 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||||||
|
|||||||
 |
 |
Caring for Veterans All Americans have re-learned an important lesson in the months since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York and the Pentagon. The lesson is that freedom is not free. Almost 3,000 American civilians paid the ultimate price on September 11th and more than 30 American military troops have died in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. Whether we are at war or at peace, we have an obligation to provide our troops with the best training and equipment so they may fight, win and survive. But that obligation to our troops does not end when the gunfire stops. We owe them our thanks, our help and quality medical care long after they leave service and become veterans. That is why I was so outraged and horrified when I heard reports of terrible medical care for our veterans at the Kansas City Veterans Medical Center. A medical journal reported that in 1998 a drastic cut in housekeeping led to mouse infestation of the facility. What is worse, after the mice were killed, their carcasses were never removed from the hospital. Parasitic flies were attracted to the dead mice and soon laid their eggs in the dead mice and, eventually, in the bodies of two comatose American veterans at the facility. Outraged, I immediately wrote to Anthony Principi, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and pleaded for an investigation: "I know that you agree that this case is an absolute nightmare for the patients, their families and for all of us committed to first-class medical care for our nation's veterans," my letter to Principi read. I asked the Secretary to launch an investigation to find out what went wrong � and who is to blame. Immediately after contacting Mr. Principi, I received a personal phone call from him at my home in Mexico, Missouri. Consistent with his no-nonsense reputation, he pledged to me that he would quickly get to the bottom of this problem. Within hours after his phone call, I learned that Secretary Principi had suspended two senior VA health officials from their jobs. In addition, he launched two investigations into the mess. The first will measure the current quality of care and cleanliness at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. The second investigation will study how the system broke down and who is to blame. Secretary Principi's swift and decisive action has already changed the atmosphere at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. I am told that workers there already hold their heads a little higher. He sent a strong message that only the highest quality medical care is acceptable. The men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our nation � and our freedoms � deserve the highest quality medical care. By risking their lives to protect our nation, they earned a debt of gratitude from all Americans that we will never be able to pay in full. While high-quality medical care is one way we pay our debt, it is only a small part of what we can do to thank veterans. If you know someone who ever wore an American military uniform, take a moment to thank them. We owe them our thanks whether they saw combat or not; whether they were wounded or never even saw the front-lines. We must take care of those Americans who risked everything to take care of America. Our nation is only as strong as our willingness to uphold this social contract. |
 |
   |
