Kay Bailey Hutchison

Abraham Lincoln best described our everlasting commitment to our soldiers when, on behalf of a grateful nation, he pledged, “to care for him who shall have borne the battle.”

Today, caring for the health of those who have fought to defend freedom continues to be one of the federal government’s most enduring responsibilities.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates America’s largest health care system, consisting of nearly 700 medical centers, clinics and residential facilities.

Texas is home to several of these facilities.

But we must expand the VA’s reach to meet the needs of Texas’ growing population of veterans, already one of the largest in the country, as well as address the changing needs of our newest veterans from the Global War on Terror. And there is also much we can do to improve care at the national level.

We must emphasize research in areas such as mental health and modern prosthesis technology, and encourage the study of poorly understood conditions such as Gulf War Syndrome and traumatic brain injury.

The Waco VA hospital, one of our state’s premier facilities, is a national leader in psychiatric care and research. Despite its stellar reputation, federal budget cuts threatened to close the hospital in 2003.

As Chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee in the U.S. Senate, I invited the VA Secretary to visit Waco with me and observe first hand the exceptional care and research at Waco’s VA hospital.

Seeing that the VA was prepared to close a mental health facility convinced me that we were going in exactly the wrong direction. We should be increasing, not decreasing, our commitment to mental health.

So in 2005 I helped author legislation that designated the Waco veterans’ facility and two facilities in other states Centers of Excellence for mental health research, expanding the scope of treatment to include areas such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and substance abuse.

As a result of these efforts and tireless community support, the VA has decided to keep this renowned facility open to serve thousands of veterans throughout the central United States.

The Big Spring VA Medical Center was also kept open to serve veterans across west Texas, and inpatient care and other services there were expanded.

Other challenges remain. In Houston, after recent reports of extensive and, I believe, unacceptable delays in processing the disability claims of thousands of area veterans, the VA sent a management team to the local office to end this backlog.

And we must do more. South Texas veterans, for example, are forced to endure 500-mile, six-hour roundtrip treks to the San Antonio VA hospital for even basic procedures and routine check-ups. Last year, I personally asked VA Secretary Jim Nicholson to conduct a study of veterans’ needs in South Texas and to determine the best way to deliver the quality care they deserve.

Our nation’s veterans answered the call to serve, and we must honor our promise to care for their needs after they leave the battlefield. I will continue to work in the Senate on behalf of America’s heroes, in recognition of the sacrifices they have made to safeguard liberty at home and throughout the world.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is the senior senator from the state of Texas. Contact her local offices at 145 Duncan Drive, Suite 120, San Antonio, Texas 78226 or by telephone at 340-2885.