March 8, 2007

Senator Clinton Calls for New GI Bill of Rights

Underscores Critical Need to Meet Our Responsibilities to Our Men and Women in Uniform

Washington, DC - In a major address at the Center for American Progress, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today emphasized the failure to meet our responsibilities to our servicemen and women before they are deployed, when they are deployed and when they come home. Clinton called for immediate action steps to address challenges facing our troops and called for a new GI Bill of Rights to once again invest in our servicemembers.

"I believe that if you serve your country, your country must serve you well. That is the promise we make to all of those who enlist and to all those who go into battle. Sadly, as America learned these last few weeks, that is not always the case. There are huge gaps in the care, treatment, protection, survivor's benefits and educational benefits afforded our troops and their families," said Senator Clinton. Read the full text >

"I am today proposing a series of steps to remedy these issues - to enact a new GI Bill of Rights and a series of reforms aimed at keeping our promise to those who give their all for their country. But I am saying something more: we will do everything we can in the Senate to fix this; but if it is not fixed, then the next president must overhaul the benefits we provide our troops to ensure that they never have to worry about having adequate protection in the field, never have to worry about having the best in healthcare, never have to worry about whether their family is being helped in a crisis and never have to worry about how they will be able to pay for college. I would reorder our defense priorities from wasting billions in funds in overpayments to contractors overseas that can't be accounted for and instead spend what it takes to replace this national disgrace with benefits that truly honor our soldiers, our veterans and their families," Senator Clinton emphasized.

Senator Clinton today proposed three immediate action steps to address egregious problems facing our servicemen and women:

Expanded Heroes at Home Initiative:

Senator Clinton underscored that we have a duty to reform and ready the military for the increasing number of veterans suffering from complex injuries like traumatic brain injury (TBI). Last year, Senator Clinton authored legislation signed into law creating a groundbreaking "Heroes at Home" initiative aimed at helping U.S. troops and their families to transition after deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan and get the help they need with readjustment to work and coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and TBI. Today, Senator Clinton announced a new initiative to expand Heroes at Home by improving the screening process for our troops before deployment to improve TBI diagnoses after deployment and help families struggling to take care of a loved one with training and certification for dealing with brain injuries and psychological injuries.

Assistance for Orphaned Children: Senator Clinton underscored the unique challenges facing single parents deployed overseas and the unique hardship faced by these children when that parent is killed in the line of duty. These minor children, now orphaned, are often cared for by a loving but financially ill-prepared grandparent, relative, or guardian. In too many cases, single-parents killed in combat were not provided sufficient options to designate a guardian as a beneficiary for survivor benefits. Senator Clinton today announced a proposal to provide service-members the option to select a guardian as a beneficiary to provide care for designated dependents - an option that does not currently exist.

Independent Review of Disabilities Claims: Senator Clinton noted that one common denominator to many of the complaints that she heard from New York soldiers in her most recent visit to Walter Reed remains the disjointed and unfair process for evaluating disabilities: untrained and overworked staff, inaccurate documentation by a revolving door of medical providers, missing documents, lack of legal counsel, failures to adequately address wounds like TBI and the seemingly endless time spent waiting to start or complete the process. Another troubling development that highlights how our wounded heroes are being mistreated is the fact that 45 percent of Traumatic Servicemen's Group Life Insurance claims have been denied; an unacceptable rate for insurance designed to provide immediate financial relief for wounded service-members and their families. Senator Clinton today outlined her proposal to fix the process that determines medical compensation for injured troops, calling for an independent review of previously denied cases and failed appeals and a new hearing for servicemembers when warranted.

Senator Clinton also called for a comprehensive effort to renew and reenergize our commitment to those who wear our uniform. Senator Clinton announced that in the coming weeks, she will propose a new GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century to honor the basic bargain at the heart of America's promise.

"If you do your part - or more than your part - your country will have your back -- to achieve a college education, to afford housing, to start a small business, and more," said Senator Clinton. "My parent's generation, the original beneficiaries of the GI Bill signed into law by President Roosevelt, believed in that basic bargain and understood that if the bargain wasn't honored for our soldiers and veterans it wasn't honored for anybody. That bargain helped a generation return from war to build the highways and schools, expand higher education in America, forge the great middle class, and unleash the creative and hardworking spirit of Americans."

As New York's first Senator to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Clinton has made it one of her top priorities to ensure that our brave men and women in uniform have the healthcare and support they need. She has been a leading voice for making sure our troops have adequate body armor. She has worked for healthcare that recognizes the new realities facing our men and women in uniform and that honors our responsibility to our veterans. She has been an advocate for wounded troops stuck in red tape, and she has worked to stop in their tracks those who prey on soldiers trying to do the right thing for their families.

SENATOR CLINTON: STANDING UP FOR SERVICEMEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

As New York's first Senator to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Clinton has made it one of her top priorities to ensure that our brave men and women in uniform have the healthcare and support they need. She has been a leading voice for making sure our troops have adequate body armor. She has worked for healthcare that recognizes the new realities facing our men and women in uniform and that honors our responsibility to our veterans. She has been an advocate for wounded troops stuck in red tape, and she has worked to stop in their tracks those who prey on soldiers trying to do the right thing for their families. In recognition of tireless efforts, Senator Clinton has received numerous honors, including the Inspirational Leadership Award from the Military Order of the Purple Heart for her dedicated service to America's servicemembers and veterans.

Modernizing Health Care to Reflect the Realities Facing Our Men and Women in Uniform

  • Recognizing the challenges being faced by troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator Clinton secured passage into law of the groundbreaking "Heroes at Home" initiative to help servicemembers and their families struggling to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
  • Acknowledging the increasing reliance on Guard Members and Reservists and the pervasive instances of members not medically fit to serve and lacking healthcare for themselves and their families, Senator Clinton worked to secure in law access to military health care (TRICARE) for all members of the Guard and Reserve and their families. As a result of her tireless efforts year by year to reach this goal, Senator Clinton was honored with the Award of Merit from the Military Coalition, made up of 36 military and veterans organizations representing more than six million members around the world.
  • Anticipating the lack of preparedness to track medical problems our troops might encounter in Iraq, Senator Clinton authored legislation signed into law to improve Guard and Reserve readiness and track the health of all military personnel.
  • Helping Servicemembers Cut Through Red Tape

  • Amid reports of widespread problems with disability claims affecting returning soldiers receiving treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Senator Clinton announced legislation to require an independent review of all individual disability claims and a GAO investigation of the disability claims process. The bill would also mandate a review of the Traumatic Service Members' Group Life Insurance Program.
  • Senator Clinton authored legislation signed into law that required the Army conduct a review of wounded soldiers affected by pay problems. The recently released audit showed 24 percent of wounded soldiers whose cases were audited had underpayment issues totaling almost $400,000.
  • Fighting for Adequate Body Armor

  • Senator Clinton has led the fight to ensure our troops have adequate body armor. Clinton called on the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold a hearing to investigate inadequate body armor being provided to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and requested a Government Accountability Office investigation to determine how the Pentagon procures body armor for our troops.
  • Protecting Servicemembers from Predatory Insurance and Financial Practices

  • Senator Clinton led the fight to protect service members and their families from deceptive financial sales practices by calling for Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on the issue and for DoD to investigate the problem.
  • Senator Clinton authored legislation signed into law to provide members of the armed forces and their spouses with consumer education on financial services.
  • Senator Clinton sponsored legislation signed into law to protect service members and their families from being targeted by abusive financial services sales practices, including requiring DoD to keep a list of individuals barred from military bases because of abusive sales tactics.
  • Senator Clinton announced legislation to provide service members with greater flexibility and pre-deployment counseling to help them make the best financial decisions for themselves and their families on military survivor benefits, service members' group life insurance and other critical family planning matters.
  • Fighting to Ensure Fair Pay and Fair Benefits

  • Senator Clinton co-sponsored legislation to increase military survivor benefits, which are paid to families of military personnel killed on active duty, from $12,000 to $100,000. She also supported efforts to increase the maximum benefit under the Service Members' Group Life Insurance program from $250,000 to $400,000.
  • She is working to reverse the unfair policy that prevents disabled veterans from collecting retirement and disability pay concurrently, co-sponsoring legislation in the last four Congresses.
  • Senator Clinton helped pass legislation to help widowed spouses, enabling those who remarry after age 57 to continue to receive the benefits given to spouses of military personnel who die on active duty or of a service-related cause. Senator Clinton received the National Appreciation Award by the Gold Star Wives for outstanding leadership in appreciation for her advocacy of the legislation.
  • Pressing for Quality VA Health Care

  • Since 2003, Senator Clinton has led the fight to save New York VA hospitals targeted for closure or reduction in services under the VA's CARES process.
  • Senator Clinton fought the Administration's proposal to double the co-payment for prescription drugs of certain veterans and has repeatedly called for full and guaranteed funding of veterans' health care.
  • In recognition of her efforts to help lead the way in securing a record increase for veteran's health care for fiscal year 2004, Senator Clinton was honored by the American Legion as the "Unsung Hero of the 108th Congress."




  • Read the full text of Senator Clinton's remarks.

    Read more statements by Senator Clinton concerning conditions at Walter Reed.

    Read more statements by Senator Clinton concerning veterans.


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