Ed Whitfield: “I think this debate has been quite helpful today because it has truly focused the issue of the importance of veterans to…”

“I think this debate has been quite helpful today because it has truly focused the issue of the importance of veterans to the American people and to the sacrifices that they have made. My purpose in having this debate today was to bring attention to this whole process of how, as is usual in wars, they always set up these commissions to distribute money owed to people who provided services, and they allow governments to come in and make claims against them. This administration and this Congress, they have not done anything in a positive way to make sure that veterans are compensated and, as I said before, if the Doggett amendment is adopted, it still does nothing. So I would urge the committee and the House to work diligently on Medicare subvention so that retirees can go to military bases and have Medicare reimburse them, because they can provide the services more economically. I would urge this House to allow veterans to go to VA hospitals, as they do, and when they are reimbursed through CHAMPUS or by private insurance, allow VA hospitals to keep that money instead of sending it back to the general fund.”