[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4795]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   INJURED TROOPS DESERVE BETTER THAN WHAT THEY GOT AT WALTER REED'S 
                              BUILDING 18

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, thanks to a 4-month investigation by the 
Washington Post, the world learned last week that our Nation's injured 
soldiers are not receiving the care they deserve once they return from 
active duty.
  The Post investigation described conditions at Walter Reed Hospital 
that are deplorable. One of the buildings at the facility, Building 18, 
showed signs of neglect everywhere: mouse droppings, cockroaches, 
stained carpets, cheap mattresses and mold on the ceilings. After the 
Post printed its findings last week, the Pentagon finally started 
renovating Building 18, but it should not have taken the embarrassment 
of this investigation for the Pentagon to do the right thing.
  American soldiers who have put their lives on the line for this 
Nation deserve better than what they are getting at Building 18. The 
Pentagon says it was forced into housing hundreds of troops there after 
all the other buildings were filled to capacity, and now the President 
wants to send more troops to Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, it is critical that this Congress ensure that the 
Pentagon meets the needs of our injured soldiers.

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