On the recordApril 21, 2010
I rise to support S. 1963, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, for the work it is doing on caregivers and dealing with suicide and unfortunate tragedies that occur among our military. This legislation included H.R. 228, the Blind Veterans of America, an organization chartered by Congress in 1958, which has been for nearly 50 years the only veterans service organization exclusively dedicated to serving America's blind and visually impaired veterans. There are approximately 160,000 legally blind veterans in the United States, but only approximately 35,000 are currently enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration services. It is estimated that there are 1 million low-vision veterans in the United States, and incidences of blindness among the approximate total veteran population of 26 million are expected to increase by about 40 percent over the next few years. This bill provides scholarships for training individuals, and I ask my colleagues to support it.
