The Senate unanimously passed legislation yesterday to improve the health care and treatment of wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, only to be followed by a separate report from a Presidential Commission. The White House said not to expect immediate action, according to the AP.
White House press secretary Tony Snow told the AP that President Bush will probably integrate the commission's recommendations -- focused on improving the patient experience -- with other unnamed efforts with the aim of helping returning soldiers. If the Senate bill is included, the "integrated solution" will include a plan for preventing, treating, and diagnosing traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers.
Bush said "we owe our wounded soldiers the very best care, and the very best benefits, and the very easiest to understand system," but failed to acknowledge that the "very best" care and benefits come from continued medical research -- a field he has shafted since 2002.
His commission's recommendations listed (.pdf) the traumatic conditions experienced by wounded soldiers -- traumatic brain injury, amputations, serious burns, polytrauma, spinal cord injury, and blindness.
If President Bush truly cared about the soldiers' well-being, he would ask for increased research funding for each of these conditions. Given his record, that hope is unlikely.
Senate Votes Upgrade for Veteran Care [AP, via Forbes]
Murray Commends Passage of Wounded Warriors Bill [press release]
