“The hearing will come to order.

    “Good morning, and welcome to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations’ hearing on incentives, benefits and medical care for federal civilian employees deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the committee’s third meeting to discuss these issues.
 
    “On September 18th, witnesses from the Departments of Defense and Labor and the Government Accountability Office testified before this committee on benefits and medical care for DOD civilian employees. On September 24th, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a Department-wide memorandum to remind everyone that military treatment facilities would care for injured DOD civilians and to announce updates in how wounded DOD civilians are to be medically tracked.

   “On October 2nd, the committee held an informal discussion with wounded DOD civilian veterans of Iraq and their advocates about particular problems they experience in trying to get medical care and support after deployment.

    “Today’s focus will be on the civilian personnel from non-DOD agencies who volunteer to serve in a combat zone.

    “Since September, the subcommittee has been investigating a variety of interagency issues raised by the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Military means alone are clearly not enough to bring about success in either country.  Civilians from across the federal government are increasingly being called upon to help us achieve our goals in these dangerous environments, through the use of Provincial Reconstruction Teams and other programs.

    “An unfortunate but inevitable consequence of deploying civilians to combat zones is that some of them may be injured or killed. This risk was underscored by the recent death of a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee in Afghanistan. Tom Stefani was killed on October 4th by a roadside bomb while performing his duty as an agricultural advisor to a PRT. The committee offers its deepest sympathies to the family, friends, and colleagues of Mr. Stefani and to those of all the other civilian personnel who were killed or wounded while serving in high-threat regions.

    “We thank all federal civilian employees who have volunteered to serve in combat zones for their sacrifices and their service to our nation.

    “The purpose of today’s hearing is to consider issues related to the hazardous nature of this duty.

    “First, given the critical need for U.S. government federal civilian employees to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan, what kind of incentives and benefits are provided to encourage those with the right skills and experience to do so?

    “Second, what practices and policies are in place to provide medical care for deployed federal civilian employees, both while overseas and upon returning home? We want to be assured that these veterans, just as with our military veterans, are not forgotten after their deployment and that they are not abandoned when they need medical care or help to navigate the workers’ compensation process.

    “One area of particular interest is whether civilians receive adequate diagnoses and treatment for mental health disorders that commonly occur in combat zones, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The State Department’s Office of Medical Services recently surveyed 877 Foreign Service Officers, including 474 who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, about stress-related symptoms that appeared after serving unaccompanied tours in dangerous and isolated posts. The survey showed that 18 respondents probably had symptoms of PTSD and 132 possibly had symptoms. Compare these results with the Department of Labor report that a total of only eleven claims have been filed for “various emotional conditions” by employees from all federal agencies.  I would like to hear from witnesses how we reconcile this large disparity.

    “How we compensate and care for today’s deployed civilians will be noted by those who are considering the nation’s calls for future volunteers—such as the expanded PRT program or Civilian Reserve Corps that the President announced in his January State of the Union Address. The success of the transition from conflict to stability in regions of national interest will depend heavily on the efforts of civilians. If our nation asks them to volunteer for these hazardous missions, then we are responsible for their well-being.

    “We have assembled a panel of witnesses to help us examine these issues:

• Ambassador Harry Thomas, Director General, U.S. Department of State
• Mr. Mark Ward, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia & Near East Bureau, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Mr. Kirk Miller, Associate Administrator for the Foreign Agriculture Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Mr. Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice
• Mr. Larry McDonald, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Technical Assistance, U.S. Department of Treasury

Welcome to all of you and thank you for being here.  After Mr. Akin’s opening remarks, I’ll turn to each of you for a brief opening statement. Because we have such a large panel, I ask that you keep your oral statements to five minutes or less. Your entire prepared statements will be made part of the record.   

    “On an administrative note, we will use our customary five-minute rule today for questioning, proceeding by seniority and arrival time.  With that, let me turn it over to our ranking member, Mr. Akin, for any statement he would like to make.”