Veterans Day

VETERANS DAY

Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, I rise to recognize the significance of Veterans Day and to honor the Americans it celebrates. On Veterans Day we pay tribute to the men and women who have fought for our freedom and those who continue to do so right now-they are far from their homes and families, striving to keep us safe from terrorism. These service-members exemplify what it means to be an American-courage, selflessness, and a deep love of and commitment to his or her fellow countrymen.

First proclaimed by President Wilson in 1919, Veterans Day was initially known as Armistice Day and was intended to commemorate the armistice between the Allies and Central Powers that ended the fighting of World War I. In 1953, a Kansas citizen named Alvin King lobbied to change the holiday's name to honor all veterans, not just those from World War I. On June 1, 1954, President Eisenhower signed into law an act proclaiming November 11 to be Veterans Day. Yesterday, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of that celebration.

There are currently 25 million American veterans. Every day more and more service-members return home from Iraq and Afghanistan becoming new members of that elite group of citizens. These heroic Americans freely offer their lives to protect those they leave behind, and those they've never even met. For this sacrifice, we owe them our continued support and care.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration has established a disturbing pattern of behavior that seriously undercuts this long-held ideal. In the past 2 years, the President has been full of patriotic words and speeches-rhetoric that has proven hollow. At a time when 133,000 service-members celebrated their Veterans Day in the deserts of Iraq, the Administration continues to undermine our veterans' ability to receive the quality health care they have earned. With the recent Iraq supplemental spending bill, the administration took an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to our troops and twisted it into another way to short-change our veterans.

In that appropriations bill, my Senate colleagues and I worked hard to secure an additional $1.3 billion for VA healthcare. These desperately needed funds were subsequently removed at the insistence of the Bush Administration. Nationwide, 80,000 veterans-including more than 10,000 in my home State of Florida alone-are forced to wait longer than 6 months to see a VA doctor. When the service-members currently serving in Iraq return home and become veterans, they will be entitled to 2 years of priority VA health care after they have separated from military service. This added influx of patients, when coupled with the administration's refusal to give VA the money it needs to care for them, will only strain the system further.

During debates on that same supplemental spending bill, my fellow Democrats and I joined together to offer an amendment that would have helped rectify a longstanding inequity in the retirement pay our veterans receive-or, should I say, don't receive. Currently, the earned retirement pay of veterans who are both disabled and eligible for military pensions is reduced simply because they receive disability benefits as well. This practice of denying concurrent receipt does not apply to other Federal workers, only to the courageous men and women like the ones currently serving overseas, who made the armed services their careers.

I spent Veterans Day working alongside employees at the Miami VA Healthcare System and saw first-hand the number of veterans turning to VA for health care. As part of my duties there, I assisted the nursing staff on a patient floor and enrolled veterans for health care in the admissions area. This workday gave me an opportunity to see the numerous challenges facing VA. I stand in awe of both the VA staff and the heroic men and women they serve.

As we honor our veterans this week, we must not follow the administration's lead of making empty promises. We must fight to ensure quality health care for all of veterans, just as they have fought to ensure our quality of life. We must pay this nation's service-members, past and present, the highest tribute we can and finally give them what they have so bravely earned.