Congressman Sander Levin

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

In February 2007, the Washington Post reported the results of a four-month investigation at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that uncovered the shocking living conditions, inattentive care and bureaucratic hassles experienced by some of the wounded soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and are now outpatients.

In response to these shocking reports, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, conducted aggressive oversight hearings into the conditions at Walter Reed and well as into the Defense Department’s response to these problems. 

In January 2008, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585) which included a number of provisions aimed at improving the treatment of wounded service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and easing their transition from military service to veterans status.

This legislation includes provisions that will provide returning service members with three additional year of access to free VA health care, require semi-annual inspections of facilities housing recovering service members, and create the Wounded Warrior Resource Center to serve as a single point of contact for service members and their families.

The Walter Reed investigations also brought to light the challenges that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries pose to our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. I cosponsored the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act (H.R. 327) which requires the development and implementation of a comprehensive program designed to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans and Congress has mandated $2.9 billion be spent on mental health care.