John Edwards for President-Former Top Pentagon Official Campaigns for Edwards in Nevada

Former Top Pentagon Official Campaigns for Edwards in Nevada

Aug 27, 2007 7:30 PM

Retired Rear Admiral David Oliver talks about Edwards' plan to reform the VA

Las Vegas, Nevada – Former top Pentagon official Retired Rear Admiral David Oliver Jr. today visited Nevada to campaign for Senator John Edwards. Oliver discussed Edwards' "Standing by Our Heroes" plan to reform the Veterans' Administration (VA) to help returning service men and women with disabilities.

"John Edwards has proven he has the vision and dedication not only to be commander-in-chief of our armed services, but also to be a leader for our heroes who have served their country so bravely. His "Standing by Our Heroes" plan is a bold policy to reform our system for providing care to veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan," Oliver said.

The "Standing by Our Heroes" plan will make it easier for all veterans - including recently injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans -- to get the care they need. The plan builds on the proposal Edwards unveiled last May to repair our country's Sacred Contract with our veterans and military families by guaranteeing quality health care, supporting military families and providing education and economic opportunities for civilian life.

Earlier this month Nevada Veterans for Edwards Co-Chairs Assemblyman Joe Hogan and former state Senator Joe Neal praised Edwards' plan.

"The men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are heroes that deserve only the best care," Hogan said in mid-August. "John Edwards will change the way we treat the men and women who have served and sacrificed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need a president who will take responsibility, and make sure that bureaucracy never gets in the way of veterans getting the care they need and deserve. I commend his leadership and his commitment to our troops."

During his trip to Nevada, Oliver addressed a group assembling care packages for service members stationed overseas, spoke to the Nevada Council on Foreign Relations, hosted a roundtable with veterans, and visited a veterans' retirement home and a homeless veterans' re-entry program.

Admiral Oliver is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He commanded a nuclear submarine and two submarine groups in the Navy. His military decorations include the Defense and Navy Distinguished Service Medals as well as six awards of the Legion of Merit. His awards for public service include the Bronze Palm to the Department of Defense Award for Distinguished Public Service.

Attached is the full "Standing by Our Heroes Plan" that Oliver discussed:

Standing by Our Heroes:
John Edwards' 5-point Plan to Help
Injured Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

"I believe in a sacred contract between our country and America's veterans and military families. We must stand by those who stand by us. When our service men and women sacrifice so much to defend our freedom and secure peace around the world, we have a moral obligation to take care of them and their families." -- John Edwards

Under George Bush, our government has not lived up to its responsibility to the men and women who have been injured while serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan – wars that have already generated more than 220,000 disability claims.. The scandal at Walter Reed is only one example of a consistent failure to take responsibility for those who have sacrificed for our country. Too often, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who fought for our country encounter a system that takes months or even years to make benefit determinations, and that forces them to fight again for benefits. [LA Times, 7/24/2007]

The Washington Post recently reported on Army Specialist Jeans Cruz, one of the team who helped capture Saddam Hussein. He was called a war hero when he came home to his country. He soon suffered debilitating depression from his experiences in Iraq. After filing a claim for disability benefits based on post-traumatic stress disorder, he was turned down by the VA because they said his psychological problems existed before joining the Army. He told the paper, "My experience so far is, you ask for something and they deny, deny, deny. After a while you just give up." [Washington Post, 6/17/07]

John Edwards will not give up on our veterans. He believes we can do better through reforms that will help our injured warriors and make government work more efficiently and effectively.

Edwards has previously announced a plan to repair our country's Sacred Contract with our veterans and military families by guaranteeing quality health care, supporting military families and providing education and economic opportunities for civilian life. Today, Edwards built on his existing Sacred Contract proposal with a new 5-point "Standing by Our Heroes" plan to help returning service men and women with disabilities by:

Aggressively Resolving the Disability Claims Backlog: The VA currently has a backlog of between 400,000 and 600,000 claims for disability benefits, and wait times for initial determinations of up to 6 months. Edwards would adopt an aggressive, goal-oriented approach to processing the backlog. As president, he will aim to process the entire backlog that exists when he takes office by Memorial Day 2009, and will cut the average processing time in half. [CNN, 2007]
Facilitating Care for "Signature Injuries": Over 30 percent of these veterans experience psychological problems after returning home. Many veterans suffer from the "signature injuries" of this war—post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). As president, Edwards will increase capacity within the Department of Defense for recognizing and addressing these injuries by improving training for health personnel to recognize and treat PTSD and TBI, increasing counseling resources within the TRICARE and VA networks, permitting access outside of the networks, and ensuring outreach to family members, who can recognize symptoms. [Department of Defense 2007]
Providing a Comprehensive Medical Examination: Too often, veterans receive their first medical examination months or even years after they leave the service, which makes it difficult to ascertain whether an injury is service-related, creating difficulties and inefficiencies later. As president, Edwards will create a new system providing each service member with a comprehensive, standardized medical examination before or immediately after leaving the service, and will link that examination with the disability rating. Both will be included in a new "Homefront Redeployment Plan" every veteran will receive.
Fixing the DOD/VA Disconnect: Today, veterans face a bureaucratic maze with two different agencies and needless overlaps. The Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense have conflicting criteria and overlapping disability determinations. As president, Edwards will have only the VA make disability determinations, and will launch a broad effort to coordinate all DOD and VA functions.
Increasing Caseworkers and Training: Caseworkers provide an extremely valuable service to veterans facing a thicket of regulations and forms, particularly older veterans unfamiliar with web-based forms. Caseworkers also help families struggling with consequences of an injury. As president, Edwards will hire at least 300 more VA caseworkers, and implement an accelerated training program including family outreach.