after congressman bob filner read the washington post's series on the scandalous treatment of injured soldiers at the walter reed army medical center, he called speaker of the house nancy pelosi and delivered a simple message: their party had to fund the wounded warriors as well as the war--or instead of it. for years filner, a liberal democrat who represents the military stronghold of san diego, had been warning that the country's military and veterans hospitals were strained to the breaking point.in the wake of walter reed, the public and the party were finally listening. house democrats added $3.5 billion to an iraq spending bill to treat brain injuries and posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) for returning soldiers and upgrade the country's 1,400 deteriorating veterans hospitals....."this is a test for our party," filner told me during an interview in his washington office, which looks directly out on the capitol dome. "clearly, the republicans failed. i hope we pass it."
yet veterans aren't giving filner a grace period, even as they welcome his arrival. the bush administration chose to run the "war on terror" expensively abroad and cheaply at home. in 2004, when then-va chair chris smith tried to add $1.3 billion to fully fund va healthcare, republicans booted him off the committee. his replacement, hard-line conservative steve buyer, was put there, in the words of a top gop aide, "to tell the veterans groups: enough is enough." this year, the administration brags that it has produced the largest va budget in history. that's true--but veterans groups say the $37.1 billion for fiscal year 2008 is not nearly enough to meet the needs of returning servicemen and -women and aging vets. va hospitals across the country require urgent repair. at least one in four iraq and afghanistan vets is suffering from severe mental injury, including ptsd, to say nothing of physical wounds.
he's outlined an ambitious agenda to try to correct years of neglect. filner wants to invest billions of dollars into research and care for severe brain injuries; put issues like mental illness and homelessness into the national consciousness; modernize the gi bill so that it pays for college as it used to; and overhaul va facilities..... "when they come home, whether injured mentally or physically, and this administration doesn't want to deal with them, as a society, we're saying, we need to take these kids in."
rep filner is like the late sen. paul wellstone. a nonveteran who passionately advocates on behalf of veterans. as a a society we need to keep our promises to disabled veterans and their families.
