Senator Sherrod Brown

Veterans

Nothing is more important than honoring our promises to veterans.  Serving on the US Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is a privilege and a duty I do not take lightly.  VA benefits are earned benefits, and the men and women of our armed forces should receive those benefits on a guaranteed and timely basis.

VA Funding

Last year, Congress succeeded in increasing funding for the VA by nearly $4 billion.  However, President Bush’s proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget once again failed to fulfill our nation’s obligation to ensure the VA can provide the benefits and services veterans have earned.  The Bush Administration’s final budget asked veterans to pay more out of their own pockets for health care.  It also called for cuts in key medical research programs and reduced funding for the construction and maintenance of VA facilities.  These budget battles hurt our veterans.  

I look forward to working with Congress, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Shinseki, and the Obama Administration to find the political will to adequately and consistently fund VA health care and other VA benefits.  I will continue to fight for the funding needed to ensure veterans the high quality, comprehensive benefits and care they have earned with their service to our country.

VA Benefits Disparities and Claims Backlog

There are nearly 800,000 veterans with benefit claims before the VA.  Some 400,000 of these claims have been pending for more than one year. Such delays are an unacceptable disservice to our veterans.

Among the 50 states, Ohio is consistently ranked at the bottom when it comes to veterans’ disability compensation payments.  In its 2006 annual report, the Veterans Benefit Administration ranked Ohio 49th in the nation with average yearly payments of only $8,090.  Over 1/3 of the variance in compensation between the states can be attributed to disparities in agency standards and inadequate training within the VA.  To address this problem and ensure that Ohio veterans are receiving fair compensation, I introduced and helped enact the Veterans Disability Fairness Act.  This legislation requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct reviews and audits to identify and correct any inaccuracies in disability ratings and compensation claims by VA regional offices.

VA Access to Health Care

In addition to reducing the claims backlog and benefit disparities, we must take action to improve access to VA health care.  Many qualified veterans, especially those living in rural areas, are unable to obtain VA services for which they are eligible.  These veterans are often shut out because of the distance to a VA facility or lack of information about VA programs. No veteran should be prevented from using the VA services they earned and deserved.

At a May 2008 field hearing in New Philadelphia, I met with Terry Carson, the CEO of Harrison Community Hospital that serves the 3,300 residents of Cadiz, Ohio.  Terry described a problem facing rural hospitals and veterans admitted from the emergency room:  under normal circumstances, a veteran would be stabilized and transferred to a VA facility; however, when the transfer was delayed - typically because no beds were available -- the VA facility would not pay for the interim care provided by the community hospital.  This left the veteran and the hospital responsible for significant health care costs.

After hearing Terry’s story and that of other community hospitals treating our rural veterans, I introduced and helped enact legislation with Congressman Zach Space (D-OH 18) that requires the VA to reimburse community hospitals for all care a veteran receives before a veteran is transferred to another facility.  The Veterans Emergency Care Fairness Act will prevent unfair financial hardship to veterans and community hospitals.

I was also an original co-sponsor of the Veteran’s Pain Care Act, which was enacted into law.  Among its many beneficial provisions, the new law establishes a pain care initiative at each VA health care facility in the country.  It also requires the VA to carry out a program of research and training on acute and chronic pain.  The bill was introduced because of the prevalence of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that produce a substantial number of battlefield casualties with damage to the central and peripheral nervous system. The failure to treat pain appropriately contributes to the development of long-term chronic pain syndromes and can be accompanied by long-term mental health and substance use disorders

In April 2009, I announced new legislation that addresses the nationwide shortage of vision rehabilitation specialists treating blinded veterans.  The Vision Scholars Act of 2009 would assist our nation’s blind and low vision veterans by establishing a scholarship program for students seeking training in vision rehabilitation.

We have a commitment to ensure our service members who return from combat with eye injuries have timely access to rehabilitation specialists.  This bill would improve the VA recruitment of blind instructors while helping to ensure our nation’s veterans the comprehensive care they deserve.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

The VA was unprepared for the massive influx of new veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Transition assistance programs must continue to improve so all returning soldiers, regardless of service or Reserve or Guard status, are given the information and the access to VA services and benefits from the day they return.  

No veteran who is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury should be denied access to state-of-the-art PTSD and TBI treatments.  Last year, I introduced the Discharged Service Members Protection Act to provide new safeguards for service members suffering from TBI and PTSD.  This legislation would clarify and improve information for members and former members of the Armed Forces on upgrades of discharge and prohibit personality disorder discharges in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.  

Veterans Educational Benefits

Sixty-four years after President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the original Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, Congress passed a new GI Bill for the 21st century.  The comprehensive Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act ensures that funding of the GI Bill keeps up with the escalating costs of education.  It will provide $63 billion over 10 years for increased college aid for military service members and veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001.  This more than doubles the benefit from $40,000 to $90,000, enough to cover a full four-year college education in most cases.  Also, this legislation provides members of the National Guard and Reserve with an equitable chance to receive the same increased educational benefits as their active duty counterparts.  I was proud to cosponsor this important legislation.

In late 2007, I conducted a roundtable at the Louis Stokes VA Hospital in Cleveland where I heard directly from student veterans about their experiences transitioning from the battlefield to the classroom.   Many students spoke about the difficulty acclimating back to classes, finding housing, and securing financial aid.  In response, I introduced and helped enact the Supporting Education for Returning Veterans (SERV) Act to provide student veterans with the support they need to succeed in higher education.  Modeled after a program at Cleveland State University, the SERV Act creates a grant program to provide schools with funds to establish campus Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success to serve as a single point of contact for veteran student support.  

In addition to the unique challenges many student veterans face transitioning back to the classroom, many others have their academic career interrupted by deployments.  When soldiers head off to war, they need to know they will be given the time and support they need without falling unnecessarily behind academically or financially when they return to their normal lives as college students.  To ensure student veterans receive the support they need, I introduced and helped enact the Veterans Education Tuition Support (VETS) Act.   This legislation will extend the time period before returning service members must reenroll in school or begin repaying their student loans and caps student loan interest rates at 6 percent during deployment.  In addition, the VETS Act will require colleges and universities to restore student veterans’ academic status when they return.  Both the SERV Act and the VETS Act were included in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.

Honoring History

I recently introduced Senate Resolution 695, which commends the Honor Flight Network and its volunteers and donors for making it possible for World War II veterans to travel to the Nation’s capital to visit the World War II Memorial created in their honor.

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