Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act

Floor Speech

VETERANS' BENEFITS ENHANCEMENT ACT -- (Senate - April 24, 2008)

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we are now 5 1/2 years into the war in Iraq. We have been at war longer now than we fought in World War II, and we are creating hundreds of new veterans each and every year. Yet, too often, what we have seen is that this administration has failed to acknowledge the price our veterans and their families are paying in service. From the shameful conditions at Walter Reed Hospital a year ago, and VA facilities across the country, to a lack of mental health counselors, to a benefit claims backlog of months and sometimes years for our veterans, our veterans have had to struggle to get the basic care they were promised. And now, just this week, in the last few days, we got more evidence that this administration has been covering up the extent of the toll this war has taken on our troops.

Internal e-mails that became public in a court hearing showed that the VA has vastly downplayed the number of suicides and suicide attempts by veterans in the last several years.

Last November, an analysis by CBS News found that over 6,200 veterans had, sadly, committed suicide in 2005. That is an average of 17 a day. When they were confronted then, the VA said: Oh, no, no, no, those numbers are much lower than that. Now we find that according to internal e-mails from the VA's head of mental health, Dr. Ira Katz, 6,570 veterans actually committed suicide in 2005, an average of 18 a day. Those e-mails also revealed that VA officials also knew that another 1,000 veterans who are receiving care at our VA medical facilities attempt suicide each month. Those numbers offer tragic evidence that our Nation is failing thousands of veterans every year, and they reflect an administration that has failed to own up to its responsibilities and failed even to own up to the true impact of the war on our veterans.

What is most appalling to me is that this is not the first time the VA has covered up the problems facing our veterans who have sacrificed for our country. Time and again, this VA told us one thing in public while saying something completely different in private. It is outrageous to me that our VA officials would put public appearance ahead of people's lives. Yet it appears that is what is happening again and again.

When we as Members of Congress sit down to try to determine what resources we need to give to the VA, we have to truly understand what is going on. If there is a problem, we have to act. It is our duty and the duty of this administration to care for our veterans. By covering up the true extent of the problem, the VA has actually hindered our ability to get those resources to the veterans who need them. That is irresponsible, and it is wrong.

I have come to the floor today because we now have an opportunity to extend benefits to our veterans. These benefits that are in the bill that is before the Senate today will help them with job training, insurance, housing, and other matters. The bill that is before us offers veterans peace of mind and will help them to readjust as they come home to civilian life.

The Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act the Senate is currently considering expands traumatic injury insurance. It increases job training--vital to many of our veterans who are coming home. It extends housing benefits to veterans with severe burns, something we have to do. And critically, it restores limited pension benefits to Filipino veterans who fought for our country in World War II.

This is a bill that we have done in our VA Committee that normally would come to the floor and pass straight through this body by unanimous consent. It is budget neutral, and it works to provide long overdue care for some of our Nation's heroes. But, instead, this bill has languished for 9 months. Why? Because the Republicans chose obstruction over our veterans. The majority leader and our chairman, Senator Akaka, have worked since last August to try to come to an agreement. They have tried to come to the floor and work out amendments and figure out a way to move this bill forward. But for 9 months the Republicans preferred to play political games and block this critically important bill. It is just part of an overall pattern we have seen on this floor with numerous bills we have been trying to bring forward.

Today, finally we have come to an agreement--late, but finally have come to an agreement--and the Republicans have agreed to move this bill forward.

Later this morning, we are going to have the opportunity to vote for legislation that extends important benefits to help our veterans transition back into civilian life. It expands home-improvement benefits to completely disabled servicemembers before they enter the VA system to help them adapt to their new homes. This will prevent months or even years of delays while they transition from the military into the VA care. The bill we are considering extends monthly educational assistance for veterans who are pursuing an apprenticeship or on-the-job training, and it requires the National Academy of Sciences to study the risk of developing multiple sclerosis as a result of serving in conflicts since the gulf war. This last piece is one I have worked on extensively, as I have worked with gulf war veterans in my State from the early nineties who are now coming in with high rates of multiple sclerosis, to find out if there is a connection. It is a critical piece of legislation.

But I am disappointed that the Republicans object to the provision in the bill before us that extends VA benefits to Filipino World War II veterans. Those now very elderly Filipino veterans were called to service by our country and by President Roosevelt in 1941. They served right alongside our U.S. troops. They fought to protect our interests as they were asked to in the Pacific. They consider themselves to be American troops, and we consider them to be part of our military.

We have a moral duty to repay their sacrifice by providing them with the care they have earned, just as we should do with all of our veterans. But in 1946, when the war was over, our Nation turned its back on them and stripped away their rights to their veterans benefits. That act of Congress denied those men the access to health care and limited compensation to half of what their U.S. counterparts received. I believe that act of Congress was wrong, but I believe it is just as wrong that 62 years later we still have not corrected that injustice.

Some on the other side are saying those benefits are too generous. Those veterans have been denied benefits for over 60 years. How can we say giving them a few hundred dollars in the last remaining months of their lives is too much? Sixty-two years later, those veterans are in their twilight years. They need and they deserve the care this country ought to give them. We cannot make up for lost time for these veterans, but certainly we can right this injustice. We have the opportunity today to do what is honorable, what is moral, and treat our Filipino veterans as the heroes they are, and it is long past time that we did.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill later this morning when we vote on it and to oppose the Burr substitute amendment which would remove those provisions for our Filipino veterans.

Our veterans have waited 9 months for this bill to come before the Senate. Our Filipino veterans have waited more than six decades. Our veterans have all earned these benefits by sacrificing for us. They should not be forced to wait any longer.

To our VA which has continually hidden the facts from us, we need them to be honest and forthright. This country wants to be there to support our veterans, and we cannot do that if we are being given misinformation.

So my message to the VA is: We stand beside you as a country to work to make sure our veterans get the care and support they need. We expect you to do the same.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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