Urgent Message from the Wounded Warrior Project

— Administration Misses Deadline for Implementing Support for Caregivers of Wounded Warriors; Nation’s Military Families Still Waiting for Promised Help —
The Department of Veterans Affairs submitted its plan for providing assistance to the family caregivers of severely wounded veterans as required under the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. While it is technically the next step in what has become a long process to provide the comprehensive services required under the law signed by President Obama in May 2010, it has brought help no closer to the veterans and caregivers who so desperately need it.
The following is a statement issued today by Wounded Warrior Project Executive Director Steven Nardizzi.
After nearly a year of waiting for the Department of Veterans Affairs to begin providing the comprehensive services required under the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, our nation’s wounded veterans and their families received the news yesterday that they must wait longer.
The VA plan submitted to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs not only establishes no date for when these severely injured veterans and their caregivers will begin receiving the assistance and training they have been promised, but its unreasonably restrictive criteria also would effectively disqualify thousands of caregivers who are clearly covered under the law from receiving needed assistance.
While I applaud the continued commitment the Administration has made to support our military members and their families, we must do more than promise—we must deliver.
If bureaucracy and red tape are delaying help for the families of these brave men and women, that’s inexcusable. If the program is facing budget cuts, that’s even worse. We cannot and, in good conscience, should not balance the budget on the backs of those whom we’ve asked to sacrifice so much for our country.
On Monday, February 14, join us in an outreach movement to send a message to the White House:

• Tweet your demand for support for wounded warriors.
• Donate your Facebook status for the day.
• Visit woundedwarriorproject.org for instructions and additional information.

Stay tuned for updates on this important legislative issue.