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1 ,
2003> Congresswoman Bordallo Speaks Out For Guam's Veterans FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 1, 2003 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo brought Guam's veterans' message to Washington following her town hall meeting on veterans' affairs in July, where over 140 veterans gathered in the Guam Legislature's public hearing room to voice their concerns to representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Testifying to the Department of Veterans Affairs Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission today, Bordallo advocated for expanded health care services for veterans on Guam. "The Draft National Plan describes the CBOC as providing "accessible, high quality primary, specialty, and hospital care for veterans in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands." That is a goal we all share. However, many veterans groups on Guam have informed me that they want the CBOC to be separate from the Naval Hospital. Most veterans would like the CBOC to be relocated to a more accessible facility, preferably one centrally located in our capital city of Hagåtña," said Congresswoman Bordallo. "Veterans in Guam are made to wait for paperwork from the Hawaii processing center, which is overworked and not responsive enough because it is difficult to access information. There is a lack of feedback on casework made work by the long delays in sending mail. The Final National CARES Plan should recognize the construction of an expanded CBOC in Guam as an opportunity to co-locate VBA staff with the authority to assess a veteran's disability level, issue veterans' identification cards in Guam and process benefits paperwork on island," said Congresswoman Bordallo. Based on Guam veterans' input, Bordallo also recommended to the CARES Commission that they address veterans' concerns of streamlining the processing of veterans ID cards. Following her statement on the need to build a new Community Based Outpatient Clinic on Guam, Bordallo took to the floor to speak out in favor of concurrent receipt of disability benefits for veterans. "Closing the communications gap between Guam veterans and federal policy makers is something that is important to me," Bordallo said. "In July I brought VA officials to Guam. Today I was able to bring the message of Guam veterans from Malesso to Yigo directly to the policy makers who will affect their lives." Bordallo spoke on the House floor to urge her colleagues to sign the discharge petition to bring H.R. 303, the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003. The legislation, of which she is a cosponsor would permit retired members of the armed forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. To follow up on her village meetings and to help improve statistics and information about veterans' health on Guam, Bordallo sent out a questionnaire to Guam veterans and military retirees in late August. The mailer has yet to reach Guam due to unforeseen mail delays, but Bordallo emphasizes the importance of participation by Guam veterans. "I will continue to update the CARES commission on the results of my survey until their October 20th deadline. Even after that point, any additional data about veterans' health on Guam we receive will help us support Guam veterans' concerns in Washington," Bordallo said. The VA
Health Questionnaire may be accessed online and all surveys
should be returned to the Guam District Office. ###
Contact: Neil Weare
in Washington, D.C., at (202) 225-1188 or Joaquin
Perez in Guam at (671) 477-4272. |
