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DOLE AND SHALALA URGE CONGRESS TO PASS
LEGISLATION THAT WOULD GIVE LIFETIME PTSD
TREATMENT TO NEW VETS -- "The problems facing
our injured service men and women have not
gone away. I
implore you not to forget about
those who have already sacrificed so much."
Former Senate Majority Leader Bob
Dole, right, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna
Shalala, left, co-chairs of the Commission on Care of America's
Returning Warriors, listen during remarks on Capitol Hill in
Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007, during a hearing of the
House Veterans Affairs Committee. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh) |
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Congress Urged to Pass Veterans' Bill
By HOPE YEN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of a presidential commission appealed on
Wednesday for quick passage of legislation that would provide lifetime
treatment to Iraq war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., and former Health and Human Services
Secretary Donna Shalala said they did not want fights between Congress
and the Bush administration over Iraq to overshadow the immediate needs
of thousands of veterans with physical and mental injuries.
"The problems facing our injured service men and women have not gone
away," said Shalala, a Democrat who served in the Clinton
administration. "I implore you not to forget about those who have
already sacrificed so much — our injured men and women."
"They need to be front and center in congressional debate and within the
administration," she told the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.
A July report by the nine-member commission recommended changes that
would increase benefits for family members caring for the wounded,
create a Web site for medical records and revamp the way disability pay
is awarded.
Most of the recommendations require action by the White House, Pentagon
or the Veterans Affairs Department. Others leave it to Congress to make
changes to raise some disability benefits, improve PTSD care and
strengthen work-leave and insurance benefits for family members.
Senators passed a bill in July; it awaits action in the House, which is
considering adding other commission proposals.
Dole and Shalala said the White House was preparing proposals that could
go beyond what the commission recommended by offering lifetime pharmacy
benefits for some injured veterans.
The commission is also seeking legislation that would allow the
department to provide lifetime PTSD treatment for any Iraq veteran who
needs it.
The commissioners cited the Army's prolonged and repeated deployments
for 500,000 service members, which increased the risk for mental health
problems.
"The consequences of PTSD can be devastating," Shalala said. "The longer
service members are in the field, the more likely they are to experience
events, which can lead to symptoms of PTSD."
They also urged a restructuring of the veterans' disability pay systems
to shift more responsibility for awarding benefits away from the
Pentagon to the VA. The aim is to reduce the bureaucracy for veterans
from overlapping Pentagon and VA systems.
But it is unclear how the additional duties would affect the VA, which
is straining to reduce backlogs for disability benefits.
This week, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson acknowledged that current efforts
would not be enough to cut down monthslong waits because of a surging
number of disability claims from injured veterans due to the prolonged
Iraq war.
Currently the wait is 177 days for veterans; the department hopes to
reduce it to 145 to 150 days, with 1,100 new processors.
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Larry Scott --
