Angie Craig: “we have completed a tremendously important piece of legislation for the funding of our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.…”

“we have completed a tremendously important piece of legislation for the funding of our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. During this afternoon, I, along with Senator Danny Akaka, my ranking member on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and Senator Mike DeWine, added an amendment I want to speak for a few moments about because I think it addresses a tremendous gap in the coverage that exists in the treatment of the soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen who are fighting for our country at this very moment. Our amendment addresses the coverage gap through the creation of a new traumatic injury protection insurance program for the benefit of severely disabled service members. But before I describe the amendment, let me further discuss the nature of the problem our amendment attempts to attend. It is widely known that due to the incredible advances in medicine, service members who may not have survived life-threatening injuries in previous wars are now making it back home alive from Iraq and Afghanistan. That is the good news. The bad news, however, is that they must live with injuries that may have left them without their limbs, sight, hearing, or speech ability, or even more. All of my colleagues have likely met these brave young men and women in their home visits or right here in Washington, DC, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. They are fighting for their lives.…”