April 18, 2005 

Contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Washington) U.S. Senator Larry Craig announced today that he will hold a press conference on Tuesday at 2:30, April 19, in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Among those who will be at the press conference:

• Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Chairman, Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
• Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Ranking Member, Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
• The Honorable Jim Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• The Honorable Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense
• Veterans from the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org)                                                       -- Staff Sergeant Ryan Kelly (Ret.)  Prescott Valley, Arizona                                                                                                    --Sergeant Jeremy W. Feldbusch -- Latrobe, Pennsylvania   --  Staff Sgt Heath Calhoun -- Clarksville, Tennesse ALL WOUNDED IN IRAQ

  Participants will discuss legislation introduced by Sen. Craig and co-sponsored by Sen. Akaka to cover soldiers, sailors and airmen who, by having a rider attached to their existing Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Program, will be paid anywhere from $25,000 to a maximum of $100,000 after suffering a traumatic injury.

  Administration officials estimate that it will cost sevicemembers about one dollar per month for the coverage.

  The Senate's legislative effort includes both an amendment (#439) to the Emergency Supplemental legislation now being debated in the Senate, and a stand alone bill (S. 806), which will create a new "Traumatic Injury Protection" insurance program.

  "The purpose of this effort is to provide immediate payment ? I repeat ? immediate payment giving injured servicemembers and their families the financial cushion they need to sustain them before their medical discharge when VA benefits will kick in," Craig said.

  The traumatic injuries covered will include blindness, loss of limbs, loss of speech, loss of hearing, paralysis, burns greater than second degree covering 30 percent of the body or face, and certain traumatic brain injuries.

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