Cold War Veterans Blog

Press Release of Senator McCaskill

Dignity For Wounded Warriors Act Introduced in Senate and House

Thursday, March 1, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) today announced the introduction of the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act of 2007 aimed at ensuring injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive the care they deserve.

Prompted by accounts of unacceptable conditions and interminable bureaucracy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in a recent Washington Post article, the lawmakers proposed the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act to address the need for improvements to facilities, procedures and services related to outpatient care for wounded and recovering service members at active military hospitals.

The bill - introduced in both the Senate and the House this week - will direct the Department of Defense (DOD) to reduce the burdens of the current system on recovering service members and families. Specifically, the legislation will require improvements to facilities and increased inspections; reduced paperwork and less red tape; and provide improved counseling for service members and their families. The bill will require the DOD to meet these objectives while still allowing the agency flexibility to find and employ innovative solutions.

The legislation also provides important new support for military families, including medical care and job counseling for family members while caring for injured loved ones at military facilities. It also creates federal protections to prevent them from being fired while they are away from their jobs.

The legislation also creates a Wounded Warrior Oversight Board to monitor the Pentagon's implementation of these reforms and to serve as an independent advocacy board for outpatients. The board, compromised of veterans, wounded service members, family members and medical experts, will play an active role in ensuring that the nation's recovering soldiers receive quality care.


"Caring for our returning heroes is one of the things we can still get right about this war, and that's why the deterioration of the conditions at Walter Reed is both appalling and unacceptable," said U.S. Senator Barack Obama, a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. "The brave men and women wounded at war should receive the best we have to offer and the highest quality of care, and that's why this legislation would cut red tape, improve service, and require frequent inspections of all active duty military hospitals."

"After reading the Washington Post article last week, I had to ask myself: is the system trying to get these soldiers help or trying to shut them out?" said McCaskill, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Our brave men and women returning from war deserve so much better, and this bill will help make sure that happens in the future."

Rep. Emanuel said, "Our wounded young men and women in uniform returning home from war deserve better than moldy walls, dilapidated facilities, and miles of red tape. This legislation will ensure these brave men and women can recover and recuperate with dignity they deserve and the care they've been promised."

"The men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan deserve world class treatment, and this legislation sets the guidelines for providing that treatment," said Mitchell, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. "The care wounded soldiers receive in the weeks and months after their injuries have a direct impact on their future needs as veterans."