Wounded Warrior Assistance Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

WOUNDED WARRIOR ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - March 28, 2007)

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Mr. WICKER. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of this and other efforts to correct deficiencies in our military health care system and to ensure that the men and women of our Armed Forces get the attention and quality they deserve. This is not a partisan issue; as a matter of fact, this is a bipartisan effort, and I am glad to be a part of it as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs in the Appropriations Committee.

The Wounded Warrior Assistance Act is an important first step in improving the delivery of medical care and quality of life for our injured military personnel and their families. I say a first step, Mr. Chairman, because I hope it is the first of several to focus the necessary resources and enhance the facilities for overall delivery of service.

I am particularly interested in simplifying and speeding the paperwork process associated with both the initial care of these heroes and their transition to the programs administered through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Our wounded warriors, their families and the dedicated health care professionals committed to serving their needs should not have to face bureaucratic stumbling blocks that prevent the timely administration of care and the processing of claims to help these heroes get back on their feet. I support provisions in this legislation that will provide more resources to address the problem, especially the medical evaluation delays. As the bill moves forward, I will say to the leadership of the full committee, I encourage the authors of this legislation to consider adding additional judge advocates to assist the medical evaluation process.

In conversations with soldiers at Walter Reed, I learned of a shortfall of properly trained full-time attorneys to assist and represent patients during the formal evaluations. This occurs during the process leading up to the board and during the board. In many instances, the backlog was so long that soldiers retained outside counsel for hearings at their own cost. Those who could not afford to do this were forced to wait. In fact, the March 12 inspector general report highlighted this problem and recommended an increase in trained attorneys.

I am grateful for the full committee leadership of the Appropriations Committee for accommodating me in my amendment in this regard. While we await the full Army Tiger Team report in May, I hope my colleagues will recognize the need and right of our wounded soldiers to proper representation.

I participated in hearings on this issue as ranking member of the MILCON VA Appropriations Subcommittee, and as a member of the Defense Subcommittee. I have visited Walter Reed Army Hospital and talked to soldiers receiving treatment there and elsewhere in our military and VA systems. While the recent problems have stained our military health care system, I have been encouraged by the bipartisan manner in which we have approached this issue. I have also been encouraged to hear very positive reviews also with regard to our VA health care system, and I know it can be improved on, but certainly we get very, very positive reviews from the constituents who actually use these facilities.

These oversight activities have been very helpful in identifying steps we can take immediately to put the focus back on caring for our wounded soldiers. I look forward to working with the chairman and others of my colleagues to advance this legislation as it moves through the process.

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