===========================================================================
Fact Sheet: President Bush Has Provided Unprecedented Support for Our
Veterans
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary November 7, 2008

Fact Sheet: President Bush Has Provided Unprecedented Support for Our
Veterans

ÿÿWhite House News

ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Veterans

"We have a moral obligation to provide the best possible care and treatment
to the men and women who have served our country."ÿPresident George W. Bush
(March 6, 2007)

Dramatically Increased Funding To Support And Care For Those Who Have
Served Our Nation
  þ 

    Increased funding for veterans' medical care by more than 115 percent
    since 2001.
  þ 

    FY 2009 funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) totals more
    than $97 billion, nearly double the level of funding when the President
    took office and the highest level of support for veterans in history.
  þ 

    Provided more than $6 billion to modernize and expand VA medical
    facilities and more than $1ÿbillion over the past three years to
    support traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder
    treatment and research.
  þ 

    Honored our veterans with a hallowed, final resting place by
    implementing and fully funding the largest expansion in the national
    cemetery system since the Civil War.

ÿ

Improved Care And Services For Wounded Warriors
  þ 

    Created the Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors
     co-chaired by former Senator Bob Dole and former Health and Human
    Services Secretary Donna Shalala  to ensure that wounded service
    members and veterans receive quality care and services and can live
    lives of hope, promise, and dignity.ÿ Nearly all of the Commission's
    recommendations have already been implemented, such as:
      þ 

        Expanded training, screening, and staff resources to help service
        members and veterans suffering from mental health disorders.
      þ 

        Created a joint Recovery Coordinator Program for seriously injured
        service members.
      þ 

        Initiated a pilot program to replace the cumbersome system of two
        separate disability examinations with a single, comprehensive
        medical exam.
  þ 

    Established a Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and
    Traumatic Brain Injury and expanded VA's polytrauma system of care to
    21 network sites and clinic support teams to provide state-of-the-art
    treatment to injured veterans at facilities closer to their homes.

Ensured Those Who Have Served Our Country Receive The Benefits They Deserve
  þ 

    Called for and signed a GI Bill for the 21st century, which expanded
    education benefits for service members and veterans and made it easier
    for those who defend our Nation to transfer unused education benefits
    to their spouses or children.
  þ 

    Increased career counseling services for returning veterans,
    particularly those wounded in combat.
  þ 

    Signed legislation that increased from two to five years a combat
    veteran's eligibility to enroll for lifetime VA medical care
    andÿallowedÿfamily members of injured service members to
    takeÿadditional time away from their jobs to care for their loved ones.
  þ 

    Signed legislation to ensure military retirees with severe disabilities
    receive both their military retired pay and their VA disability
    compensation.
  þ 

    Helped more than 1.9 million veterans enroll in the VA health care
    system since 2001.
  þ 

    Reduced the average length of time to process a veteran's disability
    claim to under 180 days, down from 230 days when the President took
    office.
"The President has done his job since the first day he took officeon behalf
of veterans."Senator John Warner (R-VA) (Sept. 20, 2004)

Worked To Decrease The Number Of Homeless Veterans
  þ 

    Expanded Federal grants and worked extensively with faith-based and
    community organizations to help homeless veterans.ÿ
  þ 

    Cut the number of homeless veterans by nearly 40 percent from 2001 to
    2007.

ÿ

# # #

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/11/20081107-5.html