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(Washington, DC) A newly released Presidential task force report on veterans' issues deserves a hearing soon by the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senator Larry Craig says.

Craig is the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and today sent a formal request to his friend, Chairman Daniel Akaka, requesting that the committee meet in September to review the report.

"The commission asked Congress to move swiftly on its recommendations. The first step is to have a hearing to assess their report. I believe we should begin that process," Craig said.

Officially titled as the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, the nine-member panel was led by former U.S. Senator Bob Dole and Clinton administration Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.

Their recommendations include the first major overhaul of the disability system in more than 50 years; creation of recovery plans with recovery coordinators; a new e-Benefits website; and guaranteeing care for PTSD from the VA for injured service members from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Below is the text of Sen. Craig's letter:

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I respectfully request that you schedule a hearing as soon as possible after the August break to receive testimony on the Final Report of the President's Commission on the Care of America's Returning Wounded Warriors.

As you will recall, at the outset of their mission, you and I sat down with the Commission's Co-Chairs, former Senate Majority Leader, Robert Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala to discuss their plans for proceeding. At that time, they suggested, and we agreed, that we would hold a hearing of the Veterans' Affairs Committee to review their findings and recommendations soon after they completed their task. Of course, you know that the Commission submitted its final report to the President of the United States and to the public last week.

The report detailed a number of findings and recommendations for action on the part of the Executive Branch as well as the Legislative Branch of government. The President expressed his support for the Commission's findings and many Veterans Service Organizations have already endorsed all, or substantially all, of the suggested changes in law and policy.

In light of this information, I believe it is imperative that Congress get down to the business of publicly reviewing the report's recommendations. In doing so, I believe we should receive testimony from Senator Dole and Secretary Shalala as well as other witnesses from the veterans' community whose views you believe would be of particular importance to our proceedings.

I hope you share my sense of urgency in holding this hearing as soon as practicable after the August break. Your strong commitment to America's veterans is evident and I am ready to work with you to make any necessary changes to law to improve their care and treatment as soon as we possibly can.

I hope you enjoy spending time in the beautiful State of Hawaii with your family, friends, and constituents over the August break. I appreciate your consideration of my request and I look forward to working with you on this and many other important issues affecting veterans and the nation during the remainder of this Congress.

Sincerely,

Larry E. Craig, Ranking Member

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