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Testimony of The
Honorable Lois Capps Before
the Committee
on Veterans’ Affairs, Subcommittee
on Benefits July
10, 2001
I am grateful to Chairman Simpson, Ranking Member Reyes, and
the Subcommittee for the opportunity to comment on two very important
bills before you today: The Veterans Emergency Telephone Service Act
and The Gulf War Undiagnosed Illness Act of 2001.
As the author of the first bill and an original co-sponsor of
the second, I am pleased the Subcommittee is considering these
important pro-vet measures.
H.R. 1435, The Veterans Emergency Telephone Service Act, sets
up a toll free national veterans’ hotline service that can be
accessed 24-hours, 7 days a week. This combination “911-411”
number for veterans would provide a one-stop, toll free number that
veterans can call at any time of day or night for assistance.
The bill is based on a similar, very successful program that is
operated on a smaller scale by the National Veterans Foundation in Los
Angeles. In
the past, toll free information lines for vets have typically dumped
them into a frustrating automated system of repeated transfers and
long waiting periods. Despite
the wide array of services offered by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, many veterans assistance programs are unknown to the
constituency they intend to support. Lately,
I have heard that the VA has made improvements in the operation of
their information lines. If
that is the case, and I hope it is, I commend the VA for their
progress. However, as
recently as last week, one of my staff called the information line
operated by the VA and was forced to wait on hold for 31 minutes. Even
if the information lines have improved, their availability and scope
is limited by design. A
regional information line for veterans on the Central Coast of
California is only available from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm, Monday through
Friday. And crisis
intervention is not a service that is currently provided to veterans
over the information line.
Sadly, there is a
critical need for veterans and their loved ones to have 24-hour/ 7 day
a week access to information and crisis intervention services.
Should this bill become law, veterans in need of assistance
would be able to call from anywhere in the country, free of charge, to
receive immediate help or referral to services close to their homes. This
service would provide immediate and constant access to counseling and
crisis intervention services, including suicide prevention, substance
abuse rehabilitation programs, and mental health services.
It would provide vital information to destitute veterans in
need of emergency food and shelter services.
Some calls may be so desperate, immediate crisis intervention
is essential to save a life. This
hotline would also provide information on medical treatment,
employment training and opportunities, and small business assistance
programs.
For routine inquiries that are normally and capably handled by
existing toll-free numbers at the VA, the “911-411” operators may
simply give general guidance and refer the caller to the appropriate
VA resource.
The “911-411” hotline has a bargain basement cost when
compared to its far-reaching and much-needed benefits.
I have seen a business plan that shows costs of only $2 million
per year for a hotline that would be available to veterans at any time
of the day or night in all 50 states. This is a small price to pay for
the critical, urgent assistance that it provides for our veterans.
By virtue of their service and sacrifice on behalf of this
nation, our veterans deserve the very best support services we can
provide them, especially in their moments of greatest need.
Sadly, such moments don’t always occur between the hours of
7:30 am and 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday.
Another important bill before you today is H.R. 1406, the Gulf
War Undiagnosed Illness Act of 2001.
I want to commend the Committee and ranking member Lane Evans
for his leadership on this issue. This legislation would give the VA the authority to protect
compensation for undiagnosed illnesses when VA determines that such
protection is needed to ensure adequate participation by veterans in
VA-sponsored medical research. This
guarantee is particularly important for research that requires a high
level of participation to achieve valid findings.
Last year, the VA conducted medical research to study the
possible association between Gulf War veterans and Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”.
As you may know, this disease holds particular importance to
me. I authored the first
bill to help ALS victims—a waiver of the 24-month waiting period for
Medicare benefits for ALS patients.
As it happens, this bill took effect last week and I would like
to thank the members of the Subcommittee for their help in its
passage. Since
ALS is a relatively rare condition, it was critical that all
potentially affected veterans participate in the study.
However, there was some concern that veterans receiving
compensation on the basis of an “undiagnosed illness” may have
been wary of participating for fear of losing their benefits.
VA has taken the position that current law prevents them from
acting to protect individuals who participate in such research studies
from loss of compensation if a medical condition such as ALS is
diagnosed during the research. This
places veterans and the VA in a classic “Catch-22” situation.
If research demonstrates that Gulf veterans are at increased
risk for ALS or another medical condition, a scientific basis could be
established for compensation. On
the other hand, if veterans who might have ALS or another medical
condition decline to participate in the study because of concerns
about losing compensation benefits for themselves and their families,
the data may not be sufficient to establish an association and advance
our understanding of Gulf War Illness.
I am very concerned that this situation could be repeated again
and again. This would
hurt efforts to understand diseases like ALS as well as vets and their
families. I hope the Subcommittee can move forward on both of these important bills. Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. Back to Witness List |