HadIt.com Elder allan Posted May 10, 2007 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted May 10, 2007 fwd NEWS FROM THE RANKING MEMBER OF THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS CRAIG'S LEGISLATION IMPROVING WOUNDED WARRIOR BENEFIT PICKS UP SUPPORT AT HEARING <http://veterans.senate.gov/ranking_member_news.cfm?FuseAction=Home.Home &month=5&year=2007&release_id=1017> May 9, 2007 Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202) 224-9093 (Washington, DC) During a lengthy Senate hearing <http://veterans.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.CurrentHearing s&rID=1014> Wednesday regarding 26 bills affecting benefits for veterans, U.S. Senator Larry Craig received positive reactions to six bills he is sponsoring, including one (S. 225 <http://www.thomas.gov> ) that would amend the Wounded Warrior legislation he sponsored and Congress passed in 2005. Craig noted that Toshiro Carrington, a Navy Seal, (pictured with Sen. Craig below) is one of those who would benefit from a change the Idaho Republican is proposing. Carrington lost his left hand and the top of his right thumb during a training accident at Camp Pendleton in California on December 15, 2004, when an explosive charge was accidentally detonated by another sailor. "When we passed the original Wounded Warrior benefit, we provided payments to those servicemembers seriously injured and wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq from September 2001 onward. And from December 2005, we covered all U.S. servicemembers seriously injured anywhere in the world. My new legislation this year would extend coverage to all servicemembers, no matter where they were, from the start of the war on terror. Toshiro Carrington is with us today and is one of those who would benefit from the change I am speaking about," said Craig, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Craig's original Wounded Warrior bill has since provided nearly $200 million to over 3,000 veterans seriously wounded and injured since the war on terror began in 2001. The payments range from $25,000 to $100,000, depending on the severity of the injury. The average payout is approximately $64,000. Coverage includes injuries such as the loss of limbs, hearing and sight <http://www.insurance.va.gov/sgliSite/TSGLI/TSGLI.htm> . Payments are generally made within eight weeks after the servicemember is hurt. But as the Idaho Republican talked about changes that are needed to improve the lives of veterans, he cautioned that if Congress passed all 26 bills now before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the total would come to nearly $100 billion dollars. "I am not pointing fingers. I have six bills among the twenty-six we are reviewing today. Our heart tells us to do everything we can for every person who ever wore a uniform, but our pocketbooks tell us we need to prioritize," said Craig. Spending on VA programs has grown from $48 billion in 2001 to over $80 billion this year. #### * See this release online at: http://veterans.senate.gov/ranking_member_...=Home.Home& month=5&year=2007&release_id=1017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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NEWS FROM THE RANKING MEMBER OF THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS'
AFFAIRS
CRAIG'S LEGISLATION IMPROVING WOUNDED WARRIOR BENEFIT PICKS UP SUPPORT
AT HEARING
<http://veterans.senate.gov/ranking_member_news.cfm?FuseAction=Home.Home
&month=5&year=2007&release_id=1017>
May 9, 2007
Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202) 224-9093
(Washington, DC) During a lengthy Senate hearing
<http://veterans.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.CurrentHearing
s&rID=1014> Wednesday regarding 26 bills affecting benefits for
veterans, U.S. Senator Larry Craig received positive reactions to six
bills he is sponsoring, including one (S. 225 <http://www.thomas.gov> )
that would amend the Wounded Warrior legislation he sponsored and
Congress passed in 2005.
Craig noted that Toshiro Carrington, a Navy Seal, (pictured with Sen.
Craig below) is one of those who would benefit from a change the Idaho
Republican is proposing. Carrington lost his left hand and the top of
his right thumb during a training accident at Camp Pendleton in
California on December 15, 2004, when an explosive charge was
accidentally detonated by another sailor.
"When we passed the original Wounded Warrior benefit, we provided
payments to those servicemembers seriously injured and wounded in
Afghanistan and Iraq from September 2001 onward. And from December 2005,
we covered all U.S. servicemembers seriously injured anywhere in the
world. My new legislation this year would extend coverage to all
servicemembers, no matter where they were, from the start of the war on
terror. Toshiro Carrington is with us today and is one of those who
would benefit from the change I am speaking about," said Craig, the
ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Craig's original Wounded Warrior bill has since provided nearly $200
million to over 3,000 veterans seriously wounded and injured since the
war on terror began in 2001. The payments range from $25,000 to
$100,000, depending on the severity of the injury. The average payout is
approximately $64,000. Coverage includes injuries such as the loss of
limbs, hearing and sight
<http://www.insurance.va.gov/sgliSite/TSGLI/TSGLI.htm> . Payments are
generally made within eight weeks after the servicemember is hurt.
But as the Idaho Republican talked about changes that are needed to
improve the lives of veterans, he cautioned that if Congress passed all
26 bills now before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the total
would come to nearly $100 billion dollars.
"I am not pointing fingers. I have six bills among the twenty-six we are
reviewing today. Our heart tells us to do everything we can for every
person who ever wore a uniform, but our pocketbooks tell us we need to
prioritize," said Craig.
Spending on VA programs has grown from $48 billion in 2001 to over $80
billion this year.
####
* See this release online at:
http://veterans.senate.gov/ranking_member_...=Home.Home&
month=5&year=2007&release_id=1017
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