S.Amdt. 1461

1. Adds TITLE __--FULL RECOGNITION OF SACRIFICE AND VALOR OF UNITED STATES SERVICE MEMBERS wherever appropriate

   Adds a title

   Inserted: TITLE __--FULL RECOGNITION OF SACRIFICE AND VALOR OF UNITED STATES SERVICE MEMBERS

   Inserted: Subtitle A--Findings SEC. __01. FINDINGS.

   Inserted: Congress makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) In his prepared testimony for the June 28, 2005, hearing of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, Secretary R. James Nicholson reported that over 103,000 veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, including operations in Iraq, are projected to seek health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs during fiscal year 2005.

   Inserted: (2) In his prepared testimony for the May 19, 2005, hearing of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives, Department of Veterans Affairs Seamless Transition Office Director John Brown testified that--

   Inserted: (A) over 85,000 veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, including operations in Iraq, had already sought care from the Department of Veterans Affairs; and

   Inserted: (B) 24 percent of all veterans returning from these operations were seeking health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

   Inserted: (3) In his testimony before the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate on May 11, 2005, Air Force Surgeon General Lieutenant General George Peach Taylor, Jr. testified that over 55,000 service members had been medically evacuated since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

   Inserted: (4) The Department of Defense reports that, through July 22, 2005--

   Inserted: (A) 13,559 service members had been wounded in action in Operation Iraqi Freedom; and

   Inserted: (B) 511 service members had been wounded in action in Operation Enduring Freedom.

   Inserted: (5) The number of wounded service members reported wounded by the Department of Defense constitute less than \1/6\ of the number of veterans reported to have already sought health care from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, a number which excludes wounded service members still serving on active duty in the Armed Services and wounded service members who sought health care from private physicians.

   Show 37 more inserted paragraphsShow less

   Inserted: (6) In his testimony before the June 28, 2005, hearing of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, Secretary Nicholson estimated that the Department of Veterans Affairs will experience a $1,300,000,000 funding shortfall for fiscal year 2005 and a $1,700,000,000 funding shortfall for fiscal year 2006, in large part because of the Department's inability to plan for the increased workload experienced as a result of large numbers of veterans returning from Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and seeking health care from the Department.

   Inserted: (7) It is impossible for the Department of Veterans Affairs to estimate, and for Congress to appropriate, the resources necessary to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs can adequately provide quality health care to veterans returning home from Operation Iraqi Freedom and other critical operations if the number of wounded and disabled service members is not accurately reported.

   Inserted: Subtitle B--Accounting for Casualties Incurred in the Prosecution of the Global War on Terrorism SEC. _11. MONTHLY ACCOUNTING.

   Inserted: Not later than 5 days after the end of each calendar month, the Secretary of Defense shall publish, for each operation described in section _12, a full accounting of the casualties among the members of the Armed Forces that were incurred in such operation during that month.

   Inserted: SEC. _12. OPERATIONS COVERED.

   Inserted: The operations referred to in section _11 are as follows:

   Inserted: (1) Operation Iraqi Freedom.

   Inserted: (2) Operation Enduring Freedom.

   Inserted: (3) Each other operation undertaken by the Armed Forces in the prosecution of the Global War on Terrorism.

   Inserted: SEC. _13. COMPREHENSIVE CONTENT OF ACCOUNTING.

   Inserted: For the purpose of providing a full and complete accounting of casualties covered by a report under section _11, the Secretary of Defense shall include in the report the number of casualties in each casualty status in accordance with section _14.

   Inserted: SEC. _14. CASUALTY STATUS.

   Inserted: (a) Status Types.--In a report under this title, each casualty among members of the Armed Forces shall be characterized by the most specific casualty status applicable to the member as follows:

   Inserted: (1) Killed in action.

   Inserted: (2) Killed in non-hostile duty.

   Inserted: (3) Killed, self-inflicted.

   Inserted: (4) Wounded in action, not returned to duty.

   Inserted: (5) Wounded in action, returned to duty (to the extent that data is available to support this characterization of casualty status).

   Inserted: (6) Evacuated for medical reasons.

   Inserted: (b) Definitions.--In this section:

   Inserted: (1) Killed in action.--The term "killed in action", with respect to a member of the Armed Forces, means that the member incurred one or more mortal wounds while involved in an action against a hostile force, whether or not the wounds are inflicted by the hostile force.

   Inserted: (2) Killed in non-hostile duty.--The term "killed in non-hostile duty", with respect to a member of the Armed Forces, means that the member incurred one or more mortal wounds that were not self-inflicted and not inflicted during an action against a hostile force.

   Inserted: (3) Killed, self-inflicted.--The term "killed, self-inflicted", with respect to a member of the Armed Forces, means a suicide of the member or the death of the member as a result of one or more self-inflicted injuries.

   Inserted: (4) Wounded in action, not returned to duty.--The term "wounded in action, not returned to duty", with respect to a member of the Armed Forces, means that the member, while involved in an action against a hostile force, incurred one or more non-mortal injuries that required medical attention and that prevented the member from returning to duty within 72 hours after incurring the injury or injuries.

   Inserted: (5) Wounded in action, returned to duty.--The term "wounded in action, returned to duty", with respect to a member of the Armed Forces, means that the member, while involved in an action against a hostile force, incurred one or more non-mortal injuries that required medical attention but did not prevent the member from returning to duty within 72 hours after incurring the injury or injuries.

   Inserted: (6) Evacuated for medical reasons.--The term "evacuated for medical reasons", with respect to a member of the Armed Forces, means that the member was evacuated from a theater of operations for medical reasons, including psychological reasons.

   Inserted: SEC. _15. PUBLICATION AND RELEASE OF REPORT.

   Inserted: The Secretary of Defense shall--

   Inserted: (1) transmit a copy of the report under section _11 to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;

   Inserted: (2) transmit a copy of the report to the chairman and ranking member of--

   Inserted: (A) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;

   Inserted: (B) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives;

   Inserted: (C) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and

   Inserted: (D) the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives; and

   Inserted: (3) place the report on the official website of the Department of Defense.

   Inserted: SEC. _16. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

   Inserted: It is the sense of Congress that full and accurate reporting of casualties among the members of the Armed Forces is essential to the ability of the Federal Government to plan for and provide the resources necessary to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs can provide sufficient health care and treatment to members of the Armed Services returning from theaters of conflict.

   The amendment doesn't say where this goes; the clerk decides.

   Original wording

   At the appropriate place, insert the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed