Getting Aid for Wounded Warriors and Pay Raises for Troops Shouldn’t be Political – or This Difficult

December 29, 2007, Washington, DC - Americans sleep soundly in their beds because our troops volunteer to serve and some veterans pay the price for years after. Yet in return for their patriotic sacrifice, President Bush is preparing to veto the National Defense Authorization Act passed in the House and Senate with overwhelming support earlier this month. The bill provides a much-needed pay raise to those serving, and offers security, peace-of-mind, and improved conditions for America’s wounded warriors.

Contained within the bill, along with a respectable pay raise for those currently serving, is the Dignified Treatment for Wounded Warriors Act. This measure includes desperately needed legislation that addresses the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed, lengthens the time frame of benefits to returning National Guard and Reservists, and calls for rating of disabled injured service members by the Department of Defense on parity with the Department of Veterans Affairs. A trio of veterans advocacy organizations, Veterans and Military Families for Progress (VMFP), Veterans for Common Sense, and Empowering Veterans, have been advocating for this bill since March and Matt Cary, President of VMFP, has spent countless volunteer hours pressing the issue personally with legislators in both the House and Senate on behalf of VMFP’s membership made up of veterans, those actively serving, and military family members.

Annette McLeod is a VMFP member who experienced firsthand both the conditions at Walter Reed and the Army’s miserly rating system when husband Spec. Wendell “Dell” McLeod was injured on the Iraq border and the two were forced to spend months at the storied medical hospital where Dell received medical care.  There, Annette began a lengthy battle to ensure Dell – who’d served 19 years – was done right by the country he served so valiantly, giving up her career to do so. Annette, who serves on VMFP’s Military Families Committee, testified before Congress about the couple’s painful uphill fight. Still not resolved, the South Carolina wife recently expressed her great disappointment over the president’s veto threat.

“It is time President Bush does what he promised for the wounded and injured,” Annette said when she heard of the threatened veto.  “This bill will help Dell and others like him. If the president vetoes this bill, those promises he’s made are just empty words. It is time for him to honor his promise, take action, and do what’s right for our veterans and servicemen and women!”

Speaking of the monumental effort to get the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors bill enacted, Cary said, “It shouldn’t have to be this difficult to ensure America keeps its promise to those who serve, but believe it or not, it was.  Despite the overwhelming bi-partisan support this measure has received along the way, it was felt the best way to get the legislation signed into law was to put it into the Defense budget, since surely the President wouldn’t want to withhold money from the troops and the Pentagon, especially during wartime.”

VMFP member Maura Satchell, mother of two Iraq war veterans reacted with shock.  “I’m flabbergasted that this administration would put external issues before our troops, before our wounded warriors!” Satchell said. “When you think about our all-volunteer forces, it is a no-brainer to send the message they’ll have all they need when they serve and, God help them, if injured too.  We need a strong military, but it won’t be there in the future when this president’s irresponsible actions send the message the troops are not going to get the support they need.”

Since support for this bill was so strong – the measure passed by 370-49 in the House, and 90-3 in the Senate -- VMFP expects Congress to override the Veto as soon as the lawmakers return to Congress in January.

Veterans and Military Families for Progress (www.vmfp.org) is a  non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)4 all-volunteer organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs among Veterans Advocacy Organizations. Made up of veterans, those serving, and military family members from across the country, VMFP’s aim is to drive public dialogue and policy to address the issues facing returning veterans.