Daniel Akaka: “I rise today with great joy to congratulate the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, on its 75th anniversary. Through its…”

“I rise today with great joy to congratulate the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, on its 75th anniversary. Through its tireless work on behalf of this Nation's veterans, VA has certainly lived up to the words of the great President Abraham Lincoln, ``To care for him who shall have borne the battle and his widow, and his orphan.'' During its first 75 years, VA has done much to benefit not only veterans and their families but also the nation as a whole. On June 22, 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Montgomery GI bill into public law. Since then, the GI bill has been updated and modernized several times. This far-reaching legislation has helped improve the lives of over 20 million veterans through educational programs, home loan guarantees, unemployment compensation, and other benefits. It is estimated that over the lifetime of the average veteran, the U.S. Treasury receives two to eight times the income tax from the average veteran than was spent on the veteran's GI bill benefits. The GI bill is undoubtedly one of the most important pieces of legislation in this Nation's great history. VA has also established a legacy of first rate health care for our veterans. A recent study by the RAND Corporation found that VA outpaces private health care systems in delivering care to patients. RAND observed that VA patients were more likely to receive recommended health services than patients using a private provider.…”