For Immediate Release:

Thursday, July 12, 2007

By a vote of 94-0, the U.S. Senate agreed upon landmark legislation to improve care for wounded troops and veterans when they return home from battle.  The Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act was attached to the FY2008 Department of Defense Authorization bill, which is expected to pass the Senate in the coming days. 

Senator Patty Murray, a key architect of the bill, said:

"The Wounded Warrior bill provides real solutions that will meet the needs of our troops and veterans from the battlefield to the VA and everywhere in between.  From inexcusably long waits for basic care and claims, to squalid living conditions, to daunting mazes of paperwork for the simplest things, our heroes deserve better.

"Today, too many servicemembers are falling through the cracks and not getting the support they deserve.   At the end of the day, our strength and security comes down to people – people doing a job our country asks them to do for the ideals that our nation represents – and we need to keep our promise to them.  This bill is a major step in that direction."

More  |  Watch Murray's Speech