Monday, May 24, 2004

WASHINGTON, DC –

PRESS RELEASE: Honoring and Caring for Our Nation’s Veterans by Congressmen Greg Walden

For more than a century, American families have set aside Memorial Day as a time to pay tribute to the service of America’s military veterans, especially the fallen men and women who have given what Abraham Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion." While we honor our nation’s patriot dead, we must also be mindful of America’s living veterans and the obligation we bear as a society to ensure that they are cared for. As a member of Congress, I am committed to providing robust funding to support the Department of Veterans Affairs, and I’ve been proud to stand up for Oregon’s veterans during my service in the House of Representatives.

Veterans in Oregon have had good reason to celebrate in recent weeks following the announcement that we’ve secured health care services at the Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics (SORCC) – also known as the White City Dom – and the Jonathan M. Wainwright VA Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. Both of these facilities were threatened with closure following initial recommendations by the CARES Commission, which evaluated the quality and performance of VA medical centers around the country. Closing these facilities would have forced Oregon veterans to drive long distances to receive the care they were promised. That’s why I urged VA Secretary Anthony Principi to keep the White City Dom and the Wainwright Medical Center fully operational. The Secretary recently announced that services at these two facilities will remain in place well into the future.

Since 1995, the Congress has made important strides in improving benefits for our nation’s veterans. During that period, total spending on veterans has increased from $38 billion per year to $60 billion per year. That’s a 58 percent increase, compared with a 36 percent increase during the previous 10 years. And since 1995, payments per veteran have risen by 79 percent. In this year’s Budget Resolution, which the House passed on May 19, more than $70 billion in total veterans spending is provided – an increase of 15 percent in one year alone. While this is real progress, I continue to support making VA spending mandatory rather than discretionary.

Eligibility for veterans medical care has also been expanded in recent years, which has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of veterans receiving VA medical care. In 1995, 2.5 million veterans received care through the VA, compared to more than 5 million veterans today. And since 1995, total spending on veterans medical care has increased from $16.2 billion to $28.3 billion this year – an increase of 75.2 percent.

We’ve also improved veterans’ education benefits. Since 1995, monthly education benefit payment levels under the Montgomery GI Bill increased from $405 to $985 – an increase of 143 percent. This compares with only a 35 percent increase in the previous 10 years. We have also increased GI Bill on-the-job training and apprenticeship benefits by a record 66 percent over three years, from $487 to $738 per month.

One of the most important developments on the veterans benefits front has occurred in recent years as Congress has sought to provide concurrent receipt of retirement pay and VA disability pay for military retirees with service-connected disabilities. Until recently, a law that has been on the books since 1891 forced disabled retirees to relinquish a dollar of retirement pay for every dollar in VA disability pay they were entitled to. Now, thanks to changes in law that have occurred in the last couple of years, military retirees injured in combat, while training for combat, or who are 50 percent or more service-disabled are able to receive retirement benefits concurrently with veterans disability compensation. As a result, more than 250,000 disabled military retirees will receive additional retirement payments over the next ten years.

Beyond our responsibility to care for our nation’s veterans, the Congress also has a solemn duty to ensure that the men and women currently serving in uniform have access to the proper training, weapons, equipment and benefits. On this front, the House passed its annual National Defense Authorization bill on May 20, which contains a 3.5 percent across-the-board pay raise for military personnel, strengthens health care programs for our National Guard and Reserve personnel and provides improved weapons and equipment for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines – including state-of-the-art body armor and armored Humvees for personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

John F. Kennedy once said, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." It falls to us, the beneficiaries of our veterans' sacrifices, to express our gratitude in a manner that befits their selfless service. As one who proudly represents Oregon’s veterans in Congress, I will spare no effort to fulfill the profound debt our nation owes to the men and women who answered their country’s call and defended our freedom.

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