Merkley, Hooley Call for Reintegration Help for Returning Veterans

Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) and Congresswoman Darlene Hooley (D-OR) today urged the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee to support a resolution aimed at helping active duty servicemembers and National Guardsmen and women ease the transition when they return home from overseas deployment.

“There is no greater obligation than for the government that owes its existence to their sacrifice to support and care for them when they return from the battlefield,” Merkley said. “But in the last week we have seen at least two distinct reminders that we have a long way to go as a government, as a country and as a society to treat our veterans with the respect and dignity they deserve.”

Hooley testified about her efforts to help National Guard members returning from overseas. She is the sponsor of H.R. 2059, which provides them with additional time to transition into civilian life when they return from active duty. The bill allows Guard members 15 days of decompression time, education and employment workshops, financial counseling and health screenings.

“I am proud Oregon has been a model for reintegration,” Hooley told the committee.

She asked the committee to sponsor a memorial to Congress urging the passage of that bill.

During his testimony, Merkley said that he would support that memorial, even though the deadline for new bill introductions had already passed. He urged the committee to send it to his desk for introduction.

Merkley railed against the federal government’s attempt to deny mental health care to returning veterans. Federal attorneys filed a brief in federal court last week arguing that the Department of Veterans Affairs is under no obligation to provide specific types of health care to veterans, including mental health care. Merkley said it was unconscionable that a government that puts soldiers in harm’s way would then turn its back on them once they came home from battle.

“The federal government should be doing all it can to stand up for our veterans, instead of trying to find a legal argument why it doesn’t have to provide services to vets,” Merkley said. “Traumatic Brain Injury has become the signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Whether the law says so or not, the VA has a moral obligation and a mandate from the American people to provide proper screening and treatment for TBI and for mental health problems.”

Merkley also noted that veterans are increasingly finding trouble in the job market. He cited reports of a VA study that suggests some employers have misplaced stereotypes about veterans’ fitness for employment. Merkley noted that Oregon has taken the lead in helping veterans ease back into the job market. The 2007 legislature approved a bill giving veterans priority status for civil service jobs.

“Service in the armed forces is one of the best job training programs available. Hiring vets is good for business and it is good for the community,” Merkley said. “And, we all have a commitment to our vets. They left our shores to go overseas and fight for us. The least we can do is stand up and fight for them when they come home.”

Posted February 12, 2008
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