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Edited on Wed Sep-06-06 01:23 PM by TayTay
And as a sort of drive-by posting. (I don't trust myself. This is snark-heaven.)
I asked: Why are they hitting schools?
And she said: Because we are educating women in Afghanistan, and from the al-Qaida/Taliban point of view, women are not to be educated.
Our service men and women are serving very courageously in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places in the world. They deserve to have the best possibile equipment when they go into battle or into dangerous combat zones. We need to make sure our troops are outfitted with the best body armor, the most technologically advanced armaments, weapons, and communication devices that are possible so that they are safe and that we can defeat these terrorist enemies.
The same principles apply when our brave men and women return home from the theaters of war. We need to make sure our serv ice mem bers receive the best possible medical care for any injuries that may have arisen while they were in these combat zones. We need to make sure our soldiers receive the proper mental health treatment to deal with any issues of post-traumatic stress disorder or appropriate counseling to help adjust back into civilian life.
For those soldiers returning home with an injury, we need to make sure our medical treatment facilities have sufficient funding and also the professional services and the most up-to-date technology so our serv ice mem bers receive the quality care they deserve.
One of the more prevalent injuries in Iraq right now for our soldiers is traumatic brain injuries. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a traumatic brain injury occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. Traumatic brain injury can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.
According to the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, 64 percent of soldiers recently wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom sustained blast injuries, which are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries for Active-Duty military personnel in war zones. These blast injuries are the result, as I said earlier, of RPGs, rocket-propelled grenades, or IEDs, otherwise known as or short for improvised explosive devices, and also landmines.
Soldiers, I say to the Presiding Officer and my colleagues, suffering injuries from these devices require specialized care from providers with experience in treating traumatic brain injuries. One of the key components of this care is the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, which is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center--the site that receives more casualties from theaters of operations than any other military treatment facility.
The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center provides state-of-the-art medical care, innovative clinical research initiatives, and educational programs on traumatic brain injury to assist Active-Duty serv ice mem bers and veterans. The Brain Injury Center is actually a multisite medical care facility with operations in California, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, and in my home Commonwealth of Virginia. In Virginia, the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center serves as a national referral center for traumatic brain injury cases and other diseases. They partner with Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond to provide the best quality service for treatment and recovery, as well as research. And I suspect the facilities in other States, probably provide similar services. I just know very much about the McGuire facility in Richmond and also the Walter Reed site and have seen the expert staff as they review the daily incoming casualty reports and identify the patients who have sustained injuries caused by blasts or falls or other incidents. They have evaluated and treated hundreds of patients.
These centers really do provide outstanding specialized care, such as rehabilitation--for speech and physical rehabilitation--and education. These patients need to be helped to return to the highest possible level of function.
These centers are performing a very admirable job and doing the best they can; however, we need to make sure, whether it is McGuire in Richmond, whether it is Walter Reed, or one of these facilities in Minnesota or Florida or Texas or California or North Carolina--this work I have seen at these centers, at least at McGuire in Richmond and Walter Reed, are providing great services. I can tell you firsthand, by the way, how the soldiers are reacting to it and also the response from family members who are seeing slow but steady progress for many of their loved ones. They greatly appreciate it.
That is why I am offering this amendment, to make available from the Defense Health Programs an additional $12 million, which would increase it from $7 million to $19 million--an additional $12 million in funding that shall be available to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Centers for this work, including blast mitigation.
It is my view this is the least we should do. (Must not comment, must not comment) This is exactly what we should be trying to do to help our men and women who are bravely sacrificing so much to protect our freedom at home while trying to advance freedom for other people around the world.
George Washington cautioned that ``the willingness of future generations to fight for their country, no matter how just the cause, will be proportional to how they perceive previous veterans are treated.'' This amendment is a long step forward--a long step forward--in that direction, and I strongly urge my colleagues in the Senate to support my amendment, as modified.
I understand other colleagues apparently share my concerns about the adequacy of such needed funding for brain injury services. I hope the Senator from Illinois, who I know shares my views on this issue, and other Senators on both sides of the aisle--that we could work together in a bipartisan manner to get this job done, to make sure we effectuate this bipartisan solution for this very pressing need to make sure those who have brain injuries--head trauma and injuries from blasts--whether in Afghanistan, whether in Iraq, or anywhere else in combat zones--to make sure they have the right treatment.
We have the professionals in this country, but we need to make sure they have adequate funding for this clear and present need.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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