I received the following letter from Sen Feingold on December 7th- a day to remember all Veteran and civilians especially those who were taken from us and were injured and fought for us at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.
Dear Mr. Schaefer,
Thank you for contacting me regarding mental health care for our service members and veterans. I appreciate hearing from you.
The American people are indebted to our military personnel and veterans for their selfless service to our country. Our nation's veterans and military personnel deserve access to good health care and other benefits.
An increasing number of Wisconsinites are informing me about issues of great concern to our military personnel and their families regarding the mission of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is imperative that the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs work together to identify troops showing symptoms of mental illness, including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and carefully evaluate and provide appropriate treatment for these service members during their transition back to civilian life.
You may be interested to know that in 2007 and 2008, I led a Wisconsin congressional delegation effort requesting additional Vet Centers for Wisconsin. I'm pleased that the VA responded by providing two new centers in different parts of the state. The second new Vet Center will be in La Crosse County and is expected to open in 2010. As you know, Vet Centers provide counseling to veterans in non-clinical settings that are more welcoming for some veterans. They are critical to helping service members deal with post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.
You may also be interested to know that the Senate approved an amendment of mine to the Defense Authorization Act of 2010, S. 1390. The amendment was based on my Wounded Warrior Transition Assistance Act of 2009 and will help ensure wounded members of the Guard and Reserves, who are returning from overseas, are not discharged before their injuries, including mental illnesses, are evaluated. President Obama signed this bill into law on October 28, 2009.
I will continue to work to ensure that our service members are provided the best possible care. For more information on what the Department of Veterans Affairs is doing to help service members with PTSD, please visit: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/.
Thank you again for contacting me. For more information about my work on behalf of Wisconsin, you can subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter by visiting http://feingold.senate.gov/newsletter.cfm. I look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment