Press Release
July 22, 2008
Congresswoman Susan Davis Holds Hearing to Protect Wounded Warriors
Subcommittee asks tough questions about Army's failings
WASHINGTON – As the Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-Calif.) convened a hearing to ask the Army why they had not lived up to their promises to take better care of wounded soldiers returning home from the battlefronts of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Following the revelations of substandard treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center last year, the Army developed the Army Medical Action Plan (AMAP). The AMAP was supposed to be a comprehensive, DoD sponsored effort to ensure excellent care for returning military personnel. Nonetheless, recent visits from Davis’ subcommittee staff to Army medical facilities such as those at Fort Hood, Texas revealed that treatment facilities and staffing levels were still unfortunately lacking.
“Why,” Davis asked the Army Generals present, “did it take oversight visits from this subcommittee to identify and spur the Army to fix these issues? We are very concerned that the Army took its eye off the ball, and that you are not living up to the goals you set and the promises you made [following Walter Reed].”
Although Davis said that the committee understood the AMAP was a work in progress, they were disappointed with the lack of progress thus far. The Army officers present at the hearing assured the committee that wounded warrior care was second in priority only to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan themselves. They thanked Davis’ subcommittee for their commitment to the troops and promised better results in the future.
“We intend to make certain that our wounded warriors receive the care and support they deserve by holding you to the standards you yourselves set forth in the Army Medical Action Plan,” Davis concluded.