soldiers of our National Guard and Reserve. When recruitment 
for the Guard and Reserve falls off, it threatens to undermine the 
readiness and the effectiveness of our Armed Forces. Let there be no 
doubt: Now more than ever, we need our Armed Forces to be strong and 
prepared enough to meet the threats we face today and those we may see 
tomorrow.

[[Page 19757]]

  Earlier in the week, the New York Times reported that the Army is 
considering cutting the length of its 12-month combat tours in Iraq and 
Afghanistan in order to relieve the stress of duty. This could be a 
positive step. Special attention also needs to be paid to considering 
new ways to honor the service of our reservists and offer new 
incentives for signing up. The debt we owe our soldiers shouldn't be 
limited to a welcome-home parade. It begins before we send them abroad 
and it shouldn't end when they return home. This is a debt we must 
honor every day.
  But consider the welcome home thousands of Guard members received 
when they returned stateside recently only to find they had lost their 
jobs while they were fighting in Iraq. Over the past 3 years, thousands 
of Guard members and reservists have come home to find themselves out 
of work.
  Ron Vander Wal, a member of South Dakota Guard's 200th Engineer 
Company had to sue his employer just to get his old job back. Ron is 
now back at work, but he never should have had to go to court to get 
what was rightfully his.
  Thousands more aren't as fortunate. And every time a soldier returns 
home to find that he has less than when he left to fight, we have 
failed that soldier. How can we ask our soldiers to fight for us 
overseas and then force them to fight for their jobs once they get 
home? Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
  More than 400,000 reservists and National Guard members have been 
mobilized since September 11, 2001. They represent 40 percent of our 
forces in the region. Their bravery and professionalism have been vital 
to every aspect of our mission in Iraq. Many of them have been working 
to improve the lives and health of average Iraqis. And yet, when they 
return, one out of every five Guard members and Reservists--and 40 
percent of junior enlisted personnel--will have no health insurance of 
their own. That is simply unacceptable.
  This kind of neglect is regrettably reflected in our treatment of 
veterans, as well. Last month, I spoke to a woman from Hartford, SD, 
whose father served in the Navy--in Vietnam and elsewhere. Recently, 
her father died, and in his final months the family struggled with the 
VA to get the benefits he needed. This woman became quite frustrated 
with the VA and its ability to care for veterans. Today, this woman who 
loves her country and is proud of her father's service says she will 
advise her children against joining the military, because she feels our 
country just doesn't take care of its vets in their hours of greatest 
need.
  That is intolerable. Not only is it morally wrong not to honor the 
service of our veterans, but it directly affects our ability to recruit 
the next generation of American heroes. Something needs to be done.
  Let there be no doubt, the problems with the VA health system are not 
the fault of the doctors and nurses and the other men and women who 
work at VA hospitals and clinics. They are among the most talented, 
most dedicated health professionals in this country. But they can only 
do so much with the resources they are given. And from the first days 
of this administration, the White House has systematically tried to 
reduce veterans benefits, cut funding to the VA, and shortchange the 
healthcare of America's veterans.
  Over the past 4 years, the budget for veterans health has risen far 
less than has the cost of delivering health care, forcing VA hospitals 
to meet rising demand with shrinking resources. The White House's 2005 
budget deepens this trend by including less than a one-tenth of one 
percent funding increase, while health costs nationwide are rising at 
double digit rates of inflation. Overall, the White House budget falls 
nearly $4.3 billion short of veterans' needs, according to the 
independent budget created by leading nonpartisan veterans groups.
  The veterans least able to pay are being asked to pick up the 
difference. Over the course of the last 3 years, the amount vets have 
paid toward their own care has increased a staggering 340 percent, or 
$561 million. And if the White House gets its way, vets would need to 
pick up more than a half billion dollars more of their care in 2005.
  This is wrong. Americans treasure their freedom and we treasure those 
who have sworn to defend it. The kind of treatment our veterans and 
reservists are receiving defies the gratitude Americans feel in their 
hearts and betrays our tradition of caring for those who wore the 
uniform of their country.
  There are two steps Congress should take immediately. First, we 
should pass the National Guard and Reservist Bill of Rights which I 
introduced earlier this month. This bill codifies a set of rights the 
men and women serving in our National Guard and Reserve have earned 
with their service to our Nation. It states that every reservist has 
the right to straight answers about his or her deployments, and 
deployments that are no longer than those of full-time soldiers; the 
right to the best equipment the Nation has to offer; the right to 
adequate, timely, and problem-free compensation; the right to child 
care for his or her family; the right to quality, affordable health 
care; the right to employment when he or she returns home; the right to 
education benefits; the right to a fair retirement plan; and the right 
to representation at the highest levels of the Department of Defense. 
Perhaps most important, this bill of rights would ensure that the Guard 
and Reserve remain attractive opportunities for Americans who want to 
serve their country.
  Second, it is time we made good on a simple promise to veterans: If 
you wore the uniform of our Nation, if you fought under our flag, your 
health care needs will be met for life. The full funding of veterans 
health care should be made mandatory under law. For too long, the VA 
budget has been subject to the give and take of budget politics. We 
need to set things straight. The funding for the VA should no longer be 
set by political convenience, or backroom deals, or the zero-sum game 
of budget politics. One thing, and one thing alone, should govern the 
care of our veterans; that is, the needs of our veterans.
  How could we do otherwise? How could we let our country move forward 
and leave behind the men and women whose bravery has won our freedom 
and prosperity? Moreover, how could we let our children grow up 
believing that our Government fails to honor and repay those who risk 
their lives in service to the Nation.
  We cannot afford to wake up one day and discover that our military 
lacks the manpower it needs to defend our country. The signs of an 
impending recruitment crisis are all around us. We should not let this 
Congress adjourn without taking real steps to prevent this developing 
problem from undermining the strength of our military for years to 
come. It is time to act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.

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