Congress Promises Veterans Health Care Improvements

March 1, 2007 — -- The ABC News special chronicling Bob Woodruff's inspiring recovery from brain injuries sustained while reporting from Iraq has focused the attention of the nation's most powerful lawmakers.

Pledges of increased support for both traumatic brain injury, or TBI, and wounded veterans returning from war have abounded after Woodruff's report, along with accusations of substandard conditions at Walter Reed, one of the country's leading military hospitals.

Congress Calls for Increased Vets Funds

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who chairs the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, is calling on his colleagues to approve an additional $300 million for the Department of Veterans' Affairs to treat brain injuries.

Akaka said the budget that President Bush delivered to Capitol Hill "underestimated" the costs of treating veterans with brain injuries.

"Looking at these young soldiers with such devastating injuries, we are reminded of the true costs of war," said Akaka in a statement released after the special aired on Tuesday night. 

"We know that the transition from Department of Defense to Veterans Administration can be tough," Akaka continued. "And this is even more true for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries.  At the start of this war, [the Veterans Administration] was wholly unprepared to deal with the number of service members returning with horrific injuries of all kinds." 

Walter Reed Shows Wounds of War

In a related matter, controversy continues to swirl around Washington's Walter Reed Medical Center, the facility at which Woodruff and thousands of returning veterans are treated for war-related injuries.

Last week, the Washington Post examined conditions at the former hotel turned medical facility and reported substandard conditions, including black mold, cockroaches, mouse droppings and stained carpets in the medical hold unit known simply as building 18.

Reaction to the expose was at first contradictory. At a press conference, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley described the newspaper's account as a "one-sided representation," but Kiley's comments seemed to directly contradict those made earlier at the Pentagon by Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody.