Don't leave veterans behind



Anyone who fights in a war knows that there is one lesson you do not forget: never, ever leave a soldier behind. Knowing that our country values and defends every soldier is a source of great strength on the battlefield. It is the principle that binds our troops together in combat as they put their lives on the line to defend our nation.

As Americans, guided by this same principle, we have always strived to help and protect our veterans, many of whom still suffer from combat related injuries and sickness. Our commitment to these veterans is fundamental to our values as a people and as a nation. We protect those who have protected us.

Unfortunately, President Bush has not lived up to this principle. Through dramatic budgetary cuts, hospital closures, staff layoffs and service backlogs, our commander-in-chief is leaving our veterans behind. The demands on our Department of Veterans Affairs have never been greater. More than 18,000 soldiers who have returned from Iraq have sought care at VA health facilities. Most of these service men and women are members of the National Guard and Reserves. In too many cases help is hard to come by. As of the end of March the average wait for disability rulings was 171 days. The backlog of service, increase in demand, and rising national health care costs require a renewed commitment from our government and nation.

Under President Bush's leadership, VA health care services have been slashed, numerous VA hospitals have been shuttered, and the prescription drug co-pay for vets has been doubled. President Bush has opposed expanding health care for reservists, many of whom have carried a heavy load for our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan these past few years. The president has also proposed fees for veterans just to get in the hospital door once they come home. He has even dramatically reduced education funding for military families, seeming to forget our tradition of education aid to veterans going back to the GI Bill.

Recently President Bush addressed the VFW annual convention in Cincinnati, boasting of his administrations strong commitment to veterans. In his speech Bush claimed that "serving veterans is one of the highest priorities of my administration... We're getting the job done." But talk is cheap and the evidence to the contrary is hard to ignore.

The Bush budget for 2005 includes more than $380 million cuts in medical care for vets followed by an unimaginable $1.5 billion reduction in FY '06. Bush's 2005 VA budget is nearly $4 billion below the $33.6 billion recommended by leading veterans' organizations. Most remarkably, Bush undermined his own Cabinet official for Veteran Affairs, by budgeting $1.2 billion less than Secretary Anthony Principi's request for 2005.

The nickel-and-diming done by President Bush against our veterans will cost us dearly in the long run. These actions have real immediate consequences - they dramatically undermine the health and well being of the men and women who have served our country so bravely. But they will also make recruiting the hundreds of thousands of new soldiers, sailor, airmen, and marines we desperately need each year much more difficult.

As a decorated veteran with a Silver and Bronze Star awarded to him by military leadership, John Kerry knows that members of our armed forces embody the best of America's values: service, sacrifice, courage, compassion.

I know that John Kerry will fight to protect our veterans with the same passion and bravery he displayed in the swamps of Vietnam. I know he stands firm on his proposals for mandatory funding of veterans health care, improving the responsiveness of the VA, insuring proper compensation for soldiers and their families, fully supporting the members of the National Guard and Reserves, and protecting the families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty. John Kerry has proved time and again that he will serve our country and our veterans with dignity and bravery. We need his leadership, strong steadfast and sure.

In February, after reviewing President Bush's woefully inadequate budget for the VA, VFW Commander-in-Chief Edward S. Banas Sr. stated conclusively that "veterans are no longer a priority with this administration." As a veteran myself, with 34 years of service alongside hundreds of thousands of brave Americans, I sadly must agree.

We are a nation of values, and it is imperative that we start valuing our veterans. We need a war-hero in Washington to fight for our armed forces and the nation's veterans. That man is John Kerry.

Gen. Wesley K. Clark is the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.