Patrick Leahy: “the GAO study commission exposed and confirmed these glaring deficiencies. In this GAO study, I said it appears to me we…”

“the GAO study commission exposed and confirmed these glaring deficiencies. In this GAO study, I said it appears to me we are sending our Guard and Reserve out to fight alongside our regular forces, but they are doing it without the health insurance protection our regular forces have. Well, the GAO study said exactly what I thought was happening was happening. So it has been heartening to work with my fellow Senators in remedying these problems. I will continue to press forward until a full TRICARE program for the Guard and Reserve is in place. I will close with this. We are going to ask our Guard and Reserve to do the same duties, face the same dangers, stand in harm's way in the same way as our regular forces, and they ought to be treated the same when it comes to medical care. It is a matter of readiness, it is a matter of honesty, but most importantly it is a matter of simple justice. I yield the floor.”