Senator Murray: “At the end of the day, I know the most important thing I can do to make the VA work for Washington state veterans—is to listen to them and their families, and to make sure their voices are heard in the halls of Congress, in every conversation I have with the VA, and anywhere important policy decisions about our veterans are being made.”
***WATCH VIDEO OF THE ROUNDTABLE HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), held a virtual roundtable on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Caregivers program. During the event, Senator Murray discussed her longtime push to ensure the program is meeting the intent of Congress so that veterans and their families can access the critical services and care they have earned.
“As a nation, we owe our veterans more than a debt of gratitude. We owe it to our veterans, their caregivers, and their families to ensure they receive the care they need for their physical and mental wellbeing,” said Senator Murray. “I have been regularly meeting with veterans and their families in Washington state, and pressing VA—across several administrations now—about how this law is being implemented. And what I’ve heard has been frustration, confusion, and worry from people who had been told they could lose the support they rely on – or not access it at all. So I have been hammering away at VA with one message, loud and clear: fix this.”
“As the daughter of a veteran—one who relied on the VA for care our family needed—this is personal to me. I have been pressing the VA, at every opportunity, to do right by our veterans here,” continued Senator Murray. “At the end of the day, I know the most important thing I can do to make the VA work for Washington state veterans—is to listen to them and their families, and to make sure their voices are heard in the halls of Congress, in every conversation I have with VA, and anywhere important policy decisions about our veterans are being made.”
This roundtable comes after last month’s SVAC hearing where Senator Murray spoke with and heard from advocates who are fighting to improve the Caregivers Program—following an announcement by the VA of changes coming to the program. Included in this announcement was a decision by VA Secretary Denis McDonough to immediately halt the discharge of legacy participants and to start a new process to refine eligibility requirements to ensure the Program is meeting the intent of Congress.
Senator Murray was joined by Sharon Kirkpatrick, of Hansville, a retired Navy veteran and current caregiver of a Vietnam era veteran; LaVada Anderson, Tribal Veteran Service Officer; and Melissa Margain, a U.S. Army veteran, the Seattle Program Director for Minority Veterans of America.
“My husband has stage 5 kidney disease. A lot of caregiving comes from me to just allow him the dignity to be able to stay at home—I can usually manage, but sometimes I need help,” said Sharon Kirkpatrick. “I’m a veteran too. I’m a volunteer service officer. I like spending my time helping other veterans. But when caring for my husband, something’s got to give.”
“I know there are several families and spouses of veterans who have to make hard decisions…These families are in our communities—they’re our fathers, grandmothers, sisters, mothers—and in this case, it’s also myself! I really think we need to follow up and hold someone accountable,” continued Sharon Kirkpatrick. “So I really appreciate what you’re doing, Senator Murray, to hold people accountable.”
“As a U.S. Army disabled veteran myself who has been considered a legacy participant and was enrolled in the VA program for comprehensive assistance up until about 45 days ago, I understand firsthand how the news of removal can have an emotional impact around uncertainty—as my specific needs have not been resolved since I’ve been in the program,” said Melissa Margain. “I am sad to see so many veterans be removed from this program, and it is well-needed. As a one-hundred-percent service-connected veteran who is still on a journey to recovery, and a representative of Minority Veterans of America, I want to thank Senator Murray’s office for your efforts in bringing equitable support and systems access to all veterans.”
A longtime champion for strengthening federal investments in caring for veterans, during her time as Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator Murray oversaw the initial implementation of the Caregiver Support Program in 2011 and has been following its implementation closely since then.
Given the popularity and success of the program, Senator Murray first introduced legislation in 2014 to expand the program to veterans of all eras, reintroducing the legislation in 2015 and 2017. She successfully included provisions from her Military and Veteran Caregiver Services Improvement Act, which Senator Murray continuously fought to pass for years, in the bipartisan VA MISSION Act to expand the program to include veterans who served before September 11, 2001.
During VA’s rule-making process, she pushed back against efforts to curtail eligibility for the expansion of the VA Caregivers Program. In a recent Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, she pushed Secretary McDonough to revise VA’s unnecessarily restrictive criteria for the Caregivers Program to ensure it aligns with Congressional intent.
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