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Veterans

Veterans

As a Vietnam Veteran and Co-Chair of the Congressional Veterans Caucus, I believe we have a duty to provide for those who have served our country. There are more than 20 million military veterans in our country, including over 50,000 in California’s First Congressional district alone. In this time of war, it is our responsibility to provide these servicemembers and their families with the services and benefits they need to help facilitate a full transition from active duty back to normal civilian life.

Health Care:

I strongly believe we must strengthen health care services for all of our veterans – from the catastrophically disabled to those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and traumatic brain injuries – and continue to provide support for family members and those who care for our wounded soldiers. Since 2007, I have voted in favor of adding over $23 billion for veterans’ health care and services. This funding has helped improve health care treatment and access for hundreds of thousands of our nation’s veterans.

I also supported efforts to provide an additional $30 million in funding to increase the number of Community Based Outpatient Clinics for the more than 3.2 million rural veterans who have limited access to VA hospitals. This funding is already being put to work for veterans in our district. In October 2010, I was proud to be on hand as we broke ground on a new veterans outpatient Clinic in Lake County. Before the clinic opened, more than 8,000 county veterans were forced to travel hours to receive the medical treatment they needed.

Finally, I am tired of seeing veterans wait six months or more for medical appointments. That is why I voted in favor of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. As a result of this legislation, the VA has hired 8,300 additional claims processors and updated its claims processing system to help ensure the accurate and timely delivery of benefits to veterans, families, and survivors. A significant backlog of veterans claims still remains, but these are the kinds of proactive steps that will get our veterans the medical treatment they need.

Project SHAD:

Between 1962-1974, the Department of Defense (DOD) conducted chemical and biological testing on U.S. service members and civilians under Project SHAD and Project 112. After I became aware of the tests in 1999, I met with the DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs to insist that an investigation be conducted.

When work on the investigation was proceeding at a slower than necessary pace, I introduced legislation that required the DOD to make public all tests, provide veterans with the health care they needed because of those tests, and initiate a General Accounting Office investigation. Ultimately, much of this language was included in the 2003 Defense Authorization Act. Because of this provision, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) conducted a clinical study, completed in 2008, to determine the long-term health effects of these exposures.

At my urging, a second clinical study by the IOM is now currently underway to resolve issues identified from the first study. Once complete, it is my hope that all veterans who were unknowingly part of the Project SHAD chemical tests will receive the medical treatment and disability compensation they are due.

Concurrent Receipt and the Survivor Benefit Program:

I am a co-sponsor of legislation to eliminate the offsets veterans and/or their spouses incur under concurrent receipt and the survivor benefit program. This bill would repeal the current offset of Survivor Benefit Plans by Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. Although progress was made in the concurrent receipt program in 2003, much work still needs to be done to ensure no disabled veteran sees a reduction in his or her pay.  I support and have co-sponsored legislation that would phase in a fix to the SBP program over the next 5 years.

Veterans History Project:

The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center was created by the U.S. Congress in 2000 to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may fully understand the realities of war. To date, the Veterans History Project has collected more than 70,000 oral histories from veterans in every state and congressional district, including my own.

I have launched county-specific Veterans History Project Steering Committees in Yolo, Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties to help preserve the stories of local veterans. Already, students and community members from across our district have recorded dozens of stories for submission to the Library of Congress. Please visit http://www.loc.gov/vets/ to learn how you can get involved in this important project.