    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 42 (Monday, October 22, 2007)]
    [Pages 1347-1349]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Following a Meeting With the President's Commission on Care for
    America's Returning Wounded Warriors

    October 16, 2007

        Good afternoon. Thanks for coming. Welcome to the Rose Garden. I
    appreciate Senator Dole and Secretary Shalala and other members of their
    Commission for joining me today. Welcome.
        I just finished an inspiring meeting with Secretary Gates and Acting
    Secretary Mansfield, with service members who were rebuilding their
    lives after being severely wounded in the service of our country. I wish
    all Americans could hear the service members talk about their strong
    desire to not only rehabilitate but to enter--be productive citizens
    here in America. I was most impressed by your spirit and your courage,
    and I--welcome here to the White House.
        I appreciate the fact that they are helping to find a--to define a
    culture that says, we're going to judge people by their potential, not
    their disabilities. I appreciate the fact that they are demonstrating
    the great breakthroughs in technologies that are now available for the
    wounded. I don't know if you noticed, two of them came in on a Segway.

    [[Page 1348]]

        Medical advances have enabled battlefield medics and hospitals to
    provide our wounded warriors with care that would have been unimaginable
    just a decade ago. Yet our system for managing this care has fallen
    behind. It's an old system; it's an antiquated system; it's an outdated
    system that needs to be changed.
        You know, that's what happened at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
    earlier this year. First of all, the care that's provided there is
    magnificent. Our doctors and nurses at Walter Reed are great healers and
    caregivers, and they've saved a lot of lives. But there were serious
    problems caused by bureaucratic delays and administrative failures, and
    we're not going to let those problems continue.
        We took immediate steps to address the problems at Walter Reed. The
    building where outpatients were living that was substandard was shut
    down. They were moved to high-quality housing, and those responsible
    were held to account. And to ensure wounded troops at Walter Reed and
    other facilities across America get the care they deserve, I asked
    Senator Dole and Secretary Shalala to chair a bipartisan Presidential
    commission. The Commission conducted a comprehensive review of the care
    provided to service members returning from the global war on terror from
    the time they leave the battlefield through their return to civilian
    life.
        At the end of this review, the Commission submitted specific
    recommendations for modernizing and improving our system of care. My
    administration strongly supports the Commission's recommendations. We've
    taken steps to implement them where we can through administrative
    action. And today we're sending Congress legislation to implement the
    recommendations that require legislative action.
        The legislation will help us achieve three important goals. First,
    this legislation will modernize and improve the way we evaluate
    disabilities and award compensation for injured service members. Right
    now the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs both have their own
    systems for making these determinations. The Commission found that this
    process is difficult to navigate and confusing for service members and
    their families. We need to streamline the system.
        So this legislation will assign both Departments clear and separate
    roles. The Defense Department will determine whether wounded warriors
    are still fit for service. Those unable to serve will receive a pension
    from the Defense Department based on their rank and length of service.
    Then they will move directly into the Veterans Affairs system, where
    they will receive compensation for their disabilities. This compensation
    will take into account both loss of earnings and the overall impact on
    the quality of life resulting from a service member's injury or
    disability.
        This new system will also emphasize rehabilitation and retraining.
    It will provide new support and financial incentives for therapy and
    education. It will help our wounded warriors rejoin their communities.
    Look, these men and women want to be productive, and they want to be
    active members of our society, and this legislation will help them
    achieve that goal.
        Secondly, this legislation will strengthen support for families
    during the recovery process. When our service members suffer wounds,
    their families suffer with them. They pray beside hospital beds; they
    discuss the options with the doctors; and they help injured loved ones
    readjust to everyday life. These commitments often require family
    members to take long leaves of absence from work, yet many family
    members cannot get this time off without losing their jobs.
        Our military families deserve better. So this legislation will give
    many parents and spouses the opportunity to take up to 6 months of
    unpaid leave when their loved ones are seriously wounded in combat. It
    provides severely wounded service members with aid and attended care
    services--for instance, up to 40 hours per week of in-home help from an
    assistant--so their families do not have to shoulder the
    responsibilities of caring alone.
        Third, this legislation will improve treatment for Posttraumatic
    Stress Disorder. The Commission found that many service members still
    worry about the stigma associated with this serious condition. We need
    to end this stigma by encouraging those suffering to get help. This
    legislation will make it easier

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    for our troops to receive care for this disorder, and it will help
    affected service members to move forward with their lives.
        The need to enact these reforms into law is urgent, and I call on
    both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to come together and pass a
    good bill that I can sign into law. We also need to complete the
    Veterans Affairs appropriations bills that funds veterans' benefits and
    other ongoing programs. I fully recognize Congress and I have our
    differences on other appropriations bills, but the Veterans Affairs bill
    is one where we agree. I ask the House and Senate to work together to
    pass a bill that I can sign, and send it to my desk by Veterans Day.
        As we work with Congress on this legislation, my administration will
    continue to institute the recommendations of the Dole-Shalala Commission
    that do not require congressional approval. We're acting on the
    Commission's recommendations to form a new corps of well-trained
    recovery coordinators. These coordinators will work with families to
    establish recovery plans and monitor the healing process, facilitate the
    transition to civilian life, and ensure wounded service members do not
    get lost in the system.
        We're also acting on the Commission's recommendations to ensure
    health professionals working at the Defense Department and Veterans
    Affairs facilities can easily share patient information. This will allow
    us to provide patients with better care as they move through the system.
    We're also developing a new secure web portal, where service members
    will be able to access all their medical files and benefit information
    in one place.
        We're acting on the Commission's recommendation to create incentives
    for medical professionals and administrators to work at Walter Reed. One
    out of every five wounded service members passes through this hospital.
    And while Walter Reed is set to close at 2011, we will ensure it remains
    a state-of-the-art facility until the last day of operation.
        By taking these steps, we'll honor a shared commitment to care for
    those who defend our freedom. One of those people is Ryan Groves. While
    serving with the Marines in Iraq in 2004, he lost his left leg and
    severely injured his right leg in a rocket attack. Today, he refuses to
    allow his disability to stop him from living his life. He's going to
    Georgetown. He wants to be a lawyer. He travels using the Segway. He's
    an amazing fellow. He's an inspiration for all Americans. And we need to
    build a system of care that is worthy of the sacrifice that he and
    others have made.
        I look forward to working with Congress to achieve this goal.
    Together we can give our wounded warriors the best possible care and
    help them build their lives of hope and promise.
        And now it's my honor to introduce Secretary Donna Shalala.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:25 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to former Senator Bob Dole and former
    Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala, Cochairs,
    President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors.
    The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also
    included the remarks of Cochairs Dole and Shalala.