Reynolds pushes for hotline for soldiers, veterans, families

Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Amherst, has called for creation of a coordinated hotline for soldiers, veterans and families.

Reynolds directed his request to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates; Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson; the co-chairs of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, Bob Dole and Donna Shalala; and the new interagency task force.

The hotline would be a 1-800 number that would collect information in a central location to prevent further problems such as those that arose at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, now under investigation for substandard living conditions for recovering servicemen and women.

"We need to address this and take action immediately. By setting up a coordinated hotline, our soldiers, veterans and their families will have a place to voice complaints and concerns that will be heard, documented and acted upon," Reynolds said.

Reynolds sent a letter to Gates urging the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to coordinate with both the bipartisan commission and the interagency task force in setting up a hotline. Reynolds wrote:

"Our soldiers and families need to know that these problems are being dealt with, not by some faceless bureaucrat, but by the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs themselves ... By demonstrating the seriousness that your offices, and you personally, take these problems, we can show our soldiers, veterans and their families that we will not stand by the same old way of doing things."

"We need to demonstrate that there have been changes in the attitude of the commanders at Walter Reed and other hospitals. One mechanism that can demonstrate this is a coordinated hotline between the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the new bipartisan presidential commission on care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors and the interagency task force for soldiers, veterans and their families."

He said by setting up a coordinated hotline for soldiers, veterans and their families, immediate action can be taken to improve the military healthcare system by hearing directly from those who use the system.