[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         VETERANS MEDICAL CARE

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, last week, my majority colleagues and I on 
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs submitted the required views and 
estimates on the administration's fiscal year 2008 budget for the 
Department of Veterans Affairs.
  In summary, we are recommending a $2.9 billion increase over the 
administration's request for veterans medical care. We believe this is 
the total amount necessary to treat all eligible veterans from World 
War II until the present time and to maintain the quality of VA medical 
services through the upcoming fiscal year.
  This amount would also provide the VA with resources to absorb the 
thousands of service members presently on medical hold at Walter Reed 
and in other military facilities. There is no question we must ensure 
these brave men and women are provided the best care possible.
  Today's Washington Post leads with a story titled, ``It Is Just Not 
Walter Reed.'' The story focuses on the various Federal facilities 
across the system, including VA facilities. I urge my colleagues to 
understand that at the heart of any solution to improve care is 
increasing resources to match demand and to ensure the facilities 
themselves are up to par.
  I intend to hold a hearing later this month on cooperation between VA 
and the Department of Defense on the treatment of injured service 
members, and I will pursue the situation at Walter Reed and other 
military treatment facilities that are handling the bulk of returning 
Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to ensure the Government is helping 
those who have been injured in service to our country and their 
families.
  I wish to highlight a few of the accounts for which we are seeking 
substantial increases.
  In our estimate, we recommended an additional $300 million for 
treatment of traumatic brain injuries. These funds will support the 
expansion of VA's capacity and will help to resolve case management 
problems identified in an IG investigation last summer. Traumatic brain 
injuries are turning out to be the hallmark of this war. We simply must 
ensure that VA has the resources to do more than just keep up but to 
become a leader in brain injury care.
  The recent televised account of ABC newsman Bob Woodruff's long 
recovery from a brain injury endured in Iraq has highlighted the 
suffering of new veterans and their families. Looking at these young 
soldiers with such devastating injuries reminds us of the true costs of 
war.
  We know the transition from DOD to VA can be a tough one. This is 
even more true for those veterans suffering with TBI. At the start of 
this war, VA was unprepared to deal with returning service members with 
injuries of all kinds. The budgets in the early years underestimated 
these costs, and many VA facilities were caught flatfooted.
  Over the last year, VA has made strides in improving the lead brain 
injury centers. Yet VA still has miles to go in caring for service 
members when they return home to their communities. Many of these men 
and women are quite young and will live with brain injuries for the 
rest of their lives. VA must do more than simply send them back to 
their communities.
  I am also concerned that veterans with less severe forms of TBI may 
not be receiving appropriate compensation for their injuries. We need 
to make sure VA has the resources necessary to provide for specialist 
examinations and appropriate testing so that veterans who file claims 
for headaches, memory loss, and other effects of TBI may be properly 
compensated and rehabilitated.
  We also recommended an increase of $693 million over the 
administration's request for VA mental health programs. These funds are 
essential to guarantee timely access to mental health services for 
veterans of the global war on terror and prior conflicts, including the 
Vietnam war. We have heard too many stories already of veterans in 
crisis who were unable to see a mental health professional because of a 
lack of staff or beds at VA facilities. It is about time we fully fund 
VA's mental health programs so that not one more troubled veteran finds 
himself or herself on the street for lack of therapy, counseling or, 
far worse, takes his or her own life.
  As chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am deeply 
committed to having all in Congress recognize the reality that meeting 
the needs of veterans is truly part of the ongoing costs of war. I urge 
my fellow Senators to join us as we work to uphold our end of the 
bargain by giving our Nation's veterans accessible first-rate medical 
care. We owe it to them and they deserve it.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. McCaskill). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in 
morning business for up to 30 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right. The Senator from 
North Dakota is recognized.

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