Patty Murray: “today in Iraq and in Afghanistan, our men and women in uniform are making great sacrifices to serve our country. Last…”

“today in Iraq and in Afghanistan, our men and women in uniform are making great sacrifices to serve our country. Last month I had the opportunity to meet with some of them in Baghdad and in Kuwait and all of us can be very proud of their service. Every person I met with was a dedicated professional who was putting their duty above their personal well-being. Today, I am very concerned that when all of these new veterans come home and need medical care, they are going to be pushed into a veterans health care system that does not have the medical staff, the facilities, or the funding to take care of them. There is a train wreck coming in veterans health care. I am offering an amendment to deal with this emergency now before it turns into a crisis. The VA health care system is overcrowded. It is underfunded. It is understaffed. It is struggling to deal with existing veterans. I fear what will happen when tens of thousands of our new veterans are added to this already strained system. As Americans, we make a promise to those who join our military that we will take care of them when they come home. It is a promise all of us have to work together to keep, and that is why I am on the Senate floor today. This is not a Democratic issue. It is not a Republican issue. This is an American issue. I am willing to work with anyone to make sure all of our veterans get the health care they are promised.…”