Kay Bailey Hutchison: “this amendment attempts to solve a problem facing not this generation of military leadership but our future generation…”

“this amendment attempts to solve a problem facing not this generation of military leadership but our future generation of military leadership. Current law established in the Career Compensation Act of 1949 denies cadets and midshipmen the disability benefits that would be provided to any other member of the Armed Forces, especially when they are injured in the line of duty. With respect to health benefits, cadets and midshipmen who are separated for medical disability after being injured during military training now face unnecessary and unfair burdens in maintaining the continuity of their health care. In addition, Reserve Officer Training Corps, ROTC cadets are in many cases required to pay for their own medical care after being injured during military training. Even though ROTC cadets are covered under the Office of Workers Compensation within the Department of Labor, medical care providers, many of whom have not been compensated for their prior work, decline to treat ROTC patients unless they use private medical insurance. This is not something that we should allow to remain a problem.”