Feingold Provision To Help The Families Of Injured Servicemembers Included In Iraq Supplemental Legislation Helps Family Members Visit Their Loved Ones Wounded in Battle April 22, 2005 Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced today that the Senate has included his Injured Servicemembers Family Travel amendment in the emergency supplemental bill that the Senate passed yesterday to provide funding for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Current law provides federal assistance to families to help pay for the travel and transportation costs of family members visiting seriously ill or injured servicemembers. However, the way the law is written, too many families don't qualify for such help even though their loved ones may have gone through multiple surgeries. After hearing from the family members of Wisconsinites injured in combat, Feingold introduced his legislation. The Feingold provision accepted into the emergency supplemental appropriations bill makes it easier for the families of injured servicemembers to travel to the bedside of their loved ones by correcting a flaw in current law that unintentionally but severely restricts the number of families that qualify for travel assistance. (A timeline about how Senator Feingold learned of the problem from Wisconsinites is attached.) "When a family member is injured in a combat zone, the traumatic effects take their toll on both the injured servicemember and his or her family," Feingold said. "By helping family members to visit their loved ones in the hospital, we can allow them to concentrate on the important things, like helping to begin the healing process, rather than worrying about how they are going to pay for their travel. While making sure our brave soldiers receive the best health care possible is a top priority, we also have to remember their families and the sacrifices they make." One of those family members was Tina Justice, from Mount Horeb, whose husband, First Lieutenant Christopher Justice of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, was injured in Iraq by a suicide bomber. Although Lieutenant Justice's injuries were severe enough to warrant medical evacuation to the United States, his family did not qualify for travel benefits because he was not officially listed as "Seriously Injured." First Lieutenant Justice and eight other members of Company B of the 118th Medical Battalion were traveling in a three vehicle convoy near Baghdad on September 12, 2004 and were waiting to clear a roadblock when they noticed a suspicious vehicle racing towards them. Members of Company B quickly responded, but the driver was still able to blow up his vehicle. First Lieutenant Justice was one of the three soldiers seriously injured and evacuated, first to Germany, and finally to Walter Reed, where he underwent several surgeries for his injuries. Tina Justice was one of those who immediately went to Walter Reed to be with her husband, bringing along her 4-year old daughter and 1-year old son. Mrs. Justice naturally assumed that she would qualify for assistance but, according to the Army, her husband's injuries -- which required evacuation to Europe and then to the U.S. -- did not qualify as "serious," and therefore she would not be eligible for reimbursement. Despite her many attempts to reverse this decision, the Army continued to deny her claim. Feingold was also contacted by the Carter family from Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Their son, Specialist Andrew Carter, sustained shrapnel injuries to his legs and feet while serving his country in Iraq and was evacuated to Walter Reed. He and his family were also frustrated by the fact that they did not qualify for travel cost reimbursement because Specialist Carter's injuries weren't classified as serious by the Army. "When I originally heard about these cases and others, I believed there must have been some sort of bureaucratic mix-up. After all, it makes no sense that the Army would spend all that money to evacuate personnel out of the theater, on to Germany, and finally to the United States, if that person was not seriously injured," Feingold said. "The problem was not bureaucratic however, it was in the law itself. I hope that, as members of the House and Senate meet to draft the final version of the supplemental spending bill, leaders from both sides will make sure this amendment stays in the bill, so that we help ease some of the stressful conditions military families live under, especially when a loved one is injured in combat." From Listening to Legislation… Comprehensive Timeline on Senator Feingold's Legislation to Help the Families of Wounded Servicemen and Women Date Event 09/12/04 1LT Christopher Justice and seven other members of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's Company B, 118th Medical Battalion are injured by a suicide car bomber in Iraq. 1LT Justice and two other soldiers are injured severely enough to warrant medical evacuation to Germany and then Walter Reed. 09/21/04 Senator Feingold's office receives a letter from Tina Justice, wife of 1LT Justice, regarding her problems getting reimbursed for travel expenses to be at the bedside of her injured husband. 09/22/04 Senator Feingold sends a letter to the Army requesting they look into the matter (Senator Feingold's staff also follows up on this with the Army and Mrs. Justice by phone over the next several months.) 09/24/04 In Washington D.C., Wisconsin Adjutant General Wilkening presents Senator Feingold with the Charles Dick Medal of Merit. Senator Feingold gives General Wilkening some personal letters to deliver to 5 injured Guardsmen at Walter Reed, including the three from Wisconsin mentioned above. 09/24/04 On his way back to Wisconsin, Senator Feingold, by chance, meets the family of one of the injured Wisconsin Guardsmen at Reagan National Airport. They have just arrived from Wisconsin to visit their son at Walter Reed. The family subsequently asks Senator Feingold to visit their son and some of the injured soldiers at Walter Reed. 09/28/04 Senator Feingold visits Walter Reed and meets with the three soldiers, as well as another Wisconsin Guardsmen who is there as an outpatient for a non-combat injury. Senator Feingold listens to the soldiers talk about the excellent medical care. They also talk about how the families are having problems getting travel reimbursed. 09/29/04 Senator Feingold's staff hears from an American Legion service officer at Walter Reed of another Wisconsin family having trouble with travel reimbursement. 10/06/04 Senator Feingold sends a letter to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld explaining the problem families are facing getting their travel reimbursed. 10/12/04 Secretary Rumsfeld sends a letter saying that the Undersecretary of Personnel and Readiness, Dr. David Chu, will respond. Dr. Chu never responds. 11/19/04 Senator Feingold's staff meets with representatives of the Army Surgeon General's office to discuss the family travel policy and the Justice case in particular. 01/12/05 For the second time, the Army denies the Justice travel reimbursement appeal. In the meantime, Senator Feingold's office has been gathering data from the Army and Marine Corps, and later Air Force and Navy, to try to get a sense of the scope of the problem, potential fixes, and costs and begins drafting legislative options 03/13/05 Terry Carter, father of SPC Andrew Carter, e-mails Senator Feingold about the problems his family has had in getting their travel costs reimbursed to visit their injured son at Walter Reed. 04/14/05 Senator Feingold introduces a stand-alone bill (S.782) and an amendment (SA416) to the emergency Iraq supplemental spending bill to make sure that the families of servicemembers injured in a contingency operation requiring hospitalization in the US have at least one trip to the hospital paid for. 04/20/05 Modified version of Senator Feingold's amendment (SA416) is adopted by voice vote. Note: The Justices and the Carters eventually had much of their travel expenses covered by private organizations, for which they were very thankful. Their concern was that it took them weeks and months of fighting and figuring out the web of organizations before they got reimbursed. Both families did not want other families to go through all the difficulties they had gone through and were also concerned that less fortunate families would be put under enormous financial pressure initially.

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