Welcome to the newly elected National Commander of The American Legion, David K. Rehbein.  I would also like to welcome the National President of The American Legion Auxiliary, Desiree Stoy.  Thank you for your advocacy for veterans. 

Joint hearings are a long tradition of the Veterans’ Affairs Committees and I am happy that you are here today.  It is an honor for Senator Akaka and me to hear the views of The American Legion and its 2.7 million members.  The information provided here today is vital as the Committee addresses the pressing needs of all our nation’s veterans. 

Before we start, I would like to extend my complements to The American Legion Washington staff and to tell you, Commander, what a pleasure it is to work with them.  I would also like to take a moment to recognize those in the audience who traveled here from California.  Thank you all for coming – it is great to see you here today.

We must continue to work together to provide our veterans with the quality health care and services that they require, and that they have earned.  There is much to do.  As Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I am in a position to help you solve problems and improve services and health care to our veterans. 

I spoke with many of you in Phoenix, just last month.  I told you about the aggressive agenda we have taken on as a committee in support of our veterans.  And, I want to THANK YOU for your support and your willingness to help us care for those who have served this nation proudly.

Care for ALL Veterans: When I became Chairman, the VA was strained to its breaking point.  You have, now literally, hundreds of thousands of new veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.  It has been an incredible experience to be able to see these young men and women, and try to make sure we continue to take care of them when they get home.  But, at the same time we have older veterans, whether it’s World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Desert Shield, and Desert Storm.  Their needs are increasing, so there is this dual pressure on the VA, and we must care for all of our veterans. 

Funding for Veterans: In the last year and a half, the House of Representatives has voted to add 17 billion dollars worth of new money for the health care of our veterans.  Seventeen billion, that’s a 40 percent increase!  This increase is unprecedented in VA history and it is possible because of the support of the American people.  And, you, Legionnaires, are our front line to making us aware as to whether they are taking care of veterans.  Now, our job on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee is to make sure the VA spends that budget increase efficiently and effectively.

Health Care: The young people coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan have injuries that they would not have survived in previous wars.  Our service members are coming back with injuries that are very deep and long-lasting, whether they are physical or mental.  I believe that it is part of the cost of war to take care of each and every one of them.  And we know what happens if we don’t do it right.  We didn’t do it right for the veterans of the Vietnam era.  One-half of the homeless tonight are Vietnam veterans.  That is a tragedy that this nation should never have allowed to happen.  We have not done our job as a nation to care for the heroes that have served our nation. 

Suicide Prevention: We have to get this right.  We already have reports of Iraqi veterans being homeless, on the street.  There are approximately 18 deaths per day by suicide of American veterans.  The VA receives 1,500 phone calls each week from veterans seeking help on its suicide hotline and they address 1,000 suicide attempts per month.  I asked Secretary Peake if he was worried about this and he said that these figures are consistent with the literature and the figures are the same as non-veterans.  That is not the way to deal with the veterans of this nation.  The VA has been denying suicide statistics for a long time, but this is an epidemic – an emergency.  We have got to have the resources to take care of these veterans.  It is part of the cost of war and we have to do better.  

Seamless Transition:  As a Nation and a Congress, we are striving for a “systematic relationship” between the VA and the Department of Defense.  This relationship must improve in order to provide a transition that is actually seamless.  This relationship needs to exist – not only between the DoD and the VA, but also between the VA and VSOs, and state and local agencies.  There is a vital role for all of us in serving the wounded warriors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Tens of thousands are leaving the service and National Guard and Reserves, and they are not adequately diagnosed for either PTSD or brain injury.  Currently, there are no mandatory evaluations for our troops and veterans – evaluations that would entail spending one hour with a qualified mental health care professional who could interview and observe the soldier or veteran.  I think the best approach is while on active duty, DoD should provide an evaluation – not a screening using a questionnaire – and the VA should provide the veteran consistent follow-up evaluations. 

Right now, veterans are leaving the military with undiagnosed TBI and PTSD, which causes enormous problems for themselves, their communities, and their families.  There is a dynamic in our society and in the military that you shouldn’t admit struggles or problems with your mental health.  We know what happens if we do not face this:  problems at home, loss of job, homelessness, domestic violence, suicide.  We have to get this right.  Surely, we have the money as a nation to adequately care for our heroes that are coming back as well as the heroes that have been back.  I think we have a long way to go and the need is so great. 

G.I. Bill:  I have argued for a long time for the need for a new G.I. Bill for the 21st Century.  We all know how important the G.I. Bill was in 1944.  I am here because of the G.I. Bill.  My father got some of his education on the G.I. Bill and he was also able to buy a new house.  For the first time in my family’s history, we were part of the middle class.  Eight million veterans took advantage of the G.I. Bill benefits. 

Congress just passed an educational benefits package that brings us up to the 21st Century.  We finally increased the benefit to cover the full cost of college, we made the benefits more flexible for short term courses, we made the National Guard and Reserves eligible for the benefits in a way they were before, and we made it flexible so if the benefits are not used by the veteran they can be passed along to the spouse or children. 

Outsourcing the G.I. Bill: Some people are talking about outsourcing the implementation of the G.I. Bill.  The Administration is talking about it.  Secretary Peake is talking about it.  We cannot outsource this benefit!  The VA can do it.  The VA should do it.  And, we should give the VA the money to do it properly.  We should not get into a profit mode with no accountability. 

Later today, the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Chairwoman, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, will be holding an oversight hearing on this issue.  We have questions and we need answers from the VA. 

VA Home Loan Program:  The other half of the G.I. Bill that Congress still needs to pass is the housing portion of the bill.  The veterans’ loan program was a very important part of the original G.I. Bill, but is nearly irrelevant in today’s market.  There is a cap on refinancing – about $144,000 with an excessive equity requirement.  On Tuesday, the House considered H.R. 6832, which will offer veterans better refinancing options through the VA home loan program – it will help veterans get out of predatory mortgages and protect them from foreclosure.  The bill eliminates the equity requirement, as well as raises the loan limit for refinancing. 

The recent mortgage crisis has greatly affected our service members and veterans, and often they are in this particular situation as a result of their service to our country.  In this time of crisis, veterans ought to be able to turn to the VA for assistance.  Congress has already passed a law protecting active duty troops from foreclosure for one year after they return from a tour of duty.  We have made some progress, but there is much more to do.   

Claims Backlog:  We must solve the disability claims problem at the VA – 800,000 claims pending is just disgraceful.  I hate to use the IRS as an example, but this formerly dysfunctional agency now delivers your tax refund within three weeks, although it is subject to audit.  Why don’t we do that in the VA?  If your claim was prepared or assisted by a veterans’ service officer, the VA should grant your claim and it should be subject to audit.  Let’s assume that our veterans are honest and honor those that have served.  Get the check out to the veteran, subject to audit. 

The House passed H.R. 5892, a bill to modernize the disability claims process.  I look forward to working with Senator Akaka to move this bill forward and take this very important step to ensure the accurate and timely delivery of compensation to veterans and their families and survivors.  Too many people think that VA stands for ‘veterans adversary’ and not ‘veterans advocate’ – and that needs to change!  

There are tens of thousands of Agent Orange claims pending.  For some, it has been 30 or 40 years in the fight for their benefits.  We ought to honor all those Agent Orange claims now.  If you were there, you should get care.  I don’t care if your boots were on the ground, if you were in the blue waters off Vietnam, or in the blue sky over Vietnam, if you were in Laos, Cambodia, Guam, Thailand.  If you have been affected by Agent Orange, then we should take care of that – TODAY. 

Adequate and On-time Funding:  Our veterans deserve reliable funding for the VA, so the VA can function as a real organization.  As many of you know, the VA has been unfunded for months into the fiscal year.  This is unacceptable.  We need adequate and on-time funding to ensure that the VA can operate efficiently and serve our veterans in an effective way.  We cannot privatize the VA, we have got to make it better.  We need to make it more accessible and work to expand services for our veterans.  We need to bring veterans in, not kick them out.  We need to reduce co-pays and eliminate enrollment fees.  This is not about saving money, it is about honoring our veterans. 

Fewer Representatives in Congress are veterans today than in the days of Chairman Sonny Montgomery.  Need for education of Members as there is now more competition for dollars.  This is where The American Legion can play a major role.  Help us to understand so that we may help you.

Commander, I look forward to hearing the Views and Estimates of The American Legion.