[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            VOTE EXPLANATION

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I want to explain why I missed two 
votes early during yesterday's session, Senator DeMint's amendment No. 
930 and Senator Coburn's amendment No. 918 on S. 761, America COMPETES 
Act, a bill that I cosponsored. I was confident that my vote would not 
change the outcome, and the DeMint amendment failed by a vote of 22 to 
79 and the Coburn amendment failed by a vote of 27 to 67. If I had been 
able to come to the floor, I would have voted against both amendments, 
but the outcome would have been the same.
  The reason I missed the votes was that I was attending a very special 
hearing in the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on mental health 
issues for our returning soldiers. The first panel included a recent 
Iraq veteran with PTSD, parents of an Iraq veteran who committed 
suicide after returning home, and parents of an Iraq veteran soldier 
who died of an overdose of his own prescription drugs while in VA care. 
One of the families had come from Iowa and the other from California to 
talk about the tragedy of each son's death and to seek ways to ensure 
that other families might avoid such tragedies. The Iraq veteran, a 
combat medic, spoke eloquently on his own problems acknowledging and 
treating his PTSD and the similar problems of fellow soldiers in his 
platoon.
  One father testified that after his son died of an overdose in VA 
care, he and his wife went to claim his son's personal effects, and the 
items were handed to them in a plastic garbage bag. I was shocked and 
outraged. I knew that it would seem heartless to cut their panel short 
and not let these parents and this veteran share their full story so I 
volunteered to stay and listen so that the full story could be given in 
committee. These families already feel that parts of our Government do 
not care, and that is sad. I needed to stay to chair the hearing and 
let these courageous witnesses continue their testimony.
  I am very glad I did. Despite the tragedy and grief these individuals 
face, they are speaking out boldly in hopes of changing the current 
system so other veterans and other families do not face the same 
ordeals they have faced. These are stories that must be told and, more 
importantly, must be heard in public by those who can and must make 
changes. These witnesses had good ideas and suggestions on how to 
change the delivery system for the mental health care of our returning 
veterans. They spoke passionately about how soldiers are trained to 
serve bravely and not show weaknesses. I could not walk away from this 
important hearing about issues crucial to our combat veterans returning 
from Iraq and Afghanistan.
  I am very grateful to veteran Patrick Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Randall 
Omvig, and Mr. Tony Bailey for their compelling personal testimonies. I 
am committed to push hard for action to change the VA system for future 
veterans and their families.

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