PRESIDENT BUSH SAYS: We should expand support for military families.

“I call on Congress to enact the reforms recommended by Senator Bob Dole and Secretary Donna Shalala, so we can improve the system of care for our wounded warriors… Our military families sacrifice for America… So I ask you to join me in expanding their access to childcare, creating new hiring preferences for military spouses across the federal government, and allowing our troops to transfer their unused education benefits to their spouses or children.”

DMI SAYS: “It is heartening to see that President Bush is now taking an interest in veteran’s issues and supporting military families after years of neglect. After completing their service to the country, veterans and their families have a right to expect quality health care as they strive to reintegrate into civilian life.  Historically, America has considered it a national priority to ensure that our veterans can establish a middle-class standard of living; this should be true today.”

?       The G.I. bill, enacted to benefit the veterans of World War II, is one powerful way of repaying our nation’s veterans and helping them access the middle class.  The President’s proposal targets the spouses and children of veterans who are often overlooked victims in the calculation of the consequences of war.  Although the National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 authorized each branch of the military to establish transferable G.I. Bill credits for members of the Armed Forces with critical skills, only the Army and Air Force have created programs that allow for such transfers.  We welcome President Bush’s support for legislation that makes transferable G.I. credits open to all service members, while ensuring that service and reenlistment qualifications are not overly stringent, forcing the same soldiers to reenlist for long periods of time simply to provide their spouses and children with an affordable education.

?       The creation of new hiring preferences in the Federal government for military spouses is an additional way to recognize the significant burden that both soldiers and their families assume upon enlistment.  Hiring preferences for spouses have been employed in the past to ease the strain on spouses’ careers of the frequent moves associated with military service.  However, military spouses must deal not only with frequent moves that disrupt or even prevent careers, but with ineligibility for unemployment compensation and in-state tuition.  Now, President Bush should expand the federal government’s hiring preferences for spouses to ensure that the families of soldiers are able to maintain a middle-class standard of living while a service member is serving his or her country both inside and outside of the United States.

?       Revelations of terrible conditions and intractable bureaucracy at the nation’s premier military hospital Walter Reed led to the creation of the bipartisan Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors.  Congress passed many of the Commission’s recommendations on veterans’ health care in the Wounded Warriors Act that was included in the Defense Authorization bill that President Bush signed today.  The bill improves family leave for families of wounded soldiers, expands care for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and integrates policy between the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs – the two agencies responsible for care for service members.  Whereas the President vetoed a previous version of the Defense Authorization Act, sacrificing veterans’ health for a narrow provision regarding legal claims in Iraq, Congress’s action demonstrates a commitment to veterans’ wellbeing that was absent throughout much of President Bush’s first seven years in office.  Because some reforms can be undertaken only by the executive branch – particularly changes to prevent inefficient and costly bureaucratic overlap between the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs – the President must follow through on his promise to complete the reforms recommended by the Commission.  Returning to civilian life already presents veterans with the challenges of reestablishing family and personal connections, finding new employment, and adjusting to civilian life; veterans and their families should not have to worry about receiving efficient, high quality, affordable health care.

Relevant Statistics:

?       Regular military compensation for a single enlisted member in the lowest pay grade in 2006: $29,700.

?     Regular military compensation for an enlisted member with a spouse and two children in the lowest pay grade in 2006: $32,800.

?       Number of dollars added to the national economy for every dollar spent on educational benefits under the original G.I. Bill: $7.

?       Approximate amount of tuition support a service member can receive, in total, under the current G.I. Bill: $39,600.

?      Average price of one year at a 4-year private college: $22,218.

?       Percentage of troops who pay a nonrefundable $1,200 contribution towards G.I. Bill benefits who never use the G.I. Bill: 30.

?       Percentage of veterans who use their whole G.I. Bill benefit: 8.

?       Average amount less per hour that military wives earn compared to their civilian counterparts: $3.

?       Percentage of active-duty military spouses who have their high school diploma: 97.

?       Number of veterans that the Department of Veterans Affairs says are homeless on any given night: 195,000.

?       Approximate proportion of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans who will face serious mental health injuries: 1 in 3.

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DMI on the 2008 State of Union