Veterans
My father served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and I have a deep respect for those who have served our country in uniform. From my father's experience, I know how important it is that we honor our promise to provide veterans with health care, education, and other benefits. If you have served our country and risked your life for our freedom, we owe you a debt of gratitude that matches your sacrifice - and that includes comprehensive health care and benefits.
With as many as 700,000 veterans and armed forces personnel from the war in Afghanistan and Iraq expected to enter the military and VA health care systems in the coming years, I believe it is our solemn and moral obligation to make sure that benefits and health care keep pace with the rising numbers of those who have served. This is an area of federal spending where scrimping is unconscionable, and I look forward to continuing my efforts to secure the benefits that our veterans deserve. It is critical that we ensure that the voices of Colorado's veterans are heard and that they are shown the respect they deserve.
An issue particularly important to me is addressing the increasing incidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from action on today's battlefield. We all know that PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury are signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to do all we can to ensure America's veterans are well cared for when they come home, including ensuring they have access to behavioral and mental health services to treat these injuries and help them reintegrate into civilian life.
Fitzsimons Veterans Medical Center
After years of delay and controversy about the future of Denver's VA Medical Center, Colorado's veterans got some good news in 2009 when the Obama Administration announced plans to build a stand-alone, 200-bed tertiary care hospital at the former Fitzsimons Army base in Aurora. The future of the aging Denver VA hospital had been a source of tension between the Colorado veterans' community and the VA, and I fought for many years to get the VA to honor its promise to replace the hospital. I'm very glad that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki heard the voices of the Colorado Congressional delegation, our local veterans' community and veterans' service organizations, and came up with the right solution for Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.
In November, 2011, the VA broke ground and began construction on the new facility, which is expected to be completed by early 2015. I will work hard in the coming years to use my powers of oversight to ensure the work is done as efficiently and effectively as possible - and to ensure that sufficient funding is appropriated. This hospital is badly needed, and it is long past time to complete construction and ensure our veterans can get the best health care available.
Bringing a National Veterans' Cemetery to Southern Colorado
Colorado currently has two national veterans' cemeteries - Fort Logan National Cemetery near Denver and Fort Lyons National Cemetery near Las Animas - both of which are inconveniently located far from Colorado's largest veterans' community in the Pikes Peak region. In addition the Fort Logan National Cemetery is expected to reach full capacity in 2019. Southern Colorado's veterans need a cemetery to call their own. After heeding my calls, and those of my U.S. House and Senate colleagues from Colorado, the VA committed to constructing a new national cemetery that will give the over 150,000 veterans in Southern Colorado a cemetery closer to home, while expanding the time Colorado's existing cemeteries can be used. I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find a location for the new cemetery as soon as possible, to ensure Southern Colorado's veterans have a final resting place that honors the sacrifice they have made for our freedom.
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Securing Veterans' Disability and Retirement Benefits
I worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that post-9/11 veterans across the country - including over 5,000 in Colorado - know they are potentially eligible for higher medical benefits or even full medical retirement. After my request to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki in August, the Defense Department will team with the VA to let recent veterans know they can appeal the disability decision made when they left the military. Colorado has the reviewing board's third-largest eligible population of veterans in the country, and I want to ensure each of them has a chance to get the benefits they should have earned to begin with.
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Supporting Veterans Exposed to Hazardous Chemicals
On Nov. 3, 2011, I co-sponsored Senator Tom Udall's bipartisan Open Burn Pit Registry Act (S.1798) because our service members overseas are too frequently exposed to toxic fumes and chemicals from burn pits used to incinerate trash including human waste, plastic, batteries, scrap metals, solvents, and other potentially hazardous materials. We must do more to track and identify those exposed to hazardous chemicals from burn pits, to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to better understand and treat the threat posed by exposure to these fumes. Our servicemen and women put their lives on the line for our safety, and in return we have promised to provide them with the best possible care. I will always fight to protect and promote the health of our men and women in uniform.
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Fighting for the Best Health Care for our Troops
Our service members and their families sacrifice everything for our security, and they deserve the best care we can provide for them. With post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) affecting so many of our returning service members, it is especially important that we address these hidden wounds of war. That is why I recently introduced two amendments to the Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to improve the quality and accessibility of behavioral health care available to these heroes. One amendment would extend suicide-prevention services to active-duty troops and veterans in Colorado and across the country. The second would expand a behavioral health pilot program, which has been successful at Fort Carson, making it available to at least three other Army installations. When it comes to behavioral health care, the military has made significant progress. But the fact remains that too many of our troops return from service suffering from PTSD or TBI and struggle to get access to the care they need. I will always fight to ensure service members and veterans get the care they were promised and that they have earned.
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Tricare 26
Expanding Health Coverage for Our Military Families: As part of health insurance reform, which was signed into law March 2010, young adults are eligible to remain on their parents' health insurance policies up to age 26. In April 2010, I introduced the TRICARE Dependent Coverage Extension Act, to make certain that families of our armed service members are not left behind when it comes to this important benefit. Extending insurance to cover young Americans until age 26 is critical, especially as they make the transition into the tough job market. Signed into law in December 2010, my bill now provides families who get their coverage through TRICARE - the military's insurance program - with the same benefit.
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Retired Pay Restoration Act
Approximately 33 percent of retired veterans in Colorado lose over $75 million in benefits each year as a result of the unfair "Disabled Veterans Tax." This is unacceptable, and I have co-sponsored the bipartisan Retired Pay Restoration Act (S. 546) to allow the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability. This bill would effectively end this tax and restore full benefits to thousands of veterans in Colorado. I will continue to work with members of both parties and the President until this tax is eliminated.