There are currently 845,481 veterans in Illinois and roughly 35,520 residing with Illinois 6th Congressional district. Congressman Roskam takes seriously his responsibility to ensure those brave men and women who have selflessly served our nation to protect our freedom are provided the best care and resources available to them when they return home.

Veterans Funding:
In 2007, the House approved FY08 Military Construction/Veterans’ Administration Appropriations bill with the Congressman’s support.  The bill passed the House on June 15, 2007 with an overwhelming support of 409-2. The House Appropriations Committee draft bill provides $109.2 billion for military construction and veterans' programs, $11.6 billion more than the fiscal 2007 level, which was $4 billion more than the President requested.

Veteran Health Care:
 The House version of FY08 Military Construction/VA Appropriations contained a $3.7B increase over the President’s request, $18.2B above FY07, including:

• $37.1B for the Veterans Health Administration ($2.5B above Pres request; $4.4B above FY07) (The VHA estimates they will treat 5.8M patients in 2008, including more than 263,345 vets of Iraq and Afghanistan, 54,000 more than FY07)
• $600M for new initiative for mental health and PTSD, including funding to ensure the five Level I Polytrauma Centers and three Centers of Excellence for Mental Health and PTSD are fully operational in 2008
• $2.9B for specialty mental health care (Same as Pres request; $100M above FY07)
• $130M for homeless vets programs plus a per diem to help care for an additional 2300 homeless vets ($23M above Pres request; $38M above FY07)
• $3.6B for Medical Administration to ensure the efficient operation of the VA’s health care system. ($193M above Pres request; $458M above FY07)
• $4.1B for VA’s medical facilities account, which includes operations and maintenance ($508M above Pres request; $530M above FY07) (this funding would address current maintenance needs in order to prevent a Walter Reed-type scandal from occurring in the VA system)
• $480M for research to improve the quality of life for injured and aging veterans The increase will help to attack the emerging issues facing those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. ($69M above Pres request; $66M above FY07
• $1.6B For the Dept to hire 1100 additional claims processors to work-down the backlog of benefits claims and to reduce the time to process new claims. The most recent VA Quarterly Status Report estimates that nearly 400,000 claims have exceeded the 160 day goal for processing ($127M above Pres request; $117M above FY07).

Medical Travel Reimbursement Funding:
Within the FY08 Veterans Appropriations bill the Congressman supported an amendment that transferred $125 million to the VHA's Medical Services account from the VHA's Medical Administrative account for the purpose of doubling the travel reimbursement rate for service-connected disabled veterans traveling to and from VA health care facilities.  According to statistics "The current mileage rate of $.11 per mile has not been updated for 30 years and is four times less than the $48.5 cents federal employees now receive."

Women Warriors Funding:
Roskam supported and amendment to provide an additional $10 million for the construction of state extended care facilities and reserves $2 million of the $1.32 billion for Veterans Affairs Departmental Administration (general operating expenses) for the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans under section 542 of title 38 of U.S. Code.  1 in 7 of our veterans in the War on Terror is a woman, and the VA health system needs to adapt to meet their unique needs.  This advisor committee would be able to study and evaluate the system to ensure that all veterans receive the best possible care.

Veterans Health Care Legislation:
In additional to the appropriations for veterans, the Congressman has voted for several bills relating to veterans health care including:

• H.R. 327, the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act.  This act directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive program to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans.  This bill would require that the program have specific components, including training for all staff who interact with veterans, annual screenings of veterans for risk factors for suicide, a suicide prevention counselor at each medical facility, and outreach and education for veterans and their families
• H.R. 1538, the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act.  This very important piece of legislation improves the management of medical care, personnel, actions, and quality of life issues for members of the Armed Services would institute a single military health care system for VA and DoD.
• Veterans’ Outreach Improvement Act, a bill to improve the outreach activities of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
• Returning Service member VA Healthcare Insurance Act which extends the period of eligibility for health care for combat service in the Persian Gulf or future hostilities from two years to five years after discharge or release.
• Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act, legislation requiring the provision of chiropractic care and services to veterans at all Department of Veterans Affairs medical Centers.
• Traumatic Brain Injury Health Enhancement and Long-Term Support Act, which directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide certain improvements in the treatment of individuals with traumatic brain injuries.
• Early Access to Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Benefits Act which expands eligibility for vocational rehabilitation benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Veteran Retiree Care:
Congressman Roskam became a cosponsor to H.R.579, the Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act. This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense and the nation have a committed health benefits obligation to retired military personnel that exceeds the obligation of corporate employers to civilian employees.  This adds additional options to constrain the growth of health care spending in ways that do not disadvantage beneficiaries, and should pursue such options rather than seeking large fee increases for beneficiaries

Walter Reed:
When news broke of the conditions of Walter Reed Veterans Medical facility, Congressman Roskam signed onto a letter to the Bush administration expressing concern about the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed’s outpatient facility.  The letter commends Bush’s decision to implement a comprehensive evaluation of conditions at Walter Reed and supports the need for fundamental reform of the VA’s medical care system. Congressman Roskam toured the facility and did a PSA explaining his tour and the expressed his concern with the bureaucratic process returning veterans have to deal with in order to get proper care.

Fee Increases:
With veterans concerns in mind about possible fee increases, Congressman Roskam voted for the FY08 Military-Veterans bill which did not contain additional fees nor allow the VA to increase fees as proposed in the Administration’s request.  In June of 2007 Congressman Roskam voted for the FY08 National Defense Authorization Act.  This bill blocked DOD’s proposed fee increases retirees must pay under the TRICARE Standard health program.  Since FY04 the Administration has proposed an annual enrollment fee in the VA budget.  Congressman Roskam has spoken out against these proposed fees and in addition, along with the House has not introduced any legislation to give VA the authority to implement an enrollment fee. 

Cost of Living Increases:
Congressman Roskam voted for H.R. 1284 Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2007, which would provide a veterans' COLA equal to the COLA for Social Security benefits effective December 1, 2007. H.R. 1284 was passed by the House on a 418-0 vote on March 21, 2007 and by the Senate by unanimous consent on October 18, 2007. This legislation was signed into law on November 5, 2007.

Veterans Pensions:
One of the issues that arises is determining who should receive pensions and or benefits after completion of service. The FY08 Omnibus spending bill appropriates $41,236,322,000 for Compensation and Pensions as proposed by both the House and the Senate. Of the amount provided, not more than $28,583,000 is to be transferred to General Operating Expenses and Medical Administration for reimbursement of necessary expenses in implementing provisions of title 38.

Additionally, Congressman Roskam became a cosponsor of H.R. 1589, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act.  This bill allows a surviving spouse to collect benefits from both the VA and DoD after they lose their military spouse.  Americans who answer the call of their country and join the Armed Services should not have to worry about who would provide for their families if they make the ultimate sacrifice while protecting their country.  Congressman Roskam believes we should never forget the families of those men and women who serve this great nation.

Flag Folding:
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that due to religious implications and complaints the Flag Folding Ceremony could no longer be performed in VA cemeteries or by VA personnel. 

This angered many veterans and due to this outrage, Congressman Roskam cosponsored H.Res. 783, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration employees, volunteers, and veterans' service organizations that perform funeral honors and memorial honor details should be permitted to recite the 13 steps to fold an American flag (known as the "13-fold recital") at any national cemetery if requested by the family of the deceased.

Roskam also signed onto a Calvert (R-CA)/LaTourette (R-OH) letter to Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Gordon Mansfield, demanding a lift of the flag folding ceremony ban conducted by cemetery employees and volunteers at the 125 national cemeteries.

Veterans Pictures in Post Offices:
Congressman Roskam joined 68 other members of Congress and cosponsored H.Res.784, which commends all U.S. Post Offices that display photographs of local community members who are serving in the Armed Forces and are deployed overseas. This reaffirms the authority of the U.S. Postal Service to display in post offices official photographs of members of the Armed Forces at the request of the community or the service members' families.