AKAKA AND SANDERS CALL FOR MORE PTSD CENTER FUNDING

DEMOCRATIC PRESS RELEASE

January 25, 2008

AKAKA AND SANDERS CALL FOR MORE PTSD CENTER FUNDING



WASHINGTON, D.C. -U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT), a member of the Committee, sent a letter this week urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to dedicate additional funding to the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD).

Congress last year passed an unprecedented budget increase for VA in Fiscal Year 2008 which included funds for the NCPTSD. In their letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake, Senators Akaka and Sanders called for an additional $2 million for the NCPTSD above the previous year's funding level. The Center is a leader in research and education on PTSD, and provides clinical tools and guidance to clinicians around the country.


"The National Center for PTSD continues to make valuable contributions to the understanding and treatment of PTSD, and America's veterans are better off thanks to their work. Additional funding will enable them to address critical issues and facilitate better care for veterans. It is my hope that Secretary Peake will support the Center for PTSD with adequate funding in the years to come," said Chairman Akaka.

In recent years, the Center for PTSD has been called on to dramatically expand its mission and conduct research on a larger scale. At the same time, an increasing number of servicemembers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD. However, the Center's budget has increased by less than 10 percent in the past half-decade. Due to limited funding, the Center's capacity to continue its work is severely restricted, and staff levels have been reduced since 1999.

click here back to VAWatchdog for the rest

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/scva08/scva012508-2.htm