On the recordJune 11, 2014
I rise to speak about the care this Nation provides to veterans--care that they have earned, the care that we owe them, the care that we promised them, and the care that we should never stop working to improve. I joined the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee when I came to the Senate in January of 2007. Soon thereafter I launched a listening tour around the great State of Montana to hear what veterans thought about the health care they receive. Montana has the second-most veterans per capita. We serve our country at some of the highest rates in the Nation. We are home to a large Native-American population that serves more often than any other minority in this country. In 2007, the surge in Iraq was in full swing. Veterans had many concerns on their minds. But in rural Montana I heard over and over from the veterans about how the mileage reimbursement that disabled veterans receive to see their doctor at the VA was far too low. In fact, it was at 11 cents a mile, hardly enough to even pay for the gas, much less the tires, the oil, and the automobile itself. That number matters in a State where folks have to drive a couple hundred miles across the State to see their doctor. So when I came back to Washington I worked with then-Senator Byrd to raise that reimbursement rate for the first time in decades.…
