August 13, 20
11: A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for ing. It's an honor for me to be here with Senator Bob Dole, and Secretary Donna Shalala, Secretary Jim Nicholson，法文翻譯, and Deputy Secretary Gordon England. I appreciate the opportunity to e to a building full of passion, a place of expertise, where people are dedicating their time and efforts to help those on active duty and those who have served before.
Any time there is any doubt in anybody's mind that our veterans are not getting excellent care, then we in government have a duty to deal with those doubts. I have asked Secretary Gates and Secretary Nicholson to review their respective departments and the interface of their departments -- the Defense Department and the Veterans Department -- to make sure that any doubt as to whether or not a veteran, or one on active duty, gets the best care, does so.
I also asked Senator Dole and Secretary Shalala to lead a non-partisan, independent mission to identify areas where we can do better, and more importantly, e up with solutions as to how to deal with those problems. The missioners conducted a very serious and lengthy review of our military and veterans health care systems, and they submitted remendations to me at the end of July. After Senator Dole and Secretary Shalala briefed me on their remendations, I then directed Secretaries Gates and Nicholson to study and more importantly implement the remendations, so we can ensure our severely wounded servicemembers and their families that they will receive the best possible care.
We've got great health care for our wounded. We just want to make sure that the system is seamless and that the families are treated with the utmost of care during these difficult moments. Secretaries Gates and Nicholson and their departments are working hard to make sure their agencies talk to each other and collaborate. Equally importantly, they're looking at the remendations that the Dole-Shalala mission put forward, and they're implementing them. In other words, the mission did really good work. The mission's remendations are solid, and therefore, to the extent that we can move without congressional law, we will do so. And not only will we do so, we will keep the missioners abreast of the progress we are making.
Secondly, we want to work with Congress. When they e back in September, we want to work with Congress to pass that which is necessary to make sure that the Dole-Shalala mission remendations are fully implemented. In other words, there are some aspects of the mission remendations that require congressional approval. We believe it's important for Congress to listen to the mission. We believe the remendations make a lot of sense, and we would ask for the Congress to pass those remendations as quickly as possible, so I can sign them into law.
There's an amazing -- there's a lot of amazing things taking place here in this facility. For example, we saw technology, health care records that are being passed seamlessly from the Department of Defense to the VA, to make sure that the care providers here have got up-to-date access for each patient. We saw volunteers helping the wounded learn to regain balance and confidence through kayaking programs. I saw physical therapists -- I heard physical therapists talk about their patients with the kind of care and passion that obviously requires a big heart and strong mitment.
The mitment of this government is this: Anybody who is sent into harm's way deserves the best possible care. We're dedicated to this goal. If we find problems, we'll solve the problems. For those who are providing the care, we thank you. For the soldiers who are receiving the care, we owe you the best. And for the families who stand by them, we thank you for your patience.
God bless our troops. Thank you.
END 11:12 A.M. EDT
