On the recordJuly 18, 2012
as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am pleased to speak in support of the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. I thank my colleagues from the Veterans' Committee for their continuous support of our Nation's veterans--especially my ranking member Senator Burr of North Carolina, for his steadfast advocacy of the government's responsibility to provide health care for the veterans and family members stationed at Camp Lejeune. In addition, I thank Representatives Jeff Miller and Bob Filner, the chairman and ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for their hard work in developing this bipartisan, bicameral, and fully paid-for legislation. With the passage of the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, military families affected by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, NC, would have the health care they need. These families have waited for decades to get the assistance they need, and they should not be forced to wait any longer. The legislation would also allow the VA to continue a number of programs that are so critical to helping veterans who have no place to call home. Currently, the VA can only provide emergency shelter to veterans who are diagnosed with a serious mental illness. But we all know not all homeless veterans are mentally ill. Yet the VA is currently prevented from offering these critical services to all our veterans.…
