Wounded Warriors
Commission Tesifies

Washington, DC
October 17, 2007

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony today from several commissions designed to improve the care our nation's veterans receive, including one co-led by former Senator Bob Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala.

I was extremely pleased to see the results that came out of these four commissions that testified today before the Committee. All of them highlighted very specific areas where we can make improvements in the care our veterans receive.

However, the commissions' work to identify these areas is only the beginning. Congress must continue to work with the Administration, DOD and VA to ensure that these changes are made, and made quickly, to streamline and improve the process of transition between DOD and VA.

It is my hope that many of the recommendations made by the commissions, especially the Dole/Shalala Commission, can receive good bipartisan support and become enacted into law by the end of this Congress, if not by the end of this year