[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5413]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




BUSH ADMINISTRATION NOT PROPERLY PLANNING TO CARE FOR WOUNDED MILITARY 
                               PERSONNEL

  (Mr. ARCURI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, the treatment some of our wounded military 
personnel are receiving at Walter Reed Army Hospital and other 
facilities around the Nation is outrageous and should be fixed 
immediately.
  The conditions and the neglect that many of these wounded soldiers 
are facing is just another example of this administration's failure to 
plan for the war in Iraq. It was bad enough that the administration 
went into this war without properly planning for the aftermath of the 
fall of Baghdad. It is inexcusable that the same administration does 
not have an acceptable plan to care for wounded soldiers who return 
from combat in Iraq.
  We have all heard the stories about soldiers being moved into 
Building 18 with mold, mice, and cockroaches because Walter Reed had 
simply run out of space.
  Time after time this administration has cut the Veterans 
Administration budget during a time of war. And now the President wants 
to send an additional 21,000 troops into Iraq. How can we think of 
sending more troops into Iraq when we don't have enough space here in 
our military hospitals to provide the wounded with the care they 
rightfully deserve?
  We promise our veterans the quality care they need and deserve when 
they sign up to serve our country. It is time we make good on that 
promise.

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