Patty Murray

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask unanimous consent to print two letters of support in the Record. They are from the national veterans service organizations: The American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Amvets, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Disabled American Veterans.

Mrs. MURRAY. The Senator from Michigan is correct. Frankly, I have joined her in trying to make veteran services mandatory so we are not here. It is disturbing to me that we are desperately pleading to our colleagues to call this an emergency. What are we doing to our soldiers when we tell them we are in a desperate fight on the floor of the Senate that we are going to lose on a partisan vote over our veterans? That is the wrong message to send to the men and women in the services. It should be part of our budget, part of the appropriations every year, that if you serve your country, you get your care. We don't have that now, so we are here in our last-ditch effort, last attempt, last ability to try to provide these services for the men and women in the services. I find that appalling, but I will fight hard because I believe more than anything that we should be making sure if a young man or woman comes home from Iraq or Afghanistan, they are not turned away at their VA hospital. We need to make sure that anybody who serves in any war-- Vietnam, Korea, or anywhere--is not turned away at a VA hospital. They should not be put in a bed held together by duct tape. That is wrong. That is why we are here arguing now that this is an emergency, because we have not dealt with it in the past. We now have to deal with it, and I urge my colleagues to join with us on the last chance we have this year to keep our word to the men and women who have served this country honorably.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, how much time do I have?

Mrs. MURRAY. I yield for a question.

Mrs. MURRAY. The Senator is exactly right. We are hearing that from every region, including yours. That is why this amendment is before us. I have little time left. I see some colleagues on the other side are on the floor. They are going to make their arguments. Again, this is an emergency; this is part of the supplemental. We should not tell our soldiers that they are not an emergency when they come home. I yield to my colleagues on the other side.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, how much time is left?

Mrs. MURRAY. How much time is left on the other side?

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I do not see anybody on the other side who is going to speak. Let me just reiterate for everyone here. What we are talking about is an amendment for veterans, to make sure they have the health care and support they need when they come home from the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. What we have been very clear about is in every region across this country there is a debt and a shortfall. We have facilities that are decaying, and no money is being put in to fix them. We have long waiting lines. We have veterans in rural areas who are being told they cannot have health clinics. We are being told that veterans, the men and women who served us, have to travel over mountain passes and travel long distances to get the care they need. Most of it is inaccessible. We are telling veterans who live in urban areas that the long lines in which they are waiting have to be there. We are telling suburban parents if they send their young son or daughter off to war, we are not going to be there for them when they come home. I believe this is a emergency. I have outlined it this morning. I have outlined it again this afternoon. I heard from our colleagues on the other side that the Veterans Affairs Secretary, Secretary Nicholson, is saying he has the money he needs. He was on the job for 2 weeks when he said that. I invite the Secretary and any one of us to go out on the ground, go out to Michigan and Minnesota, go to Kentucky, go to Illinois, go to California, go to Texas, go to Idaho, go to any veterans facility and look and tell me there is not an emergency. Look in the eye of any VA doctor or nurse and tell them there is not an emergency. But more importantly, look in the eyes of the young men and women who served us. I was in Iraq and Kuwait several weeks ago. I had to look in the eyes of 150 Guard and Reserve members who had just finished in Iraq for a year. Their No. 1 concern is they are hearing the facilities will not be available for them when they get home. Their No. 1 concern? Stress. A year on the ground in Iraq. They had heard from soldiers who had already gone home about the troubles they had with migraines, post- traumatic stress syndrome, reintegrating in the community. They want to come home, and we know the support is not there, and we tell them that is not an emergency. I find it outrageous that this body can send to war our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and say we will not be there for you when you come home; that we will tell them you will have to wait, your budgets are not a priority, your issues are not a concern to this body. I cannot think of a more important issue, I cannot think of a more important emergency, and I cannot think of anywhere else we are going to be able to deal with this this year. If we do not provide the funds on the emergency supplemental before us, we will be here a year from now with story after story of young men and women who served us and then came home and were told no. That is an emergency.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I understand the other side yielded this time. Let me simply respond by saying we are talking about a supplemental bill that talks about the cost of the war. Part of the cost of war is caring for the men and women when they return home. As President Lincoln said: We all have an obligation to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and for his orphan. That is what this vote is about, whether we carry forward our obligations to care for those we sent to war. I ask my colleagues to vote with us to override this motion that says this is not an emergency so our veterans can receive the care they deserve. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I move to waive the applicable sections of the Budget Act, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, what we voted on was whether to make the VA funding emergency funding. This vote is to say that the veterans funding is a priority for this Congress.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield some of that time to the Senator from Hawaii, as much time as he will choose to use.

Mrs. MURRAY. Yes.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I note that there is nobody from the other side on the floor. I am frankly not surprised, because I don't see how anyone can argue against making sure that our service men and women get the health care they need, whether it is for a mental or a physical need. We sent them to war. We should be there for them when they come home. Regarding this amendment, I have been trying to do this since the beginning of the year and I have been told this is not the time or the place. I let my colleagues know this is our last chance this year to make sure our veterans have the care they need. There is no other opportunity. We are going to get to the budget at some point and to the appropriations cycle, and we are going to get to the point where we have an appropriations bill on the floor, and the budget already says there is no more money. We hear the administration say--when we talk about the VISNs, everyone tells us they don't have the resources. If you look at it, you will see these men and women don't have the care they need.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from North Dakota.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, how much time do we have on this side?

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, the VA is not prepared to deal with the soldiers who are coming home. So far 240,000 soldiers have come out of our service and are now available or have available to them veterans services; 50,000 already have asked the VA for care. This is an emergency. As I talked about this morning, in State after State, in Alaska, where priority 7 veterans who are not enrolled in VA primary care are not getting appointments to date; in Colorado, where they have a $7.25 million shortage this year; in California where the VA hospital in Los Angeles has closed its psychiatric ward at the exact time we have generals telling us that at least 30 percent of our soldiers who are coming home from Iraq will need mental health care capacity and we have psychiatric emergency rooms being closed; in Florida, where there is $150 million deficit; in Idaho, where we have the Boise Idaho VA facility with a hiring freeze; in Kentucky, where we are having soldiers lie on broken tables because there is simply no money to replace any equipment there. In Maine, we have a $12 million deficit; in Minneapolis, $7 million shortfall--I remind the Senate, there are four facilities that see the most difficult, complex injuries once they have been discharged. Minnesota is one of them, and they have a $7 million shortfall. The list goes on and on. This is an emergency. I cannot think of a more important issue facing our country today. I can't go home and look at my veterans in north central Washington who have to drive over a mountain pass 150 miles to get care today, who have been promised the health care clinic, and say: Sorry, my colleagues don't see this as an emergency. Any one of us who has taken the time to sit down with our soldiers when they are discharged from the service and out in their communities--they tell us the stories such as the Senator from Illinois talked about, about the help they need getting through the nightmares, the posttraumatic stress syndrome, getting help with serious injuries where they have lost arms and legs. We should not say on this Senate floor this is not an emergency. I am appalled that that is what the argument has come down to. I believe this vote is about whether we stand with our men and women. It is about whether you are going to vote with our veterans. I am stunned that there are those who say this one issue is not something that is an emergency. Any one of us who has been out there working with our veterans--I come to this floor as a daughter of a disabled veteran. I lived with my father who was in a wheelchair most of his lifetime. I worked at a VA hospital long before I even thought about being in the Senate. I worked at the Seattle VA hospital during the Vietnam war. Any one of us who has taken the time to talk to people who served in wars and have come home know that if we don't have the care for them, we are doing a disservice not only to the men and women who serve today, but to the men and women whom we are going to ask to serve us in the wars to come. This is an emergency. I don't care if the administration is saying the VA hospitals have the money they need. When we talk to them, they are all telling us they have a budget deficit, a hiring freeze; they are not replacing the doctors and nurses who are leaving, and they have equipment that is old, decrepit, falling apart, and dangerous. That is an emergency. It is one we have to deal with. Mr. President, I see my colleague from Minnesota on the floor. I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from Minnesota.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I assume the time will be equally divided between now and 3:30 on this amendment. That would be satisfactory.

Mrs. MURRAY. Yes.

Mrs. MURRAY. The Senator is correct. Actually, the President sent us an $82 billion supplemental. The Senate is considering $80.1 billion. We have the means to still be less than what the President has sent us by adding this amendment. I sincerely cannot think of any other issue more important than to make sure that those men and women who served us, when they come home, have the services they need.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have to agree with my colleague from Minnesota. I have not seen that done before. What we are going to vote on is whether our veterans are an emergency so they can be included in the supplemental.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, let me make a couple of comments. I thank the Senators from Idaho and Texas for working with us on this critical issue. I know both of them have worked very long and hard on veterans issues and care deeply about making sure the men and women who serve are taken care of when they return home, as we promised. Let me remind everyone, of the 240,000 men and women separated from our services since the beginning of the war in Iraq, 50,000 have already asked the VA for services. Many more of them will continue to do that as they come home and as they get back into their homes and look for services, especially mental health services, as all know who have worked with veterans for a long time. This is an emergency. If any Members work with veterans in our States, talk to our directors at home, and talk with soldiers who have returned home, we will realize the long lines they are waiting in, the clinics that were promised that have not been opened, the tremendous services that are not being provided. As I discussed in my opening statement, beds are held together by duct tape in our facilities. This is not how we should be treating our veterans. It is an emergency because more veterans return in higher numbers with the care not available for them. I am willing to work with the Senators from Idaho and the Senators from Texas over the next several hours, or whatever it takes to come up with a number. If they believe $1.98 billion is too high, I would like to talk to them about that. We can work together. I know both care about this issue, and we want to find a way to make sure our veterans are taken care of. I remind everyone when we send our men and women overseas, one of the promises we make to them is we will have the care available when they return. When we have veterans who are in beds that are held together by duct tape, when we have veterans who have to endure long waiting lines for simple services, that is an emergency. I clarify, the money in this bill will be used until it is expended. It does not have to be expended this year. It will be used until expended, allowing our veterans and our veteran services to put in place facilities they need for our men and women coming home. I close at this time, and I will work with Senators from Idaho and Texas and the chairman of the Appropriations Committee because I believe this is an emergency. I believe we have a responsibility. I will make sure our veterans get the care they need. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today in Iraq and in Afghanistan, our men and women in uniform are making great sacrifices to serve our country. Last month I had the opportunity to meet with some of them in Baghdad and in Kuwait and all of us can be very proud of their service. Every person I met with was a dedicated professional who was putting their duty above their personal well-being. Today, I am very concerned that when all of these new veterans come home and need medical care, they are going to be pushed into a veterans health care system that does not have the medical staff, the facilities, or the funding to take care of them. There is a train wreck coming in veterans health care. I am offering an amendment to deal with this emergency now before it turns into a crisis. The VA health care system is overcrowded. It is underfunded. It is understaffed. It is struggling to deal with existing veterans. I fear what will happen when tens of thousands of our new veterans are added to this already strained system. As Americans, we make a promise to those who join our military that we will take care of them when they come home. It is a promise all of us have to work together to keep, and that is why I am on the Senate floor today. This is not a Democratic issue. It is not a Republican issue. This is an American issue. I am willing to work with anyone to make sure all of our veterans get the health care they are promised. I appreciate the leadership of many Senators, especially Senator Craig who chairs the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on which I serve. I thank Senator Hutchison of Texas who chairs the committee that funds veterans health care. I truly appreciate their commitment to our veterans. I look forward to working with them, and I will work with many others to make sure we are doing everything we need to do to prepare for the influx of many new veterans. With Senator Akaka and others, I am offering a veterans health care amendment to this emergency supplemental. Our amendment recognizes that caring for our veterans is part of the cost of war. This is being offered on the emergency supplemental because our amendment recognizes that caring for our veterans is a part of the cost of war. Our amendment does three things: First, it makes sure all soldiers who need health care when they return home from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom can get that health care. To do that, this amendment provides $610 million. Second, it provides funding for mental health care for our newest veterans. Specifically, it provides $525 million for expanded mental health services, including $150 million to treat post-traumatic stress disorder for counseling, as well as family therapy. Third, the amendment helps address the shortfalls that are crippling our regional VA networks. It provides $40 million to each and every VISN, Veterans' Integrated Service Network. This chart shows the 21 regional health networks. For each region, our amendment provides $40 million to spend on their priorities. For some areas it is going to mean erasing big deficits. For others it will help them hire more medical staff. In other parts of the country they will use it to buy medical equipment. That flexible funding that each VISN gets will allow each region to prepare their staff and facilities for our newest veterans. It will put a total of $840 million where these local communities need it the most. In short, this amendment will ensure that we can handle the health care needs of all the veterans who will seek care after serving our country in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The total cost of the amendment is $1.98 billion. Let me explain how we arrived at that figure. First, we looked at the number of new veterans who will return to the VA for care. We multiplied that by the average cost per patient and added the cost of reversing the deficits that are today facing our VA hospitals and the cost of meeting increased mental health care needs that everyone assures us we are facing. Some Senators may wonder if this is the appropriate vehicle to fund veterans health care, so let me talk about that for a minute. I would have preferred to fund this critical need in the regular budget process. I tried to do it several times last month in the Budget Committee and on the floor with Senator Akaka. Unfortunately, our amendments were voted down. But the need is not going away. The shortfalls are only going to get worse. So if we are not going to take care of our veterans from Iraq in the regular budget, then we have to take care of them in the bill that funds our war efforts. This is the appropriate bill because the veterans health care train wreck is an emergency, and because caring for our veterans is part of the cost of war. As I have been talking about this amendment and discussing it with our veterans, I have been pleased by the support it has received. This amendment is supported by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and it is supported by the VA workers who care for our veterans, represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO. I thank all of these organizations and their members for supporting my amendment and reaching out to their Senators to call for its passage. Before I go any further, I want to note that veterans health care is a very personal issue for me. My father was a disabled World War II veteran. I grew up knowing the sacrifices that our veterans make. When I was in college, I interned in our VA hospital in Seattle during the Vietnam war, and I saw how important the services were to our soldiers who were returning. I became the first woman to serve on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. I know what the costs are and I know what the challenges are. The VA provides some of the best care, research, and treatment anywhere. Our VA employees have a unique understanding of the challenges that our veterans face when they return, and their dedication is unmatched. Like them, I want to make sure this system works for every veteran of every war and every generation. I will share some specific examples from throughout our country that illustrate the emergency in veterans health care today. These examples didn't come from me. They came from people who know our VA facilities firsthand. A couple days ago, I posted a form on my Web site, murray.senate.gov, where veterans and their advocates can share their stories and examples with me. I have been heartened with the things people have shared. I invite other veterans to share their stories with me and with their own Senators. For anyone who thinks this is not an emergency or it doesn't merit emergency funding, I invite you to listen very closely. I am going to talk about different places, but the overall problem is the same everywhere. For years, VA funding has not kept up with the growing demand for care and with the rising costs of health care. So VA networks around our country have held off making improvements. When a doctor or nurse left, they were not replaced. When equipment needed to be purchased, it was put on hold. When a clinic needed to be opened, it was held in limbo. When there wasn't enough money in the operating budget, they started taking money from their capital budget. Now all those years of chronic underfunding are coming back to roost at the worst possible time, as we are about to have a major influx of new veterans, men and women serving honorably in Iraq and Afghanistan today, when they are returning, our VA facilities across the country are facing deficits, staff shortages, and inadequate facilities. Let me give a couple of examples that have been shared with me. In Alaska, as of yesterday, they are starting a waiting list for nonemergency care for all new priority 7 veterans who are not enrolled in VA primary care. That means those people cannot get an appointment to even see a doctor. In Colorado, the Eastern Colorado Health Care System is $7.25 million short this year. In California, last year, the VA hospital there in Los Angeles closed its psychiatric emergency room. In Florida, the VISN 8 facilities were facing a $150 million deficit earlier this year. West Palm Beach Medical Center has a deficit alone of $6 million. In Idaho, at the VA in Boise, they are resorting to hiring freezes when we have soldiers coming home. In Kentucky, veterans at the Louisville hospital, who are having a type of bladder examination, have to lie on a broken table because there is no money to replace that broken equipment. In Maine, the Togus VA has a $12 million deficit. In Minnesota, at the Minneapolis VA, they have a $7 million shortfall. They have one of the VA's four sites for dealing with veterans with complex, multiple injuries but they are not hiring anymore staff for that specialized center because of the deficit. All of us who have visited our returning soldiers at Walter Reed or Bethesda know many of them are returning with these kinds of injuries that need to be treated at hospitals such as the one in Minneapolis. In Missouri, at the Kansas City VA Medical Center, they have a $10 million operating deficit. I am also told that in Missouri there are not enough doctors and providers to see all the veterans. If a veteran is less than 50-percent service-connected disabled, he or she is put on a waiting list. In South Dakota, they are expecting to be $7 million in the red by the end of this fiscal year. The VA is proposing to save $2 million by not filling staff vacancies. I am told, in fact, they need 58 new beds, and that some of the bedframes in that facility are held together with duct tape and wire. So because of the deficits they cannot even buy new beds. That is unacceptable for our veterans who have served this country. I am also told that the Black Hills Health Care System is $3 million in the hole. They have had to use the capital budget to pay staff and other expenses. In Texas, at the Temple, Texas, VA, nurses in inpatient care are working 16-hour days several times a week because there is not enough staff. We know that nurses providing direct care should only be working 12-hour days, because longer shifts lead to medical errors and unsafe care. This is not a way to treat our veterans who are returning. In Virginia, as of January 1, I understand that Virginia had a budget shortfall of $14.5 million. In my home State of Washington, we have problems, too. In Tacoma, at the American Lake VA, you can only get an appointment if you are 50- percent or more service-connected disabled. That is not the promise we made to the men and women who serve our country. In Puget Sound, as of January, there was an $11 million deficit. At the Seattle and American Lake VA they are leaving vacant positions unfilled. There are about 16 new vacancies every month and those positions are remaining empty. They hope to reduce the workforce by 160 full-time equivalents by the end of this fiscal year. This is having a huge impact on our patients. As of this month, the next appointment at the Seattle VA urology clinic is not available until August. I can tell you that conditions like these are breaking the hearts of our VA personnel who work day in and day out with the men and women who have served this country. They are frustrated at seeing so many veterans not get the care they have earned. Why? Because Congress is not providing the money. I share these examples not to criticize or cast blame. We have problems such as this in my State as well, as I have talked about. I share these examples because we have to look at what is happening and realize that our VA system is not prepared to handle a new generation of veterans. All of these examples, from more than a dozen States, point to one conclusion: The VA is having trouble taking care of the patients it has today. It is certainly not prepared to handle a new influx of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these VA centers are in the hole for millions of dollars. They are not in a position today to begin expanding care to meet the growing need. They cannot do it alone. We have to step in and help them. Before I close, I want to talk about one claim we made here during this debate. Some Senators have suggested that the VA doesn't need any additional funding because it has some kind of reserve for $500 million. I was troubled by the idea that the VA has extra money it is not using while so many communities are struggling, so at a hearing last week of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee I got to the bottom of it. I wanted to share this chart with colleagues. At our hearing on April 7, I asked Acting Under Secretary for Veterans Health Care Dr. Jonathan Perlin: Is there a $500 million reserve? Dr. Perlin's reply was: No . . . I don't know where that might have been suggested, but there is no $500 million reserve that is sitting there for future projects. I share that with my colleagues to set the record straight. The VA is not sitting on any type of reserve it can use for medical care. That comes straight from the man who runs the program nationwide. We have VA centers that are struggling in every part of our country. They cannot deal with the caseload they have today. How in the world are they going to deal with all of the new veterans who are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan? We cannot kick this down the road any longer. It is an emergency today and if we do not deal with it now, it is going to be a crisis tomorrow. This is not a partisan issue; it is an American issue. It is about whether we keep the promise to the men and women we send to serve us overseas. I am willing to work with anyone who wants to make sure our country is prepared to care for all of the veterans who will be coming home soon. They were there for us. We need to be there for them now. I urge my colleagues to support this veterans health amendment. If you are concerned about this--perhaps I mentioned your State or you have heard from your own veterans--let's talk about it and find a way to make it work. No matter what party you are in, we are all Americans first. We all have an obligation, as President Lincoln said, ``to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphan.'' We need to pass a veterans health amendment and keep this promise to America's veterans. This amendment is the last opportunity we will have to make sure our veterans--the men and women serving us--are taken care of when they return home.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to add as cosponsors Senators Akaka, Byrd, Boxer, Bingaman, Rockefeller, Mikulski, Jeffords, Salazar, and Dayton.