Isn't it time for Congress to pledge allegiance to veterans?

By the time NBC News got around to reporting on how the DOD and the VA were unable to prove PTSD care worked, it was far too late for thousands of our veterans.

Combined, the two departments spend $3.3 billion annually on medications and therapies meant to curb or cure Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Some people were shocked by this report but we were not. They have been repeating the same mistakes over and over again while ignoring the things that had worked going back decades.

This was the biggest scandal that topped off years of neglect as veterans were surviving war but not being back home with PTSD and the then House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman accuses VA of criminal negligence.

Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's mental health director, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee that the e-mail was in poor tone _ even though the body contained "appropriate, healthy dialogue" about the data.

"I deeply regret the subject line," Katz said. "It was an error and I apologize for that."

The e-mail claims 12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while under department treatment. "Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?" the e-mail asks.

The e-mail was among those recently disclosed during a trial in San Francisco that suggested some at the VA might have been attempting to hide the number of attempted suicides by those under the agency's care. Its disclosure prompted two Democratic senators to call for his resignation.

At the White House, press secretary Dana Perino said Bush has "full confidence in Secretary Peake and believes that he is handling it appropriately."

"President Bush is very concerned about the mental health of our veterans and has made sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that American veterans are getting the care that they need," Perino said. "He's also been very troubled by the idea that veterans would feel that they wouldn't be able to express or ask for help if they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression of another sort or any type of mental disorder. Because we have resources to be able to help them and they deserve the very best that we can provide."

Timothy K. Israel, an Iraq veteran with PTSD committed suicide three days after Congress "listened" to another panel during another hearing about the same problems they had "listened" to for decades. They thought they'd just toss more money at the problem.

By a vote of 409-4 the House today passed legislation funding the Department of Veterans Affairs for FY 2009. The bill (HR 6599) includes $3.8 billion for mental illness treatment and $584 million for substance abuse treatment in the VA, significant increases over current year funding. Overall, the Veterans Health Administration budget is set at $40.8 billion for FY 2009 -- $1.6 billion more than the President requested and $3.9 billion more than current levels. It is projected that the VA will serve 5.8 million veterans in 2009.

But for the best clue on what was done leading up to devastation was this release

Opening Statement of Hon. John J. Hall, Chairman, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman:

Would you please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? Flags are located in the front and back of the room.

Today we are here to consider legislation, the Compensation Owed for Mental Health Based on Activities in Theater Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Act or the COMBAT PTSD Act, H.R. 952. During the 110th Congress and most recently during an oversight hearing held on March 24, 2009, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs revisited Congress’ intent in establishing presumptive provisions to provide compensation to combat veterans under Section 1154(b) of title 38.

We have heard testimony on how Congress in 1941, when it adopted the original provisions under Section 1154, seemed to explicitly express its desire to overcome the adverse effects of not having an official record. Moreover, that it wanted to be more liberal in its service pension law by extending full cooperation to the veteran when it enacted this provision.

However, based on this Subcommittee’s review, it seems that VA has acted to thwart the congressional intent of Section 1154(b) with its internal procedures for adjudication, primarily those contained in its M-21-1s and General Counsel opinions. This has resulted in VA being more restrictive in its application of section 1154(b) by placing an unnecessary burden on veterans diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD and other conditions - to prove their combat stressors. Instead of helping these veterans reach an optimal point of social and emotional homeostasis, as described in the RAND Report, Invisible Wounds of War, VA’s procedures are an obstacle to this end--inflicting upon the most noble of our citizens a process that feels accusatory and doubtful of their service.

We also know from the RAND report that one out every five service members who served in OEF or OIF suffers from symptoms of PTSD. A large portion of these claims unnecessarily comprise VA’s claims backlog as VBA personnel labors to corroborate the stressors of combat veterans. As the Institute of Medicine stated in 2007 in its seminal report on PTSD: the process to adjudicate disability claims is complex, legalistic and protracted, and particularly difficult for veterans because of the stresses and uncertainties involved while facing skeptical and cynical attitudes of VA staff. As I think most will agree, this statement goes double for veterans filing PTSD claims, which require additional evidence of exposure to a stressful event while serving in combat.

This is an injustice that has gone on six decades too long. The hoops and hassles veterans must endure today appear to be far beyond Congress’ imagination when it authorized the 1933 and 1945 Rating Schedules, which simply required the notation of an expedition or occupation for a combat presumption to have existed.

That is why I reintroduced my bill the COMBAT PTSD Act, H.R. 952 to try to rectify this wrong. My bill would do so by clarifying and expanding the definition of “combat with the enemy” found in section 1154(b) to include a theater of combat operations during a period of war or in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities. This language is consistent with other provisions of title 38 and those contained within the National Defense Authorization Act. I also firmly believe that this bill is consistent with the original intent of Congress in 1941 and should not be viewed as adding a new entitlement. I am grateful to my 42 colleagues who are already cosponsors of HR 952.

I am glad to welcome to this hearing the veteran service organizations and legal representatives who can shed more light on the difficulties the current statute interpretation creates for so many of our men and women whose service in combat theaters goes unrecognized and the impact denials have had on their lives. I am particularly honored to have famed author and my constituent Norman Bussel join us today. Norman is an ex-POW from World War II and a volunteer service officer for the American Ex-Prisoners of War who has first-hand knowledge of the hardships that many of his fellow veterans face when filing PTSD and other claims for disability benefits.

I also look forward to hearing more from the Department’s witness on how this provision could be better tailored to meet its evidentiary needs to properly adjudicate claims while alleviating the often overwhelming evidence burdens that stymie many of our combat veterans through no fault of their own.

The 111th Congress shares the same responsibility to disabled veterans as its colleagues of the 77th Congress. The vision then was to ease the bureaucratic burdens placed on returning war veterans, so that they would receive the benefits they deserve. My hope is that we will enact H.R. 952 to restore this noble end.

But what? What is their excuse? What has all the other Bills and hearings led to? More dying. More waiting. More suffering and far more excuses than solutions.