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Walz Praises Obama Administration’s Major New Veterans Health Care Initiatives
Pledges to work with DoD and VA
For Immediate Release
April 9, 2009
Contact: Meredith Salsbery
507-388-2149
Mankato, MN — Congressman Tim Walz issued the following statement today in response to President Obama’s announcement on veterans health care:
“Today President Obama took important steps toward raising the quality of life for our veterans by announcing two significant initiatives that I have pushed for as a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
First, the President, together with the Secretaries of Defense and of Veterans Affairs (VA), announced that the two Departments will create a system of Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic records for every service member. That record will be created the moment service members enter military service and travel with them throughout their career and as they become a veteran.
Such a system is crucial to the delivery of quality medical care and benefits for those who are serving and have served our nation. It will in particular be one of the keys to ensuring that service members make a seamless transition out of the military and into veteran status. Achieving a seamless transition is one of my absolute top priorities as a member of Congress, and the Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has recognized me as the lead on that issue.
VA Secretary Shinseki’s first public mention of this initiative came in response to my questioning of him about seamless transition at a Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing back in early February. I have been touting it ever since at every chance I get. I look forward to working on this essential initiative with the Secretaries of Defense and VA, and I applaud their leadership on it.
Second, President Obama today signaled his support for advance funding for VA medical care. This will guarantee that funding for our veterans’ health care is not just sufficient – something we have achieved since I came to Congress – but timely and predictable. I have been a champion of advance appropriations since legislation on it was first introduced toward the end of the last Congress, becoming one of only a handful of original co-sponsors of the original legislation. I am proud to be co-sponsoring that legislation again in this Congress.
When the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee submitted its Views and Estimates on the FY2010 VA budget, with a handful of other members I submitted Additional Views underlining our emphatic support for advance funding for VA medical care. I am pleased that the President today reaffirmed his commitment to that advance funding. It remains a difficult challenge to get this through Congress and I look forward to working with the administration to get it done.
Today, the Obama administration has made clear its commitment to our nation’s servicemen and –women and our veterans. I applaud the President, VA Secretary Shinseki and Defense Secretary Gates for taking on difficult challenges with leadership and cooperation that I believe is unprecedented.”
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