UPDATE FROM WASHINGTON: Progress Made for Montana Vets, Lot of Work Ahead

Statement

UPDATE FROM WASHINGTON: Progress Made for Montana Vets, Lot of Work Ahead

I recently held my 12th town hall meeting with Montana veterans since taking office last year. In my first year as your senator, I have been privileged to meet with thousands of veterans all over the state. I heard from them about the good, the bad and the downright ugly experiences they have dealing with the VA.

And I've taken their concerns back to Washington. We're finally making some progress in getting these concerns noticed.

After hearing from folks on the ground, we started working together to finally get an increase in the rate of mileage reimbursement for disabled veterans for the first time in 30 years. And overall funding for the VA is—for the first time ever—at the level recommended by the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and other service groups.

And just this week, the new Secretary of the VA told me he wants to relocate and expand the Billings VA Clinic from 10,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet. He also told me he plans to come to Montana in the coming weeks to tour a few VA facilities firsthand.

But make no mistake, there is still a lot of work to do.

It starts with the small stuff here in Montana. We need someone to answer the phone at the Bozeman clinic, so vets can get appointments faster. We need more docs at the Great Falls clinic to give patients more face-to-face time. In every VA Clinic in our state we need more personnel—from administrators to physicians and nurses—to meet the needs of Montana veterans. I'm glad the VA is starting to get the message, but they still need more resources to be more responsive to our veterans.

All too often the VA still has an adversarial relationship with veterans. We need to make it easier for new vets to get into the system. The easiest way to do this is to automatically enroll folks when they come back from combat. Making this happen will be one of my top priorities this year.

Also on the ‘to do' list—improving mental health care for veterans. One of a serviceman's best pieces of equipment is his mind. Our troops will always find a way to get their mission done. The word "can't" just isn't in their vocabulary. But that also means that asking for help is often difficult. That's especially true when it comes to asking for help with mental health. We've got to make sure that care is available and effective.

To get the ball rolling on better mental health care, Max Baucus and I have asked the VA's top non-partisan, independent investigator to look into the quality of care here in Montana.

The VA is also going to have to answer tough questions about why Montana's Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seem to be getting the short end of the stick when it comes to mental health disability benefits. We'll get those answers and then we'll roll up our sleeves and get to work to make the changes that the Inspector General recommends.

I'll continue to meet with veterans across the state this year, and I'll keep fighting to make sure that they get the benefits they have earned. Whether they left the service in 1947 or 2007, our veterans were promised health care, benefits and, above all, to be treated right by their government.

Great nations keep their promises—especially those we make to the people who have helped make our nation great. It is high time we keep our promise to our veterans.

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