Today, we honor the millions of veterans who, in the course of American history, have fought and sacrificed to protect the ideals of this nation. We honor our career military, who dedicate their lives to service, and we honor our Reserves and National Guardsmen, who are always willing to come to our country’s aid in its times of greatest need. And we pray for those who are currently serving overseas, in Iraq and Afghanistan, as we work to bring them home safely.
But it is essential that we honor our veterans not only in word, but in deed. Last February, we learned of the substandard conditions at Walter Reed. I participated in the first Congressional hearing on the issue when the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform went to the facility to investigate the problem and question witnesses. Congress passed $20 million in emergency spending to repair the buildings.
We must continue to work to fix those problems, both at Walter Reed and military hospitals throughout the country, and to ensure that soldiers who return from the battlefield do not have to continue to fight through a maze of bureaucracy in order to receive their promised care. As part of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, the House passed the largest increase in funding for veterans’ health care in the VA’s 77-year history. This increase will allow for 1,000 new claims processors to reduce the backlog of 400,000 benefits claims. It also increases funding to address the VA’s repair and maintenance needs. In the coming days, we will send that bill to the President’s desk and we urge him to sign it.
The House and Senate also passed the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act, which monitors our military health care system with semiannual surveys to review the quality and timeliness of care, the quality of living conditions and case management, and the effectiveness of the disability evaluation process. It establishes a toll-free hotline for outpatients and their families to report any problems they encounter and assigns independent medical advocates for service members to help them navigate their care options. It will help our wounded veterans receive care quickly and efficiently.