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[109 Senate Hearings]
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S. Hrg. 109-771
THE LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN LEGION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 20, 2006
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Larry E. Craig, Idaho, Chairman
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii, Ranking
Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Member
Lindsey O. Graham, South Carolina John D. Rockefeller IV, West
Richard Burr, North Carolina Virginia
John Ensign, Nevada James M. Jeffords, (I) Vermont
John Thune, South Dakota Patty Murray, Washington
Johnny Isakson, Georgia Barack Obama, Illinois
Ken Salazar, Colorado
Lupe Wissel, Majority Staff Director
Bill Brew, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
September 20, 2006
SENATORS
Page
Craig, Hon. Larry E., Chairman, U.S. Senator from Idaho.......... 1
Burr, Hon. Richard, U.S. Senator from North Carolina............. 3
Isakson, Hon. Johnny, U.S. Senator from Georgia.................. 4
Murray, Hon. Patty, U.S. Senator from Washington................. 5
Salazar, Hon. Ken, U.S. Senator from Colorado.................... 6
Thune, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from South Dakota................. 8
Neal, Hon. Richard, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts....... 8
WITNESSES
Morin, Paul, National Commander, The American Legion; accompanied
by Steve Robertson, Director, National Legislative Commission;
David Rehbein, of Iowa, Chairman, National Legislative
Commission; K. Robert Lewis, of Connecticut, Chairman, National
Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission; and Peter
Gaytan, Director, National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation
Commission..................................................... 10
Prepared statement........................................... 19
THE LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN LEGION
----------
SEPTEMBER 20, 2006
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room
SD-106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Larry E. Craig,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Craig, Burr, Thune, Isakson, Jeffords,
Murray, Obama, and Salazar.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY E. CRAIG, CHAIRMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO
Chairman Craig. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
The Committee on Veteran's Affairs of the U.S. Senate will
come to order.
It is a pleasure to welcome all of you to this hearing of
the Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs today. First of all,
I want to thank all of you for your service to our country and
for your service to our Nation's veterans. I want to especially
extend a special thanks to the American Legion members who are
here from my home State of Idaho: State Commander Wayne
Mitchell; Rickey Helsley, who is the adjutant; Mel Napier, my
liaison, along with Jim Kempton, who is Chairman of the
Veterans Commission. Gentlemen, would you please stand.
Thank you.
[Applause.]
Chairman Craig. Thank you for being here. I was going to
joke with Judge Lance, if he were here. But I do not see Al in
the audience, and it is a good thing he is not here. He has
many cases to adjudicate over at the court. So he is at work on
behalf of veterans, and that is where he ought to be. But I
would be remiss, of course, if I did not recognize Al Lance,
and at least his presence in our Nation's capital.
Mr. Commander, I want to congratulate you on your new title
and thank you for being here today, for bringing your career of
dedicated service to veterans to this job. I understand that
you have many issues that you want to discuss today, and I look
forward to hearing your comments for the record, for this
Committee, and for the U.S. Senate. But I also, most
importantly, want to thank you for this distinguished
organization recognizing your leadership and allowing you to
carry it on.
I also want to recognize the Immediate Past Commander,
National Commander, Tom Bock. Tom, it is nice to see you.
Thanks for being here.
[Applause.]
Chairman Craig. As your testimony will, no doubt, highlight
today, there are many issues facing veterans and their families
today. Since becoming Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs
Committee, I have made it my priority to take a hard, honest
look at VA services and how they are delivered, particularly to
returning servicemen and women of Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom. It is critical that we meet the
needs not only of our older veterans, but also of those
returning from the battlefield of today.
We continually evaluate the challenges associated with the
seamless transition from active duty into the life of a
veteran, and we want to make some progress in these programs,
such as adaptive housing. We are revisiting the educational
programs. I have just announced today, along with Danny Akaka,
my Ranking Member, that we are going to advance the cause of
the spouse for that injured veteran as it relates to the
educational benefits that are entitled but are simply staged
out down the line. And we want to make sure that those are
available as quickly as possible.
We are dealing with America's heroes of the past and
America's heroes of today, and we want to make sure that they
are responsibly and appropriately dealt with on behalf of
Americans.
As the Chairman of this Committee, over the course of my
chairmanship we have activated the Committee in a way that it
probably has not been active in a good number of years: 23
hearings, 9 field hearings, 4 markups, and this year already
over 20 hearings to deal with those critical issues that all of
us are concerned about. I am particularly proud of a few of the
Committee's accomplishments, and I would like to take just a
moment to mention those.
I want to tell you a story about three young fellows who
visited my office in Washington last fall. One of those young
men had only one leg. The other had no legs. And the other
gentleman had no eyes. They had been out there in the battle of
the war on terrorism.
These three gentlemen had identified a problem. They came
to my office to see if I might help them solve it. I listened
to their presentation. It was clear they had done their
homework. When the meeting was over, I was moved because of
their passion and their motivation and their dedication, and we
introduced legislation.
Immediately following the meeting, I turned to my
colleague, Danny Akaka, and out of that came the Wounded
Warrior Traumatic Injury Insurance Protection program. As many
of you know, under the bill those wounded since the start of
OIF and OEF will receive immediate financial payments ranging
from $25,000 to $100,000 for qualifying injuries. Already,
nearly 2,700 servicemembers with traumatic injuries have
received payment under the program. They come from all over
America, and there are 18 from my State of Idaho. These are
brave men and women who have lost a limb, who are deaf or who
are blind, or who may be paralyzed or severely burned, who
deserve that kind of immediate treatment; or they may be
suffering from the effects of traumatic brain injury. I have
met with a few of those recipients. The program is working. It
is working very well. It is helping them, their loved ones, and
their families.
In addition to the Wounded Warrior Program legislation,
Congress passed legislation to direct DOD to provide Web-based,
customized, integrated information to survivors about their
Federal benefits. This Committee held hearings on this topic,
and I was surprised to learn that DOD had not already been
doing this. There was simply not an integrated informational
flow to the survivor of one of our lost warriors. It was simply
unacceptable to me and to the Committee. In the midst of their
grief, widows and widowers were expected to navigate a complex
web of Federal bureaucracy to receive the much needed benefits
and assistance by law they were entitled to have.
The good news is we have fixed that problem or, should I
say, we are fixing it because we are monitoring it closely now
that the software is in place to make sure that it works and
works well and there is one-stop shopping for the benefits that
these survivors should expect.
Third, we passed the VA Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act in
2005, and, of course, you all know this legislation provided a
4.1 percent increase in VA disability compensation and survivor
programs.
We also passed legislation to close the so-called parole
loophole. As you know, prior to the enactment, Arlington and VA
National Cemetery burials and funeral honors were provided for
certain capital offenders. I believed that was wrong, the
Committee believed that was wrong, and the loophole was closed.
Finally, the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act was
signed into law in May 2006, and I am proud that this new law
will preserve the honor of our military funerals by
criminalizing demonstrations at our National Cemeteries while
sustaining the property rights of private landowners around
those cemeteries. The Senate has also provided legislation to
provide cost-of-living adjustments to disability compensation
to improve insurance, housing, and other benefits, and to
provide enhancement for our health care programs.
Well, I am sure I could go on and on, but the American
Legion and its auxiliary has been there all along, working with
us to assure that we get it right as we work with America's
veterans. So, Mr. Commander, you can be proud of your
organization and the people you have working with in the
benefit of that organization that we work closely with here.
Before I turn to the gentleman who is here to introduce
you, let me turn to some of my colleagues here on the
Committee. Senator Burr, do you have any additional comments
you would like to make?
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BURR,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Senator Burr. Mr. Chairman, just very briefly, let me
recognize my colleague from the House, Richard Neal, a
tremendous supporter of our veterans. I welcome the Commander
and want to tell him that I look forward to his testimony and
how much importance I put on the input that he'll supply us.
And I think the Chairman deserves a tremendous amount of
credit. It has been he and the Ranking Member that have driven
much of the legislation that he has highlighted. And I think
without his level of enthusiasm and his feeling of
responsibility--and I stress that--I am not sure that this
Committee would have accomplished as much as it has.
We are not totally there. We will never, Commander, hear
you come and say everything is perfect. That is a goal. And
though I know as time goes on your 2.7 million member roster
will continue to grow, it is important that we here and around
the country remember that the commitment that we made was not
simply to the greatest generation and to those who served in
Korea and to those who served in Vietnam. It is those that
serve today, and we have got to be as focused on tomorrow as we
are with the challenges in front of us today.
Your organization helps us to remember that outstanding
obligation and the responsibility that we have to make sure
that future members who sit on this side as well as on that
side understand what the commitment is.
I thank the Chair.
Chairman Craig. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Johnny Isakson, from the great State of Georgia.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON,
U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA
Senator Isakson. I also will be brief. I want to welcome
Richard Neal. I had the privilege of serving with him for 6
years in the House. He does a great job. We are glad to have
you.
And I am very honored to have Commander Morin here. I am a
Legion member of the American Legion Post in Loganville,
Georgia, and Bud Boss has me always mention his name because he
usually watches C-SPAN. So I am here, Bud. Support the American
Legion.
I also want to welcome Roger Tingler from Covington,
Georgia, and Charles Barrett from Smyrna, Georgia, my home
county of Cobb County in the State of Georgia. We are delighted
to have you here. The American Legion is a great organization.
I think our Chairman has done a magnificent job of responding
to the critical needs that have been brought to us by the
American Legion, and I am proud to serve with him and work with
you, Commander Morin, for the betterment of those who have
served our country so notably and so honorably. And I
appreciate the time, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Craig. Senator, thank you very much.
External communication via C-SPAN is not accepted.
Senator Isakson. It is not accepted?
[Laughter.]
Senator Isakson. I am sorry, Bud. I tried.
Chairman Craig. We are not supposed to play to the cameras.
Now let me recognize Senator Patty Murray of the State of
Washington, who is a very outspoken advocate for America's
veterans and for the veterans in her State.
Patty?
STATEMENT OF HON. PATTY MURRAY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Murray. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
appreciate your holding this hearing, and, Commander Morin, to
you and all your dedicated staff, thank you for being a
tremendous voice for so many veterans out there. I really
appreciate it.
I want to welcome leaders from my home State of Washington:
Bob Wallace, who has just been great. Kathy Nyland from Seattle
is here as well. They have just been fabulous to work with, and
I have been very proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with them
on many, many occasions.
Mr. Chairman, I did want to take just a minute this morning
to talk about a new report that just came out from the
Government Accountability Office. Senators Akaka, Durbin,
Salazar, and Chairman Buyer asked for it to find out why the VA
was so wrong in its budget projections back in 2005 and 2006.
And we now have that GAO report. It is out today. And, frankly,
Mr. Chairman, the answers are pretty damning, and they really
cast doubt on whether or not we can rely on the VA for accurate
numbers and straight answers.
It had three really important findings. It said, first of
all, that the GAO found that the VA knew that it had serious
problems with its budget, but it failed to notify us in
Congress. And it suggests that the VA could still be sending us
inaccurate information in its quarterly reports.
Second, the GAO found that the VA was basing its budgets on
unrealistic assumptions, errors in estimation, and insufficient
data.
And, finally, the GAO found that the VA did not have a plan
to meet the needs of all the servicemembers from the conflicts
in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report doesn't comment on the
situation today, but looking at the CBO submission and other
data, I am very concerned that the lack of a plan today may
continue to affect the VA and whether or not we have sufficient
funding.
Frankly, for me, one of the most disturbing findings as I
read through this report last night, is that the VA kept
assuring us in Congress that everything was fine, but inside
the VA, at the very time they were telling us everything was
OK, it was very clear that they knew that there were
shortfalls.
I have a timeline and I don't want to take the Committee
through it all right now, but I think you all remember that I
kept saying back in October of 2004 that we had problems. But
the VA, even though they knew it inside the VA, did not admit
it until 2005. And, really, our American veterans have paid the
price of that.
I will take time later to walk through the outline of all
they knew and were doing inside the VA and not telling us, Mr.
Chairman. But I think that our American veterans deserve a real
answer, and I think this report, as more people are aware of
its findings, are going to find out that the VA was not telling
Congress and is actually fighting those of us who are trying to
make it work right.
So, Mr. Chairman, I really hope that Secretary Nicholson
can come before us and we can get some real answers and we can
make sure that the VA does not repeat the mistakes of the past
2 years. And I think we owe it to the veterans who are
sacrificing so much for all of us today.
Mr. Chairman, I also would note that the report suggests
that even in its latest quarterly report to it that we require
them to do, the VA is slow to report and does not provide us
key information that we are required to know in order to make
decisions like how long it takes veterans to get their first
appointment. I think all of us deserve an explanation of why
the VA was not honest with us about their so-called management
efficiencies, but that the GAO found in this report were
nothing but hot air, and that the VA consistently for 4 years--
4 fiscal years, 4 budgets, and 4 appropriations cycles--were
not telling us the truth. I think that it is critical that this
Committee understand that and that we make sure that the VA is
not continuing in that way, and I hope that we can do it. But
for today, Commander Morin, I think that this report that came
out gave you and the Independent Budget leaders an even larger
voice.
And, I think, it is a tremendous measure of credibility
that you put that out, and you were right, and we need to
continue to listen to what you have to say to us.
It is unfortunate the VA did not listen, Congress did not
listen, the White House did not listen, and the American
veterans, who you serve, deserved everybody to listen. So I
think we have a lot of work ahead of us. I hope that all of us
are committed to getting to the bottom of this new GAO report,
and more importantly, learn from those mistakes so that we are
not continuing to make them, because we do have a number of
Iraq war veterans who are returning yet who are not part of the
VA system who I believe we are not budgeting for, and we are
all going to pay the price.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Applause.]
Chairman Craig. Patty, thank you.
Now let me recognize Senator Ken Salazar, the State of
Colorado. Ken?
STATEMENT OF HON. KEN SALAZAR,
U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO
Senator Salazar. Thank you very much, Chairman Craig, and
thank you, Senator Murray, for your comments as well.
Chairman Craig, I would hope that perhaps this Committee
could take both the VA and the GAO report and look at some of
the very important----
Chairman Craig. It will be dealt with appropriately.
Senator Salazar. I appreciate that very much, Chairman
Craig.
I want to thank the American Legion for being here with us
today as we hear from our Nation's veterans about what your
needs and your concerns are. As the Nation's largest veterans
service organization, the American Legion does great work on
behalf of its 2.7 million members, and I am proud of that work.
As I have stressed before, it is important for those of us
in Congress to hear about veterans' issues from the perspective
of the veterans themselves. Our priorities should be your
priorities. You are here to tell us what we can do better to
serve you, and we are here to listen.
I am happy to welcome Mr. Paul Morin, the new National
Commander of the American Legion, to share your critical
perspective. I thank you for coming. I appreciate your
leadership on these issues and your willingness to be an
advocate for our Nation's veterans.
While I am sad to see my Commander from Colorado, Tom Bock,
here today not as a current Commander, I am very proud of the
service that he has given to the American Legion, and I am
confident that he will continue to give great service to the
American Legion and to our veterans in the future.
We owe our veterans a debt we can never fully repay. When
our Nation called on them to serve, these brave men and women
answered that call with unwavering and selfless dedication. Now
they are calling on us. They are calling on us to live up to
our promises, to provide them with high-quality health care to
compensate them for disabilities they have incurred as a result
of their service, and to help make sure they have adequate
employment and a roof over their heads.
We must answer this call, and we must answer it with the
same steadfast commitment our veterans have given to our
Nation. In my view, answering that call starts with ensuring
mandatory funding for the VA's health care system.
Simply put, our veterans need to know that funding for the
health care that they have earned is not susceptible to the
budgetary ups and downs of Washington, DC. They need to know
that it will be here today, tomorrow, and in future years. I
have cosponsored legislation to ensure that funding for VA
health care is guaranteed, and I am glad to have the support of
the American Legion in those efforts.
In addition, I share in your concerns about recent
proposals to limit the ability of certain veterans, namely
Priority 7 and 8 veterans, to access the VA health care system
by establishing new enrollment fees and increasing copays and
premiums for these veterans. I am hopeful that as the
Administration and Congress look ahead to next year's budget,
efforts to balance the beginning on the backs of our veterans
will not be the way that we resolve some of our Federal deficit
issues.
Let me just conclude by saying that I have very much
enjoyed the work with the American Legion, and my good friend
Jim Stankle from Routt County, Colorado Springs, who also is in
the audience, I welcome him here to Washington, DC.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Craig. Ken, thank you very much.
Lastly, let me turn to Senator John Thune, who has just
arrived. John, do you have any opening comments?
Senator Thune. Thank you. What was that?
Senator Burr. Briefly.
Chairman Craig. That is correct. Brief opening comments.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
Senator Thune. You made everybody else be brief, right, Mr.
Chairman? Especially my colleague from North Carolina here.
I appreciate very much having the American Legion in front
of us today, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding this hearing.
I want to recognize Paul Evenson and Gene Schumacher, who have
traveled here from South Dakota, representing the American
Legion in my great State. It has been an honor to be able to
work with him as the Senator from South Dakota, and
particularly as we have worked to pass a constitutional
amendment to allow Congress to prohibit the desecration of the
American flag.
I also want to extend a warm welcome to Paul Morin, the new
National Commander of the American Legion. I have had the
privilege of meeting and working with him on a couple of
occasions already in South Dakota and here in Washington. I
know he will serve his fellow legionnaires in a very, very
effective way.
As we work to complete the veterans' budget for fiscal year
2007 and prepare for fiscal year 2008, we want to take into
careful consideration the views of the American Legion.
I look forward to today's testimony and, again, Mr.
Chairman, want to thank you for inviting this very
distinguished veterans service organization to present their
views to our Committee.
Thank you.
Chairman Craig. John, thank you very much.
Now let me turn to Representative Richard Neal, the 2nd
Congressional District of the great State of Massachusetts, for
the introduction of our National Commander. Richard?
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD NEAL,
HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE FROM MASSACHUSETTS
Mr. Neal. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to
Members of the Committee who are assembled this morning as we
await testimony from Mr. Morin and other members of the
American Legion.
I want to thank Mr. Burr and Mr. Thune and Mr. Isakson
because I did serve with them in the House of Representatives,
and they brought great honor to that institution, and any
differences that we had along political lines were quickly put
aside based and formed on the friendships that we held for each
other. And to Senator Murray and to Senator Salazar, as I have
gotten to know you two, we are very grateful, along with
Chairman Craig, for the advocacy you bring to veterans'
affairs.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, we frequently in
Washington use the term ``honor''--sometimes lightly and
sometimes in a very serious vein. But today the term ``honor''
reverberates throughout this chamber, and it reverberates
because of the men and women sitting behind me who have so
honorably served this Nation in time of peril.
And we recall today the honor that comes to those who have
served America, even as we meet, across the globe, including
the 146,000 soldiers in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
I do not have a prepared statement this morning as I
introduce Paul Morin, and the reason I do not is because I do
not need one. This is an honor for me today to introduce him.
We have been friends for more than 30 years. And part of the
relief I feel today, as you indicated in your opening comments,
Senator Craig, about his advocacy and hearing from him, I have
had to listen to him for 30 years.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Neal. And never has he missed an opportunity but to
pursue and advocate on behalf of America's veterans.
Where we live in the Pioneer Valley, as well as across the
2nd Congressional District, there are many American Legion
Posts, many VFW Posts, but they all have in common the basic
notion of honorable service to our Nation--again, during
difficult times and even in moments of peace.
Paul Morin, in every sense of the term, is Mr. Citizen, not
just because of the Legion hat and the new title of National
Commander that he holds today, but because of the involvement
that he brings back home in Chicopee, Massachusetts, to a
variety of tasks. He is active across that community. Everybody
in the city of Chicopee in western Massachusetts, they know
Paul Morin.
But let me tell you the best anecdote that I can this
morning. About a week and a half ago, I visited the Holyoke
Soldiers Home to see some old friends, as I do, not an official
visit, not an announced visit. But as I traveled through the
hallways and many of the veterans there recognized me, they all
said what great care and treatment they receive at the Holyoke
Soldiers Home that he presides over. And he does it with great
energy and great dedication every day. That is the best
testament I can think of today to Paul Morin, the manner in
which he services veterans from many of the conflicts of those
who sit in that soldiers home today, sometimes in wheelchairs,
sometimes finding it hard to get around. But every moment they
could be sure that it is the professional maintenance of that
facility as well as the advocacy of Paul Morin that ensures
that they get first class care.
We made a contract with our veterans, and it is a permanent
contract. It is not renewable year to year. It is something
that we have to see through to its end. And in the case of Paul
Morin, whether or not it was education, employment, or health
care, he has been in the vanguard of veterans' advocacy.
Being a veteran himself during the Vietnam era, I think he
has witnessed firsthand the needs of our veterans across this
Nation.
I want to say this, if I can: Many of us in public life, we
travel to the ceremonies in which these individuals are
elevated to high honor. We go to those events at the American
Legion halls, and they are part of our litany of
responsibilities that we have, and then we move on perhaps to a
PTA meeting, or perhaps we move to the next meeting of the
Chamber of Commerce or to visit with labor unions and others in
our districts. People like Paul Morin, they have a blind eye to
individuals because of political persuasion or their
professional achievements, as long as they are members of that
alumni called the veterans of America. He has distinguished
himself as their advocate. There isn't any place I would have
been this morning, but right here introducing my friend, the
National Commander of the American Legion to all of you. Again,
my friend, and this honor, Paul Morin.
[Applause.]
Chairman Craig. Commander, with that very eloquent and
appropriate introduction, please proceed.
STATEMENT OF PAUL A. MORIN, NATIONAL COMMANDER, THE AMERICAN
LEGION; ACCOMPANIED BY STEVE ROBERTSON, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION; DAVID REHBEIN, OF IOWA, CHAIRMAN,
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION; K. ROBERT LEWIS, OF
CONNECTICUT, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL VETERANS AFFAIRS AND
REHABILITATION COMMISSION; AND PETER GAYTAN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
VETERANS AFFAIRS AND REHABILITATION COMMISSION
Mr. Morin. That is why he had no challenge in yesterday's
election in Massachusetts.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Morin. Chairman Craig and Members of the Committee, it
is an honor for me to appear before this distinguished body to
present the American Legion's legislative priorities.
Congressman Neal, thank you for taking the time out of your
busy schedule to introduce me today. I thank you for your
friendship as well as your dedication to doing what is right
for America. Your unwavering support for our veterans issues as
well as protecting our great flag. It is a clear indication to
the voters of Massachusetts that they are well represented. I
look forward to our continued friendship and continuing to work
this year side by side in my term as National Commander of the
American Legion. Thank you, Congressman Neal.
With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would like to
recognize a few outstanding leaders and veterans' advocates in
the audience today. First, please allow me to introduce our
National Vice Commanders: Byron White, of Alabama; Elgin
Wahlborg, of Kansas; Lloyd H. Woods, of Maine; Robert Lahiere,
of Tennessee; and Allan C. Setterberg, of Utah.
[Applause.]
Mr. Morin. Thank you. Also with us today are a number of
past National Commanders who have given a year of their life in
service to our great organization. I would ask that they stand
and be recognized at this time. Commanders?
[Applause.]
Mr. Morin. It is my pleasure now to introduce the President
of the Nation's largest patriotic women's organization in the
world, the American Legion Auxiliary National President Ms.
Joann Cronin, of Missouri. Joann?
[Applause.]
Chairman Craig. Joann, welcome to the Committee.
Mr. Morin. With President Cronin are a number of national
officers and past National Presidents of the 21 American Legion
Auxiliary, and I would ask that they stand to be recognized
[Applause.]
Mr. Morin. I also would like to recognize the Commander of
the Sons of the American Legion, Earl Ruttkofsky, of Michigan,
who is with us today.
[Applause.]
Commander Morin. I take this moment to recognize two
individuals who direct our national staff and do an outstanding
job in service to America's veterans, our National Adjutant,
Robert Spinogle, and the Executive Director of our Washington
Office, John Summer, if they would please stand.
[Applause.]
Mr. Morin. I would like to take this opportunity to
recognize the one person who has been the key to my success in
this organization and in life. The road to becoming National
Commander is paved with sacrifices, and this wonderful woman
has sacrificed quite a bit in her support of my service with
the American Legion, and I would not be here today without her
help, her love, and her friendship----
Elaine.
[Applause.]
Mr. Morin. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, the
American Legion has a proud tradition of advocating on behalf
of America's veterans, and this testimony reflects our
commitment to ensuring VA is capable of meeting its obligation
to all American veterans.
VA has managed to live up to its proud history of caring
for American heroes despite shortfalls in funding. The selfless
dedication of VA employees is the driving force behind the
incredible change in the quality of VA health care. The horror
stories of wounded servicemembers returning from war and being
warehoused in ill-equipped VA hospitals is now thankfully just
a memory. It is difficult to imagine that the current VA
system--which has scored higher in quality than any private
health care facility for the past 6 years--was once being
considered for closure by Congress. That quality of care is
directly attributed to the hard-working staff at the VA, and I
applaud them.
Each generation of veterans has earned the right to quality
health care and transitional programs available through the
Department of Veterans Affairs. The American Legion will
continue to work with both committees to ensure that the VA is
indeed capable of providing ``care for him who shall have borne
the battle and for his widow and his orphan.''
With young American servicemembers continuing to answer the
Nation's call to arms in every corner of the globe, we must
now, more than ever, work together to honor their sacrifices.
As veterans of the global war on terrorism return home, they
are turning to the VA not only for health care but also for
assistance in transitioning back to the civilian world.
In order for that to occur, veterans service organizations
must be afforded the opportunity to present testimony before
the very committees that oversee the operations of the
Department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Chairman, it is unfortunate
that we are not joined this morning by your colleagues from the
House Veterans' Affairs Committee. While we are thankful for
the opportunity to address this esteemed body, we are
disappointed in the decision of the Chairman of the House
Veterans' Affairs Committee not to join us here today.
Historically, the Veterans' Affairs Committees in both
Houses have been an example of bipartisan progress. However,
that seems to be quickly fading from the norm. I thank you,
sir, for not silencing the voice of American veterans and
allowing me to speak today on behalf of 2.7 million members of
the American Legion. We owe it to the brave men and women who
have served and who are now serving to work together to ensure
VA is funded at levels that will allow all enrolled eligible
veterans to receive quality health care in a timely manner.
As National Commander of this great organization, I am
ready to work with you to accomplish this goal.
Proposals to improve the VA budget by charging veterans
increased copayments for prescriptions and outpatient care is
not the solution to adequate funding. Balancing the VA budget
on the backs of American veterans is wrong.
Ensuring VA is funded at levels that will allow all
eligible veterans to receive care is the solution.
The American Legion recommends $36 billion in discretionary
funding for veterans health care in fiscal year 2008.
In an effort to provide a stable and adequate funding
process, the American Legion fully supports assured funding for
veterans medical care. Under the current discretionary funding
method, VA health care funding has failed to keep pace with
medical inflation and the changing needs of the veteran
population; VA has been forced to ration care by denying
service to eligible veterans; VA has had to forego the
modernization of many of its facilities and the purchase of
necessary state-of-the-art medical equipment; VA is subject to
an annual funding battle for limited discretionary funding.
Additionally, the current discretionary funding process
leaves VA facility administrators without a clear plan for the
future.
The American Legion urges this Committee to support
legislation that would establish a system of capitation-based
funding for veterans health care.
Annual funding would be without fiscal year limitation,
meaning that any savings VHA realized in a fiscal year would be
retained rather than returned to the Treasury, providing VHA
with incentives to develop efficiencies and creating a pool of
funds for enhanced services, needed capital improvements,
expanded research and development, and other purposes.
The Veterans Health Administration is now struggling to
maintain its national dominance in 21st century health care
with funding methods that were developed in the 19th century.
No other modern health care organization could be expected
to survive under such a system. The American Legion believes
that health care rationing for veterans must end. It is time to
guarantee health care funding for all veterans.
The American Legion believes that Congress should allow VA
to bill, collect, and retain third-party reimbursements from
Medicare on behalf of Medicare-eligible veterans.
Nearly all veterans pay into Medicare for their entire
working lives. However, when they are most likely to need
medical services from the hospital system designed specifically
for them, they must turn elsewhere because the VA cannot bill
Medicare. This is wrong, and I urge you to correct this
injustice.
Additionally, all third-party reimbursements, copayments,
and deductibles should be added to the budget, counted as an
offset against it.
The American Legion firmly believes that making VA a
Medicare provider and designating VA medical care as a
mandatory funding item within the Federal budget will enable
the VA to fulfill its mission to care for those who have borne
the battle.
In March 1999, GAO reported that the VA could spend one of
every four of its health care dollars operating, maintaining,
and improving capital assets at its national major delivery
locations, including 4,700 buildings and 18,000 acres of land
nationwide.
Recommendations stemming from the report included the
development of asset-restructuring plans for all markets to
guide the future investment decisionmaking, among other
initiatives. VA's answer to GAO and Congress was the initiation
and development of the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced
Services, better known as CARES.
The CARES initiative is a blueprint for the future of VHA.
However, the American Legion is concerned that long-term care
and mental health care were never factored into the CARES
assessment. It is impossible to clearly plan the future of VA
health care delivery without considering these two areas.
In May 2004, the long-awaited final CARES decision was
released. The decision directed VHA to conduct 18 feasibility
studies at those health care delivery sites where final
decisions could not be made due to inaccurate and incomplete
information. VHA contracted with PricewaterhouseCoopers to
develop a broad range of viable options and, in turn, develop
business plans based on a limited number of selected options.
To help develop those options and to ensure the
stakeholders' input, then-VA Secretary Principi created the
Local Advisory Panels, known as LAPs, which are now made up of
local stakeholders. The final decision on which business plan
option will be implemented for each site lies with the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
The American Legion is disappointed in the slow progress in
the LAP process and the CARES initiative overall. Both Stage I
and Stage II of the process included two scheduled LAP meetings
at each of the sites being studied with the whole process
scheduled for conclusion in February 2006. It was not until
April of 2006, after nearly a 7-month hiatus, that Secretary
Nicholson announced the continuation of the services at Big
Spring, Texas, and like all the other sites, it had only been
through Stage I.
Seven months of silence is no way to reassure the veterans
community that the process is alive and well. The American
Legion continues to express concerns over the apparent short-
circuiting of the LAPs and the silencing of its stakeholders.
Upon conclusion of the initial CARES process, then-
Secretary Principi called for a ``billion dollars a year for
the next 7 years'' to implement CARES. The American Legion
continues to support that recommendation and encourages the VA
and Congress to move forward with a focused intent. The
American Legion recommends a separate $1 billion for the
implementation of CARES in fiscal year 2008.
Historically, VA's long-term care has been the subject of
discussion and legislation for nearly two decades. In a
landmark July 1984 study, ``Caring for the Older Veteran,'' it
was predicted that a wave of elderly veterans had the potential
to overwhelm VA's long-term care capacity.
Further, the recommendations of the Federal Advisory
Committee on the Future of Long-Term Care in its 1998 report
``VA Long-Term Care at the Crossroads,'' made recommendations
that serve as the foundation for VA's national strategy to
revitalize and re-engineer long-term care services. It is now
2006, and that wave of veterans has arrived.
Additionally, Public Law 106-117, the Millennium Health
Care Act, enacted in November 1999, required the VA to continue
to ensure 1998 levels of extended care services (defined as VA
nursing home care, VA domiciliary, VA home-based primary care,
and VA adult day health care) in its facilities. Yet VA has
continually failed to maintain the bed levels mandated by law.
VA's inability to adequately address the long-term care
problem facing the agency was most notable during the CARES
process. The planning for the long-term care mission, one of
the major services VA provides to veterans, was not even
addressed in the CARES initiative, which is touted as the most
comprehensive analysis of VA's health care infrastructure that
has ever been conducted.
Incredibly, despite 20 years of forewarning, the February
2004 CARES Commission Report to the Secretary of VA states that
the VA has yet to develop a long-term care strategic plan with
well-articulated policies that address the issues of access and
integrated planning for the long-term care of seriously
mentally ill veterans.
The Commission also reported that VA had not yet developed
a consistent method for the placement of long-term care units.
It was not for the lack of prior studies that the VA has never
had a coordinated long-term care strategy.
The Secretary's CARES decision agreed with the Commission
and directed VHA to develop a strategic plan, taking into
consideration all the complexities involved in providing such
care across the VA system.
The American Legion supports the publication and the
implementation of a long-term care strategic plan that
addresses the increasing long-term care needs of America's
veterans.
We are, however, disappointed, that it has now been over 2
years since the CARES decision and no plan of long-term care
has been published.
The American Legion believes that the VA should take
America's aging veterans seriously and take proactive steps to
provide the care mandated by Congress. Congress should do its
part and provide adequate funding to the VA to implement its
mandates.
The American Legion supports current legislation that would
ensure appropriate payments for the cost of long-term care
provided to veterans in State veterans homes. Stronger
oversight of assured payments to State veterans homes, full
reimbursement for the treatment of veterans 70 percent service
connected or higher, and the more efficient delivery of
pharmaceuticals.
It is vital that the VA meet the long-term care
requirements of the Millennium Health Care bill, and we urge
this Committee to support adequate funding for the VA to meet
the long-term care needs of America's veterans.
Mr. Chairman, the American Legion is committed to ensuring
that the VA carries out its historic and statutory
responsibility to provide medical care and benefits to those
who have selflessly and honorably served in the defense of this
Nation.
There are approximately 2.6 million veterans receiving
disability compensation, and the VA reports that this number is
increasing at a rate of 5,000 to 7,000 veterans per month. VA
reported that its 57 Veterans Benefits Administration regional
offices issued more than 763,000 disability determinations in
fiscal year 2005. Three and four percent increases are expected
in fiscal year 2006 and 2007, amounting to approximately
826,000 claims in fiscal year 2006 and 842,000 in fiscal year
2007. A majority of these claims involve multiple issues that
are legally and medically complex and at times time consuming
to adjudicate.
The increasing complexity of VA claims adjudication
continues to be a major challenge for VA rating specialists.
Since judicial review of veterans' claims was enacted in
1988, the remand rate of those cases appealed to the United
States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has historically
been about 50 percent. In a series of precedent-setting
decisions by the CAVC and the United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit, a number of longstanding VA policies
and regulations have been invalidated because they were not
consistent with the statute.
These court decisions immediately added thousands of cases
to regional office workloads since they require the review and
reworking of tens of thousands of completed and pending claims.
As of August 19, 2006, there were more than 389,000 rating
cases pending in the VBA system. Of these, 92,0947, or 23.6
percent, have been pending for more than 180 days.
According to the VA, the appeals rate has also increased
from a historical rate of about 7 percent of all rating
decisions being appealed to a current rate that fluctuates
between 11 to 14 percent.
This equates to more than 152,000 appeals currently pending
at VA regional offices, with more than 132,000 requiring some
type of further adjudicative action.
While the number of claims and appeals has continued to
increase, the FTE levels have decreased. Because VBA has lost
much of its institutional knowledge base over the past 4 years,
due to the retirement of many of its employees with over 30
years of service, staffing at most regional offices is now
mostly comprised of trainees and individuals with less than 5
years of experience.
Concern over adequate staffing in VBA to handle its
demanding workload was addressed by the VA's Office of the
Inspector General in its May 2005 report on variances in
compensation payments.
The bottom line is that the VBA must have enough people to
handle its ever increasing workload. Expecting the VBA to do
more work with less staff is not only unrealistic, it is also
an unacceptable disservice to our Nation's veterans.
Another area of concern is the review of the VA's
compensation program being conducted by the Veterans'
Disability Benefits Commission.
The American Legion will remain vigilant in our efforts to
monitor the Commission's activities. We welcome recommendations
that will improve the delivery of benefits to our veterans and
their dependents. However, we will adamantly oppose any
recommendation that will take away or restrict current benefits
or is otherwise unfair to America's veterans.
Mr. Chairman, one other key issue of concern that I would
like to highlight today is the American Legion's dedication to
ensuring that VA is capable of meeting the mental health care
needs of both the current population of veterans seeking care
and the new generation of veterans returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
As the global war on terror continues, casualties are
mounting and the ability of the Nation to take care of those
who have fought bravely continues to be tested. We must not
fail. History has shown that the cost of war does not end on
the battlefield.
Servicemembers do not all suffer from obvious injuries such
as amputations, gunshot wounds, and other severely disabling
conditions.
The estimation has been as high as 30 percent of those
serving in the war on terrorism will suffer the hidden wounds
of traumatic stress and other psychiatric conditions due to
combat exposure and the rigors of the battlefield.
These new veterans should fare much better than their
Vietnam veteran counterparts. Much more is known about the
factors that predispose an individual to chronic PTSD, the
qualities of the stressors that may lead to PTSD, and the
factors in the post-trauma life course that may help or worsen
PTSD symptoms.
Today, more than 123,000 veterans are service connected for
PTSD, most as a direct result of combat exposure.
VA's Special Commitment on PTSD was established 20 years
ago to aid Vietnam veterans diagnosed with PTSD.
Since its establishment, the Committee has made many
recommendations to the VA on ways to improve PTSD services.
A February 2005 GAO report pointed out that the VA delayed
fully implementing the recommendations of the Special
Committee, giving rise to questions regarding VA's capacity to
treat veterans returning from military combat who may be at
risk for developing PTSD while maintaining PTSD services for
veterans currently receiving them.
In September 2004, the GAO also reported that officials at
six of seven VA medical facilities stated that they might not
be able to meet an increase in demand for PTSD services.
Additionally, the Special Committee reported in its 2004
report that sufficient capacity is not available within the VA
system to meet the demand of new combat veterans and still
provide services to other veterans.
The additional support being provided nationwide by the Vet
Centers is proving invaluable. Their mission is to seek out
veterans suffering life readjustment problems related to their
time in service and assisting them in all aspects of
readjustment.
Today, 206 Vet Centers are located in communities
throughout the United States, District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sixty-five percent of
the 737-member clinical staff are veterans and of those over 40
percent are combat veterans.
In April 2003, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs extended
Vet Center eligibility to veterans of Operation Enduring
Freedom and, later that same year, extended eligibility to
veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In February 2004, VA Under Secretary for Health authorized
the Vet Center program to hire 50 OEF/OIF veterans to conduct
outreach to their comrades from the global war on terrorism.
These outreach counselors are in 34 States and in the
District of Columbia. Additionally, on August 5, 2003, the Vet
Centers were authorized to furnish bereavement counseling
services to surviving parents, spouses, children, and siblings
of servicemembers who die while on active duty, to include
federally activated Reserve and National Guard personnel.
As of January 31, 2005, Vet Centers had served 14,259 OIF/
OEF veterans and families, either at Vet Centers or at
demobilization sites, 29 percent of which are PTSD clients.
Vet Centers are an invaluable resource to veterans and the
VA. Given the extended commitment of current combat operations,
repeated deployments, and the importance of retaining
experienced combat servicemen and women in an all-volunteer
military, it is essential to promote the readjustment of
servicemen and women and their families.
The American Legion continues to be an unwavering advocate
for Vet Centers and their most important mission.
Over the past 3 years, the American Legion's System Worth
Saving Task Force has completed site visits at every single VA
Medical Center in the United States. During these site visits,
we took special note of mental health services provided and at
the ability of the facilities to balance the current demand for
long-term care along with the recently returning veterans who
are now turning to the VA for mental health care.
Like the GAO report, we found that many facilities were
increasingly concerned with their ability to handle an
increasing mental health workload.
Our site visits revealed a number of facilities that are
forced to convert capital improvement dollars to health care
dollars in order to meet the service demands of the current
veteran patient population.
The shifting of those funds has resulted in the delay of
needed infrastructure repairs resulting in huge maintenance
backlogs at facilities. The health care needs of VA, to include
mental health services, must be funded at a level that will
prevent the shifting of funds from one account to another.
It is our obligation as a Nation to ensure that VA is
funded at a level that will prevent the rationing of health
care.
Mr. Chairman, the American Legion appreciates the strong
relationship we have developed with this Committee.
With the increasing military commitments worldwide, it is
important that we work together to ensure that the services and
the programs offered through VA are available to the new
generation of American servicemembers who are now returning
home. You have the power to ensure that their sacrifices are
indeed honored with the thanks of a grateful Nation.
The American Legion is fully committed to working with each
of you to ensure that America's veterans receive the
entitlements they have earned. Whether it is improved
accessibility to health care, timely adjudication of disability
claims, improved educational benefits, or employment services,
each and every aspect of these programs touches veterans from
every generation. Together, we can ensure that these programs
remain productive, viable options for the men and women who
have chosen to answer the Nation's call because service to its
Nation is a noble profession.
The brave men and women who are serving in our Armed Forces
in Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the world deserve no
less. I look forward to working with each of you throughout the
next year to improve the lives of all Americans, especially its
veterans, who deserve it.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to be here.
[Applause.]
[The prepared statement of Mr. Morin follows:]
Prepared Statement Paul A. Morin, National Commander,
The American Legion
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Senator Burr [presiding]. Commander, thank you so much for
that very thorough testimony on behalf of not only your members
but all veterans across America who will benefit from that
insight.
May I ask you to take the opportunity to introduce those at
the table with you so they are not overlooked.
Mr. Morin. Yes, Mr. Chairman. The Chairman of the National
Legislative Commission Dave Rehbein, of Iowa; National Chairman
of Veterans Affairs and Rehab, K. Robert Lewis, of Connecticut;
Staff Director of VA&R, Peter Gaytan; and our Legislative
Director Steve Robertson.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Craig [presiding]. Senator, thank you for chairing
in my absence. I had a couple of phone calls that were
demanding my time, and, Commander, again, thank you very much
for your very complete testimony and thoughts about the role of
VA as it relates to our responsibilities.
We do have a vote scheduled, I believe, for 11:15. I would
hope that our colleagues would offer brevity in their questions
so we can get to your responses. I will do that.
I think it is important that we give our colleagues a
chance or an opportunity to ask as many questions as possible.
I appreciate, Commander, the position of American Legion as
it relates to permanent funding or entitlement funding as an
approach toward dealing with VA.
At the same time, I cannot step back from the reality at
hand. And the reality is that in the 6 years that our
President, the current President, has been the Chief Executive
of this country, the VA budget has increased 70 percent. That
is better than 10 percent a year. It has increased faster than
any other segment of our Government except the military, and
that is pretty remarkable as it relates to the overall funding
effort. We are now at nearly $80 billion in the 2007 budget.
In my tenure as Chairman of this Committee, I will preside
over the first $100 billion budget to veterans, and I am not
going to blink and step back from that. In fact, I will be very
proud of it. And I know we will sort through these differences
over time, but I have to tell you, this Committee, while it
criticizes itself on occasion and it criticizes the Congress as
we work through these approaches, I cannot step back from being
very proud of the effort at hand and that this country and our
taxpayers are stepping forward at an unprecedented level to
serve and provide for veterans in this country. That is a
substantial increase, and many of us will criticize that it is
probably not enough. But we will work hard to make sure that
continues.
With that comment, let me turn to my colleagues for any
questions. Senator Burr, do you have any questions of the
Commander?
Senator Burr. Mr. Chairman, I will be extremely brief.
You covered in great detail a lot of areas. I am curious,
Commander, even though you mentioned the staffing problems, the
inexperience, the need for training within the veterans appeals
process, recently Judge Greene has called back two former
judges to try to handle some of the backlog.
Do you feel that that is enough, or are there more that
need to be done?
Mr. Morin. It is a Band-Aid approach to a major problem. We
appreciate the additional two judges being called back, but
when you look at the number of cases that still need to be
heard, it will reduce the backlog for a short time period. They
only have a limited time that they can serve as called-back
judges. It will help the veterans.
We would still continue to ask for more.
And my point is the employees, when you have a turnover of
Vietnam veterans as myself who gave their life in service to
the VA, and all of a sudden reached a magic number to retire,
and the mass exodus occurred. That is what caused us to have
employees reviewing claims with 1 to 5 years' experience. And
with that lack of base, long-term care knowledge, it has caused
so many more veterans to file claims of appeals.
Senator Burr. Well, I think, clearly, this Committee has
shown their willingness to take this issue head on and try to
resolve it, and I think the Chairman has committed to make sure
that happens.
As we all know, the Veterans' Administration has put
together a fairly sound plan for reversing the pattern of
neglect and the safeguard of personal identification, personal
information, electronic data.
Assuming that plan continues to work as expected and no
further data loss occurs, what will be the next step that we
need to make to re-establish that level of trust between
veterans and the Veterans' Administration?
Mr. Morin. I think the trust that has been broken will come
in time, and as we all pray that none of that data was
retrieved in any format, and only time will tell that. And if
it is, I am sure that this Committee and the President would
stand behind those veterans who were affected by the theft.
I think the Veterans' Administration needs to look beyond
where they are today with the technology that is available out
there to many of us that we log into our computers is very
simple, the technology out there of touching your fingerprint
to the screen also puts another lock security in there, a
computer looking at you into the retina of your eye.
So there are many avenues out there that can put additional
protections in there of safeguarding it. The trust of American
veterans to the ones securing its data will come back when it
is shown that the system has additional safeguards within it.
Senator Burr. Thank you, Commander.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Craig. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Murray. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I will
be quick. I know Senator Jeffords and Senator Obama have
arrived and want to do opening statements or questions as well.
I wanted to ask you--first of all, thank you so much for
your very excellent testimony. As always, you give a very
comprehensive view of what we really need to be focused on, and
I appreciate your being very straight with us about the
challenges that we face, and I look forward to working with
you.
I did want to touch on a couple of issues. One of them is
the unemployment rate of 20- to 24-year-old veterans who are
coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. I am talking to a high
number of young people coming home who cannot get employment,
who are facing of being sent back to Iraq or who just come home
and cannot get jobs. And I know the statistics back up the fact
that we have double the number of young people between 20 and
24 who are unemployed coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan
than in the regular general population.
Can you give us an idea on some of the things that you
think the VA and DOD and Department of Labor should be doing to
address this issue?
Mr. Morin. I will have Peter Gaytan, one of our staff,
respond to that question.
Mr. Gaytan. Well, thank you, Senator, for your concern over
that population of returning veterans who are running into
major employment problems.
The American Legion supports licensure and certification
for those individuals who are in the military and who are
leaving service. What DOD and what VA needs to do and what the
American Legion is urging they do is take a look at when these
young men and women put on the uniform and when they become
trained jet engine mechanics or when DOD trains them to
understand how to be a dental technician or a mechanic on a C-
5, the American public has an investment in that individual.
Taxpayer dollars have educated and trained that individual.
When they decide to take the uniform off and leave that gate
and go back to the civilian community, we as a Nation already
have an investment in their future, and we need to get a return
on that investment.
So, if the civilian licensing and certification is parallel
with DOD training, when that individual walks out of the gate,
they will not be struggling for employment.
What they will be able to do is take that training and
education into the civilian community and become a productive
member of society. And, hopefully, we will see a decrease in
that number of unemployed veterans who are coming back, because
we as a Nation owe it to them to ensure that their lives are
benefited by their service to this country, that they are not
forgotten when they walk out of that gate. And the American
Legion feels strongly about that, and we look forward to
working with DOD, VA, and with this Committee to ensure that
occurs.
Senator Murray. Good. Thank you very much, and I look
forward to working with you, too. I am deeply concerned about
that. I have talked to young kids coming home after serving as
a medic for a year, and they cannot even use what they learned
on the fields in Iraq when they come home.
Mr. Gaytan. And when that happens, they are not the only
ones that are losing. We as a Nation are losing.
Senator Murray. Right. Thank you very much. I appreciate
that.
The other issue, real quickly, I am hearing from a lot of
OEF and OIF veterans who are really struggling to get the
services they need, particularly our Guard and Reserve members
who come home separated and out in very small communities and
do not live near a base and do not necessarily hear about what
is going on.
Do you have any thoughts on what we can do to do a better
job with our transition service, particularly for the National
Guard and Reserves?
Mr. Morin. We have been very fortunate. We just signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Pentagon on Heroes to
Hometown, and what we have done is produced a pamphlet that we
have dispensed to all our posts and units and squadrons of the
American Legion throughout this Nation.
And with that Memorandum of Understanding, we have an
individual who is working at the Pentagon who will take
individuals' names and transmit them back to the post in that
local community to be there to assist them. It is like a buddy
system.
Senator Murray. So you are getting access to that
information.
Mr. Morin. We are now getting access to that information,
but that buddy system is important, so when he is home and he
is having a hard time maneuvering the system, he can pick up
the phone and call that buddy to assist him and work together
on it and not become discouraged. And we are very proud of that
Memorandum of Understanding that we have been able to sign.
Senator Murray. Good. I hope to hear progress on making
sure that is staying in effect, and I appreciate you working on
that.
Mr. Morin. We will.
Senator Murray. Thank you, Mr. Chairman
Chairman Craig. Patty, thank you very much.
Let me turn to Senator Thune. John?
Senator Thune. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and, Commander,
thank you again for your excellent testimony, comprehensive
testimony. I appreciate your focus in a couple of areas.
We had a wonderful celebration this past weekend in South
Dakota; 32,000 people came out to recognize our Vietnam
veterans and give them the welcome home that they never
received. And it occurs to me there was a lot of closure that
occurred for a lot of veterans at that event, and I know from
friends that I have, Vietnam veterans, many of the wounds and
the scars and the injuries that they come back with--and this
is true, I think, of OIF and OEF veterans--are not just
physical. And your emphasis on PTSD and the needs that are
there and the need for the VA to be appropriately addressing
that I think is something that we as a Committee--or I
certainly am very interested in. I hope that we will be able to
continue to explore how we make sure the resources are there to
deal with the demands that are going to come, not only for the
physical injuries but also the other injuries that our veterans
have incurred in the previous conflicts.
I want to combine a couple of questions because I know we
are limited on the time here, and I would like to have you, if
I could, address two things. One, I am very interested in rural
veterans and delivery of health care in rural areas. As you
know, I represent a very rural State.
You have been in my State. We have been fortunate to have
community-based outpatient clinics in several areas of my
State, but we have a couple more that we are trying to get that
have been on the books for a long time.
You had referenced in your testimony concerns about the
CARES initiative overall, particularly VA's consulting Local
Advisory Panels, or LAPs, that you referenced in your
testimony. I am concerned about the progress in that respect,
too, because it is a program that has been so helpful in rural
areas. And that is a focus of mine on this Committee as how do
we provide better service to rural areas, and CBOCs has been a
great mechanism for doing that.
But my impression is that things have really slowed down.
I am interested to get your thoughts, again, to maybe
reinforce some examples of where that is the case, and what we
need to be doing to further intensify our efforts to get these
CARES initiative moving forward, and moving forward at a rate
that I think we all want to see.
And secondly, if you could just respond, it has been
mentioned briefly here, the whole issue of privacy. No veteran
ought to have their privacy compromised when it comes to their
personal information, and there is absolutely no excuse for
what happened a year ago--actually, it was not a year ago. It
was several months ago. And it seems to me, at least, that one
of the issues where that problem occurred has to do with the IT
system at the VA. The VA has been in the process of trying to
centralize their information technology functions. I am curious
to know what the Legion's views are on the progress toward
centralizing the IT function at the VA, placing them under the
authority of the VA's CIO, and if that is something that you
would like to see happen at a faster rate than is currently
occurring as well.
So, those are two issues--rural veterans/CARES initiative
and the IT function at the VA--and what your views are with
respect to what is going on there and what needs to be done.
That is a lot to handle, and I apologize for putting it all
into one question.
Mr. Morin. This Committee has the power to make the CARES
process happen by putting at least $1 billion in the budget for
the CARES initiatives.
We support CBOCs. We support access to quality health care
of veterans as closest to their home as possible. And if in
those areas that you speak of, CBOCs are the right way to go,
then we would support that 100 percent.
The IT issue, when we are talking about the security of
information of veterans, yesterday was not fast enough. The
centralizing of it, is that the answer that will make it
happen? Yes, we support it if that is what is going to happen
to secure the data of those veterans.
I had the great opportunity to visit with the Chairman
yesterday, and when we talk about putting $1 billion in the
budget for CARES, we talk about those initiatives and you speak
of CBOCs in your hometown, how is it going to happen? Is it
going to happen on a political basis or is it going to happen
where they need to happen?
And I think the Chairman and I had a great discussion on
this, and we took the aspect of how the State Veterans Home
Program works in allocation of its money. I think if we see a
mechanism put in place, the allocation of money for opening VA
hospitals and CBOCs throughout this country in a fair and
equitable way, where care to veterans is happening, you have
succeeded in accomplishing something.
Thank you.
Senator Thune. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your
response and, again, the views of this great organization. My
father is a member of the American Legion in my hometown of
Murdo, South Dakota, and as I said, areas in my State, as in
yours, Mr. Chairman, I know this is an interest in which you
have--you know, would like to see solutions as well. But those
veterans in rural areas, particularly we get the older
veterans, it is a real issue, making sure that we have access
to health care for them in areas that are close to them.
So I share your interest in moving that CARES initiative
along, and I know that this Committee does, and we will do
everything we can to make sure they have the funding to do
that.
So thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your testimony.
Mr. Morin. Senator, I appreciate getting to know you and
visiting your State and being out there with you and your
sincere commitment to veterans. And I am still a negotiator.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Craig. Well done, Commander.
Senator Thune. Well put. Thank you.
Chairman Craig. Let me turn to our colleague from Vermont,
Senator Jim Jeffords. Jim?
Senator Jeffords. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very
pleased to be here today to hear from the American Legion about
how we can improve care for our Nation's veterans.
Mr. Morin, we greatly value your advice on both the
legislative proposals and your observations about how policies
are affecting the lives of veterans.
I also would like to recognize Milt Willis of Vermont, who
has provided decades of strong leadership for American Legion
service and Vermont veterans. I appreciate his work.
Mr. Morin, in Vermont, as in other States, we are working
to provide care to an aging population that in some cases are
hours away from existing veterans facilities.
Private nursing homes do not provide the care specific to
the needs of the veterans but are sometimes the only option to
those who do not wish to travel hours from their families and
communities.
There has been a discussion of proposals to designate a
certain number of beds for veterans in private nursing homes in
areas distant from VA facilities. Do you feel that a system
could be developed whereby private nursing homes could provide
adequate care for aging veterans?
Mr. Morin. Presently, the VA contracts with private nursing
homes throughout America. That is one of our questions. In the
facilities within the VA, there seems to be a trend that when
they no longer can provide adequate medical care, they look for
other placement. And if it is some veteran in need of long-term
care, there are two options to the VA--or, actually three: they
maintain them within their facility, they place them in a
contract nursing home, and if that veteran is not 70 percent or
more disabled, they pay up to 6 months. If he is more than 70
percent, they continue to pay the full rate of that private
nursing home. But if he is less than 70 percent, after 6 months
that veteran then has to pay out-of-pocket. And it is sad to
say that those veterans in most cases have very little money
and then become a pauper and have to be put on Medicaid.
The next avenue is State veterans homes. State veterans
homes now provide 51 percent of long-term care to American
veterans. States have accepted quite a bit of a responsibility
in that.
So as I said in my testimony, we support long-term care
within the VA and within the State veterans homes. And do we
support contract nursing home? Yes, if that is the best avenue
available to the veteran in need.
Senator Jeffords. Mr. Morin, as you know, 500,000 veterans
are estimated to be homeless over the course of a year. The
majority of these men and women have alcohol or drug abuse
problems, and many face mental illness. I applaud the efforts
of the American Legion to confront this very difficult
challenge of ending homelessness.
In your view, what specific strategies should the VA adopt
to improve services to homeless veterans and bring us closer to
the goal of ending homelessness among veterans within 10 years?
Mr. Morin. Veterans' homelessness is not a new issue to us
as a Nation. When you look back to the Civil War, how the State
Veterans Home Program became shelters for homeless Civil War
veterans. So it is not new to our society of homeless veterans.
A lot of energy and funding has gone in to assist homeless
veterans. But as I said in my testimony, the first piece is the
mental health care of that veteran. The ravages of war do not
end on the battlefield. It may be years later that mental
health capacity is needed. You only need to work with a
homeless veteran, as you said, and understand that mental
illness is not being treated because there is inadequate space
available within the VA for him to be treated, and watch a
veteran's home life, his marriage being destroyed by that is
tough to see. And that is why I said in my remarks that the VA
through its CARES process failed to recognize the mental health
capacity of veterans, and we need to address that issue first.
If we truly want to address the mental health of veterans,
we need to do that first, and we will reduce the homeless
population. But we need to address that. You can give an
individual a place to sleep. You can feed him three squares a
day. But if you are not addressing that mental health aspect,
we have let them down.
Senator Jeffords. Thank you.
Chairman Craig. Jim, thank you very much.
Well, Commander, a vote is under way so I will make a
concluding statement. First and foremost, let me thank you for
being here today and being the advocate that you are.
It is obvious by your testimony and by your response to
questions that you are a compassionate Commander who takes his
responsibility very, very seriously.
Now, all of us here on this Committee are here by choice,
and we are here to serve our veterans and to sort out the
difficulties, the competition, if you will, for resources, and
to do as best we believe this country can do to serve our
veterans. It does not mean we always get it right, and that is
why you are here, and that is why this is always work in
progress.
Your praise for the VA today and its employees is very,
very appropriate. On the whole, there is no question in my mind
in my connection with the VA and being at their facilities that
in almost all cases they are phenomenally hardworking,
dedicated people with the veterans' best interests in mind. And
as we work through the budget and the budget processes, we will
work with you and your organization and other veterans advocacy
groups to get it as right as we can as it relates to our
resources. And as you and I both agreed yesterday and, again
today, there will be times when we disagree. But it will be
done openly and publicly, and we will sort out those
differences as we conclude the process on an annualized basis.
I will continue to assure America's veterans that they will
get all resources we can possibly gain for them to be applied
in the right way. Many of our colleagues today spoke about the
issue of IT. Just before you arrived in my office yesterday,
the gentleman who has been nominated, whom we will hear from
next week before the Committee, who will head up that division
of the VA was there to visit with me.
And I am pleased to announce that there is a comprehensive
program now under way. And my admonishment, if you will, to
this gentleman was: If you can get the IT process in hand the
way you got electronic medical recordkeeping in hand that so
dramatically helped improve the veterans health care and its
quality that you represented earlier in your testimony, then VA
will once again lead the Government in having handled this
problem in an appropriate fashion in the construct of the
culture and the attitude within the VA as it relates to how we
handle this critical information and to do so on an ongoing
basis.
Technology got out in front of us. Not long ago, the
Secretary sat before this Committee, where you are sitting
today, and held up a little black box about this size, pulled
it out of his shirt pocket and said, ``Twenty million names and
addresses can go here.'' So it can be put in anybody's shirt
pocket and taken off campus, off property.
But if the culture is there, if the understanding is there
of the value and the protocol, all that we have to do to assure
that with some of the technologies that you referenced, we can
help VA get this right. And they then can lead the country, as
they are leading health care in the country today in this kind
of technology.
So, again, Commander, to you, to the American Legion, and
to all who have assembled here today, let me thank you so very
much for your presence, your testimony, your advocacy, and,
most importantly, your patriotism. It is greatly appreciated.
Thank you much.
[Applause.]
Mr. Morin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Craig. The Committee will stand adjourned----
Senator Jeffords Mr. Chairman, I want to just give some
accolades to you.
Chairman Craig. Oh, well, in that case, we will reconvene.
[Laughter.]
Senator Jeffords. I just want to say that over the course
of our lives together, I have watched you as you pursue the
problems that we have in the area that is so great for all of
us. I just want to thank you for all the effort you have put in
and ask the audience if they agree with me that you are doing a
heck of a great job.
[Applause.]
Chairman Craig. Thank you. Jim, that is very generous of
you. Thank you very much. Now the Committee will stand
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:27 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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