Angie Craig: “today I seek floor recognition to introduce legislation to create a series of Amputation and Prosthetic Rehabilitation…”

“today I seek floor recognition to introduce legislation to create a series of Amputation and Prosthetic Rehabilitation Centers in the Department of Veterans Affairs. As many of you are aware, VA already operates numerous specialty care centers for the treatment of veterans with spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment. However, at this moment, VA does not operate any similar centers of care for the treatment of veterans with amputations. I do not mean to suggest that VA does not provide excellent care and services to those veterans who have unfortunately lost a limb or part of limb. But, there's always room for improvement in the care VA delivers and, just as importantly, there is room for improvement in the prosthetic services and devices that help those men and women with their physical restoration. Many of us have spoken personally with service members who are recuperating from injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center or Bethesda Naval Hospital. Today's extraordinary battlefield medicine is bringing back to our shores service members from Iraq and Afghanistan who would never have lived through their injuries in previous wars. Thanks to the best health care facilities the military has to offer and the wonders of modern medicine, these brave Americans will eventually leave the hospital. Then, most will start the difficult process of reintegrating into civilian life.…”