Columns
Monday, November 5, 2007
taking action to honor our veterans
Each Veterans Day, Americans pause to express thanks to the millions of veterans who have risked their lives to serve our country. As a Navy veteran and proud member of American Legion Post 562 in Cumming, I know firsthand our veterans’ profound love of country – a patriotism not of words, but of deeds, service, and sacrifice.
Here in Iowa, veterans come from all walks of life – from farms, small towns, and big cities – but they share the common bond of having answered the call to serve. With more than 550 Iowans on active duty overseas, and another 130 with the 186th Military Police Company being mobilized for their second tour of duty in Iraq, the sacrifices of Iowa soldiers are readily apparent this Veterans Day.
As a Senator, I still live by the rule I learned during my time in uniform: Never leave a fellow soldier behind. This year, Congress has taken concrete steps to ensure that this rule applies both on the battlefield, and after our brave men and women return home.
Upon hearing of the substandard conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center earlier this year, Congress took action to improve military and veterans’ health care facilities nationwide. The Senate passed the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act, which I proudly cosponsored. This bill improves military medical facilities, with special attention to improving treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), two conditions that are disturbingly common among Iraq war veterans. This bill also fixes inconsistencies in the determination of veterans’ disability status by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which I hope will reduce the amount of red tape veterans encounter.
After years of underfunding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Congress also passed a budget that finally provides the VA with the resources they need to serve our veterans. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I supported a $4 billion increase in funding for the VA above the amount requested by the President. This funding – most of which will go to veterans’ health care programs – is urgently needed if we are to avoid shortchanging veterans.
In addition to improving care for all veterans, we must also realize that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left our soldiers with specific challenges that we need to address. To help the many veterans who have returned home with TBI, I co-sponsored the Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury and Other Health Programs Improvement Act. This comprehensive veterans’ health care bill will help the VA provide better care for veterans with TBI, assist homeless veterans, increase travel reimbursement rates, and extend the availability of free VA healthcare for returning veterans.
Another heartbreaking result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been a rising rate of suicide among those returning from war. Earlier this year, Randy and Ellen Omvig of Grundy Center, Iowa testified on Capitol Hill to tell the story of their son Joshua, who took his life after returning from Iraq. In an attempt to ensure that no other family has to suffer a tragedy like this, Representative Leonard Boswell and I introduced the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act. This bill – which has passed the House and Senate and will soon be signed by the President – directs the VA to integrate mental health services into veterans’ primary care and step up counseling and other mental health services for returning war veterans. I have no doubt that this legislation will help save lives.
Veterans Day is a welcome occasion to stop and pay a special tribute to America’s military heroes, past and present. I pledge to my fellow veterans that I will continue to fight on their behalf all 365 days of the year. America’s heroes deserve nothing less.
