Quote

No veteran should have to wait for claims. If there's anybody impatient here, I am that individual.

For our veterans to have to wait long periods of time to receive care is not only unacceptable to us, but to elected officials as well.

Any veteran can tell you it is already hard enough to see a doctor down at the VA and get the health care they were promised when they signed up to serve this country.

While many employers do the right thing and provide flexible schedules for disabled veterans, I felt that it was important to provide all disabled veterans with a solution that would help them have access to medical leave. Here's how our bill works: we accelerate the eligibility process for disabled veterans.

Those that have received care here in Des Moines at the VA center or the VA hospital here have said that they do receive good care. However, it's getting into the system - the wait periods. We have to do something about that. The care here has been good. We're not seeing that in other states.

We have a VA hospital back home in St. Louis. Like many of our colleagues, we hear continued concerns about the access and the service. I have seen a statistic that more than 60,000 veterans today are waiting more than 6 months for an appointment at a VA hospital.

You know, veterans come home and they may not be bipolar, but after they've been through a war with PTSD or a head injury, their families have a handful when they come home.

Many of the patients in military and veterans hospitals require long stays, which can place a large financial hardship on families who don't live near the hospital, which is very common.

While we can't begin to repay the debt we owe our veterans for their brave service, we can certainly take steps to ease the physical, psychological and financial hardships they may be experiencing.

I have veterans in my family. But I didn't know anything about DAV, Disabled American Veterans.