Protecting Veterans Health
I firmly believe that our nation must fully honor the commitments and the promises it has made to our veterans. Ensuring access to quality health care is one of the most basic of these commitments. With a growing number of injured and disabled veterans as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we must recommit our nation to ensuring that our VA health system is protected and strengthened.
Like all Americans, I am angered and saddened by the news of deteriorating facilities and disjointed care afforded to some out-patient service members and their families at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. The fact that similar systemic failures are occurring throughout the military and veterans’ health care system is deeply troubling and these problems must be remedied immediately.
I deeply regret that it took so long for these serious problems to come to light, and thank those service members, family members, and veterans, who’ve come forward to share their stories in recent days. There is no excuse for neglect or poor treatment of any of our service members or veterans. Those wounded who received inadequate or disrespectful care must receive an apology and the treatment their sacrifices deserve. All of our service members and veterans must believe that the American people and our government are as committed to their well-being as they are to ours.
I am heartened by the speed with which Congress has responded in providing oversight and addressing systemic failures. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Armed Services both have held hearings to question those accountable, to rectify the problems, and to restructure the management, facilities, and integration of services.
I have confidence in former UW-Madison Chancellor and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and former Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) to lead the Presidential Commission investigating problems at the nation’s military and veterans’ hospitals. Both Secretary Shalala and Senator Dole have the expertise and fortitude to lead a thorough investigation and find solutions to the problems. I intend to work with my colleagues to ensure that all American service members and veterans receive the medical care they richly deserve.
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Veterans Disability Claims
We must eliminate the VA case backlog that is nearing a point of crisis.
I am deeply concerned about the delays that many veterans experience in
gaining resolution to their claims for service-connected compensation and
related benefits, and I am an ardent supporter of efforts to remove the
backlogs at every stage in the process. Making veterans wait for 12 to 18 months to resolve a claim is simply unacceptable.
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Military Families Tax
I support repeal of the so-called "Military Families Tax," which unfairly penalizes the 60,000 survivors, most of them widows of those who have died as a result of service-connected injuries. This unfair tax reduces their military survivor benefits by the amount of their VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefits. Those who have sacrificed so much should receive all of their promised benefits.
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Veterans Education
I strongly supported legislation which increased the amounts of educational assistance for veterans under the Montgomery G.I. Bill and enhanced VA programs providing educational benefits.
It is vitally important that we restore the full purchasing power of the Montgomery G.I. Bill. We should provide veterans an education benefit that is worthy of their service to our nation.
In addition, I support a comprehensive new G.I. Bill of Rights for the 21st Century--a comprehensive package of active duty, veterans' and military retirees' benefits that ensure that America will fulfill its moral obligation to those who have sacrificed in defense of our freedom.
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Pension Benefit for VA Nurses
Our nation’s veterans depend upon VA medical professionals for quality health care. Just as we owe fairness and respect to our veterans, we also owe it to those who serve them.
In 2002, President Bush signed into law a bill that restored full pension benefits to VA nurses who worked part-time before 1986. The legislation was strongly supported by retired VA nurses and was intended to cover VA nurses who retired between 1986 and the date this law went into effect as a way to help recruit and retain nurses for the VA.
Unfortunately, because the law did not specify that it would apply retroactively, it has been interpreted to cover only VA nurses retiring after the signing of the bill. The result is that VA nurses who retired between 1986 and 2002 are not able to receive the full pension benefits they deserve. I have introduced legislation to fix this problem and ensure that all retired VA nurses are treated fairly.
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Concurrent Receipt of Benefits
Currently, military retirees who are also eligible for VA disability benefits
are subject to an offset that prevents them from receiving full retirement
benefits concurrently with VA disability benefits. This rule is unfair to those disabled veterans, and I support legislation to repeal it.
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Dr. James Allen Disabled Veterans Equity Act
Dr. James Allen, a Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Wisconsin—School of Medicine, has worked at the VA Hospital for thirty-three years and treated numerous eye patients, including blind veterans.
Dr. Allen brought to my attention the fact that veterans who suffered a service-connected blindness in one eye receive no additional VA compensation when they lose vision in the other eye.
Congress has rightly recognized that some human organs or limbs are designed to work in pairs: legs, hands, kidneys, lungs, ears, and of course eyes. In the instance of eyes, blindness in one eye profoundly affects depth perception, even if sight is fully retained in the other eye. The paired organ statute was written to assist those veterans who experience a service-connected loss of a paired organ or limb. This statute recognizes the interdependency of paired organs and endeavors to treat the combined disability created by a non-service-connected loss, injury or degeneration of the remaining paired organ or limb as though it were the result of a service-connected disability. In general, the paired organ statute accomplishes this task, with the exception of its treatment of loss of sight.
Consequently, I introduced the Dr. James Allen Disabled Veterans Equity Act to fix this inequity in the current paired organ statute.
My bill currently enjoys broad bi-partisan support and in April of 2006 I testified in front of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on behalf of this legislation. The bill is a modest but important step in restoring fair treatment to those blinded due to their service to our country. Their sacrifices and service to this nation should be matched by our desire to improve their quality of life.
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