Thomas Daschle: “I am hard pressed to recall a time when the gap between the demands we place on our soldiers and the thanks we offer…”

“I am hard pressed to recall a time when the gap between the demands we place on our soldiers and the thanks we offer them once they return home has been wider. It is bitterly ironic that on this Veterans Day, while soldiers are facing danger far from home, the gap is still growing. Today, more than 500,000 American soldiers are stationed in 137 different countries around the world. More than 300,000 are engaged in active combat or peacekeeping missions in seven different countries, including more than 140,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 400 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 2,400 have been wounded. Meanwhile, our military is stretched so thin we cannot tell many of our soldiers or their families when they might be coming home. And despite the added strain and the ever more complicated mission, we are failing to provide for our soldiers, our veterans, and their families. Veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom will join 250,000 veterans who must wait 6 months just to see a V.A. hospital doctor. This wait will be lengthened by the administration's closing of seven Veterans Hospitals and a budget that under-funds veterans health by $1.8 billion. In addition, the administration has opposed expanding health care benefits to Guard Members and Reservists and their families. It proposed cutting the pay to troops facing imminent danger. Schools for the children of military families are being threatened with cuts.”