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SENATE MUST ACT TO PASS VA FUNDING -- Opinion from

John Furgess, a past national commander of the VFW.

 

 
John Furgess                                                                  

 

Story here... http://www.rctimes.com/
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OPINION01/702050335/1007/MTCN0305

Story below:

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Funding needed to tackle claims backlog

By JOHN FURGESS

The Veterans of Foreign Wars traces its beginnings to Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. When they came home from the Spanish-American War, there was absolutely nothing available for those veterans, including those wounded or with disabilities.

Fast-forward to 2007: We've come a long way in terms of veterans' health care in our country. Veterans today number more than 25 million, and their needs are great. Their health care is the No. 1 priority of the VFW.

Almost half of the Veterans Affairs Department's $75 billion-plus annual budget is funded through a discretionary appropriations process that has delayed an on-time budget for the better half of a decade. That affects infrastructure improvements and personnel decisions. Because of failures with the 109th Congress, the VA is now operating under a continuing resolution that funds it at 2006 levels. Meanwhile, the list of eligible veterans grows.

Backing House legislation

We are urging the U.S. Senate to support a current House proposal to "plus-up" the VA by $3.6 billion this fiscal year, for these reasons:

• More than 200,000 servicemen and women have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and have sought health care at the VA. This is less than half of the number who could be eligible for care. The VA needs money to care for these veterans, but also to allow older veterans to have timely access to care. No veteran should have to wait months for a health-care appointment.

• Mental health-care services must be fully funded to help those returning from overseas to transition into civilian life. Special types of care, such as for traumatic brain injuries, blast injuries, prosthetics, etc., must be fully funded, as well, to make these heroes as whole as possible.

• The length of time that it takes for the VA to process disability claims continues to grow, preventing veterans from receiving the compensation they need for their service-connected injuries. VA needs more money to hire and train a sufficient level of staff to reduce this growing backlog. As of Jan. 29, 870,000 claims awaited adjudication, ranging from compensation and pensions to education reimbursements. That's 57,000 more claims than a year ago. The backlog affects new and older veterans where it hurts the worst — the wallet.

Caring for our men and women who have worn the uniform is a continuing cost of war. Taking care of those who protect our very existence should be a nonpartisan, nonnegotiable issue.

For generations, members of Tennessee's congressional delegation have been generally supportive of veterans' concerns. Many other states cannot say that.

President Bush recently spoke about eliminating "unnecessary spending'' in the federal budget. There is certainly nothing unnecessary about caring for our nation's veterans and their eligible dependents and survivors.

Veterans of both wartime and peacetime deserve the continuing support of the American people and the U.S. Congress — lest we forget.

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Larry Scott  --