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Obama Statement on GAO Report on Care for Wounded Warriors

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy Brundage, 202-228-5511

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) made the following statement today on the Government Accountability Office report that found that wounded warriors are still receiving substandard treatment from the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“It is appalling and unacceptable that we are still not even close to meeting the needs of our wounded warriors,” Senator Obama said. “The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have lasted longer than World War II. There is no excuse for painful delays in disability payments, shortfalls in care, and glaring failures to screen for the signature injuries of these wars – PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury. I have worked to introduce and pass bipartisan legislation to improve living conditions at military facilities, bolster staffing at places like Walter Reed, enhance mental health screening and care for service members, slash red tape, extend job protections and health care to family members caring for recovering service members, and reform the broken disability review process. We need substantive and sustained reform. These issues must not be pushed to the backburner when they are not in the headlines. The Pentagon and VA have no greater obligation than caring for those who serve, and I will continue to fight to ensure that our sacred trust with our wounded warriors is kept.”