On Memorial Day, Putting Our Troops & Veterans First

PUTTING OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS FIRST

• We have an obligation to care for servicemembers when they're abroad and when they come home. To that end, we remain committed to building on the historic accomplishments made under the Democratic-controlled Congress to strengthen quality health care for veterans and provide the benefits, transition, and educational assistance we have promised to our veterans, servicemembers, and their families.

• Just as we vow to leave no soldier behind on the battlefield, we vow to not forget any veteran when they return home.

THE ACCOUNTABILITY CRISIS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS

• America has a sacred trust with the men and women who have served our country in uniform. The allegations of misconduct within the VA and the unconscionable delays some veterans have faced when seeking care and benefits confirm that our country needs a bold new vision for a 21st century VA. This vision will ensure that veterans come first while providing the VA with the tools it needs to serve our veterans. Our veterans bravely served our nation – we must reform the VA to serve our veterans with dignity and respect.
• Over the last five years more than two million more veterans have enrolled in the VA health care system. Nothing should stand in the way of any veteran having confidence in and access to the care and benefits they earned and deserve. In order to restore trust and accountability for our nation's veterans, the VA needs to reinvent and reinvigorate itself by fully integrating with local communities, sustaining partnerships for a continuum of care, and lead in medical research and technology. The VA health care system must once again strive to serve as a beacon of the very best health care that we can provide.
• Time and time again, veterans struggle to navigate an outdated and, at times, an unresponsive bureaucracy to access the medical care and benefits they earned. Today's VA lacks accountability and transparency at all levels and there is a work environment where employees live in fear and succeed in spite of the organization, not because of it. House Democrats believe that the VA must transform agency-wide in order to meet the needs of veterans and their families in the 21st century with big, entrepreneurial and innovative change – not quick, short-term fixes that don't fix systemic issues.

• While veterans continue to struggle with wait times for health care and claims processing issues, VA has made some progress. In FY 2015, more than 97 percent of health appointments were inside 30 days or on the Veteran's preferred date. The VA completed nearly 57 million appointments inside VA and more than 21 million in communities in FY 2015 – an increase of nearly 2 million appointments over the previous year.

The invisible cost of war

• 22 veterans die by suicide each day – more than 8,000 per year. Because even one suicide is one too many, the Democratic-led Congress passed legislation requiring the VA to establish a 24-hour toll-free suicide hotline for veterans – the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255, press 1). Through the Veterans Crisis Line's confidential hotline, online chat and text messaging service (text message to 838255) more than 2.2 million calls and 51,000 texts have been answered and more than 58,000 life-saving rescues have been made.

• Of the more than 2 million Americans who have served in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is estimated one third – or roughly 600,000 – have Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), PTSD or depression. Since 2007, the VA has screened more than 777,000 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for mild TBI and in FY13 alone, 87,000 veterans received treatment for TBI.

• In February 2015, President Obama signed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act into law. Named in honor of late Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran Marine Corporal Clay Hunt, who committed suicide in 2011 after unsuccessful efforts to get help, the Clay Hunt SAV Act expands access and coordinates efforts to provide the best mental health care to our returning heroes.

VETERANS & THE ECONOMY

• After fighting for our nation overseas, no veteran should have to fight for a job at home. The President and Democrats in Congress have taken steps to help our men and women in uniform find good-paying jobs – ranging from providing tax credits for businesses that hire veterans to creating a Veterans Job Corp that helps veterans find pathways to work protecting and rebuilding America.
• 4 million small businesses (nearly one in 10) in the U.S. are veteran-owned. The SBA's Boots to Business: from Service to Startup initiative, launched in April 2012, offers entrepreneurship training for transitioning service members. In 2014 alone, SBA provided $766 million in lending support to nearly 2,300 veteran-owned small businesses.

• According to the VA, nearly 1.5 million veterans or eligible military family members have been able to continue their education thanks to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, historic legislation passed by the Democratic-led Congress in 2007.

ENDING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS

• In 2015, more than one in ten homeless adults was a veteran.

• But many states and cities have made great progress on ending veteran homelessness. Since 2009, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness has declined in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Several states, including Connecticut and Virginia, and cities, including Houston, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, have effectively eliminated veteran homelessness.
• More than 365,000 veterans and their families have been housed or rehoused or prevented from losing their home. In the first three months of 2016, nearly 30,000 veterans and their family members were prevented from becoming homeless.