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REPUBLICAN PRESS RELEASE

March 29, 2007

Wounded Warrior bill with Buyer amendment passes House

Washington D.C. — House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) yesterday favored passage of amended H.R. 1538, the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act. An issue that Buyer has pursued for fourteen years, this defense bill will help with the seamless transition of servicemembers and their families from the military to the VA.

“I thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), Ranking Member Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Military Personnel Subcommittee Chairman Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) and Ranking Member John McHugh (R-N.Y.) for working with me on an amendment that would profoundly enhance seamless transition,” Buyer said.

In its initial form, the bill required a year-long pilot program on transition. While pilot programs can be very useful in exploring new ground, seamless transition, over five years into a war, is emphatically not new ground. The amendment replaced the pilot project with system-wide changes requiring a written transition plan for the wounded servicemember.

H.R. 1538 as amended will allow VA real-time access to a veterans’ medical history by requiring an electronic exchange of critical medical information between the departments. There are countless examples of veterans seeking care at a VA facility only to discover that their paper military healthcare records are not available. The ability to transmit data between Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) will speed the recovery of these warriors by avoiding duplication of unnecessary treatment or more importantly failing to provide life-saving procedures.

Buyer’s amendment will require use of a uniform separation and evaluation physical by DoD and VA that VA could use for disability ratings. This cornerstone of seamless transition eliminates the frustrating requirement for a servicemember to have two physicals, one from the military and one from the VA.

Too often recently discharged veterans filing VA disability claims must undergo a VA physical because their discharge physical failed to address issues affecting the veteran’s claim for benefits.

“The result is not only costly, but also delays processing a veteran’s claim and possibly entry into life-changing programs like VA’s vocation rehabilitation program,” Buyer said.

Finally, the amended Wounded Warriors bill will co-locate VA benefit teams at military treatment facilities and other agreed-upon sites to facilitate the transition of recovering servicemembers. This will help to eliminate the necessity of wounded warriors undergoing convalescence seeking out VA benefits counselors at VA offices that are usually far from the military treatment facility where the veteran is living.

“When we look at this problem through the eyes of a soldier, we realize that we must act. Our servicemembers and their families depend on us to provide a system that works; we are accountable to them, Buyer said.”

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Larry Scott

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