Bush Increased DVA funding to the highest levels it ever had. 115% since 2001.
THE BUSH RECORD - FACT SHEET: The Bush Administration Has Provided Unprecedented Support for Our Veterans
Increased funding for veterans' medical care by more than 115 percent since 2001.
FY 2009 funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) totals more than $97 billion, nearly double the level of funding when the President took office and the highest level of support for veterans in history.
Provided more than $6 billion to modernize and expand VA medical facilities and more than $1 billion over the past three years to support traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder treatment and research.
Honored our veterans with a hallowed, final resting place by implementing and fully funding the largest expansion in the national cemetery system since the Civil War.
Improved Care And Services For Wounded Warriors
Created the Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors – co-chaired by former Senator Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala – to ensure that wounded service members and veterans receive quality care and services and can live lives of hope, promise, and dignity. Nearly all of the Commission's recommendations have already been implemented, such as:
Expanded training, screening, and staff resources to help service members and veterans suffering from mental health disorders.
Created a joint Recovery Coordinator Program for seriously injured service members.
Initiated a pilot program to replace the cumbersome system of two separate disability examinations with a single, comprehensive medical exam.
Established a Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and expanded VA's polytrauma system of care to 21 network sites and clinic support teams to provide state-of-the-art treatment to injured veterans at facilities closer to their homes.