Press Release 1 Murray 
  U S Senator Patty Murray Senators Urge GAO to Study the Military s Mental Health Care Murray Senators 
Urge GAO to Study the Military s Mental Health Care 04 19 2007 News Release Senators Urge GAO to Study 
the Military s Mental Health Care Obama Boxer Bond Akaka Harkin Lieberman Murray McCaskill Sanders 
ask for review in light of troubling reports For Immediate Release Thursday April 19 2007 WASHINGTON 
D C U S Senators Barack Obama D IL Barbara Boxer D CA Kit Bond R MO Daniel K Akaka D HI Tom Harkin D IA Joe 
Lieberman I CT Patty Murray D WA Claire McCaskill D MO and Bernie Sanders I VT today sent a letter to 
the General Accounting Office GAO requesting a review of the Department of Defense s treatment 
of service related mental health conditions affecting troops that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan 
The letter comes in the wake of reports of poor treatment and conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical 
Centers where many patients and family members described not receiving adequate mental health 
care and more recent reports that suggest the Department of Defense DOD has not effectively screened 
and diagnosed mental health conditions Senators Boxer Bond and Obama had previously asked that 
the Department of Defense to examine command practices and culture related to mental health care 
with no response As the DOD drags its feet the senators have requested the GAO to investigate agency 
practices related to mental health screenings diagnoses referrals and treatment of service members 
Recent reports suggest that the Department of Defense is ill equipped to effectively screen and 
diagnose the increasing number of service members who are suffering from mental health conditions 
such as post traumatic stress disorder said Senator Obama I m especially troubled by reports of 
some DOD commanders downplaying the serious mental health conditions confronting service members 
returning home from Iraq and then redeploying those troops without proper treatment It s time for 
a full accounting of how many of our troops are affected by post traumatic stress disorder other 
service connected mental health conditions and traumatic brain injuries and for an evaluation 
of our readiness to help the generation of soldiers returning home from war rebuild their lives 
Senator Boxer said Two years ago military doctors informed me that soldiers with serious mental 
health problems were being denied care and redeployed to Iraq Sadly even after we passed legislation 
and the Defense Department issued new mental health guidelines they are not being followed It is 
time for the GAO to investigate allegations of mistreatment and improper discharges The health 
and well being of our service members must be a priority for the Pentagon and for all Americans Combat 
stress and its impact on our soldiers and their families is a serious problem that continues to grow 
Reports that our military is unprepared or unwilling to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome 
or other mental health problems are unacceptable Being unprepared for these problems is no excuse 
for inaction It is our duty to take care of the brave men and women who have answered the call to duty 
said Senator Kit Bond I am deeply concerned about the consequences of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan 
on the mental health of those who serve said Senator Akaka PTSD and other mental health problems 
the often invisible wounds of war can be terribly debilitating As a senior member of the Armed Services 
Committee and Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee I am working to ensure that our wounded 
warriors receive a timely diagnosis of mental health problems and prompt and effective response 
This effort must begin while servicemembers are still on active duty and there have been far too 
many reports that this is not happening The results of this requested GAO review will be of great 
importance as we seek to ensure that DOD and VA meet the needs of our newest war veterans With news 
that our soldiers will be serving longer tours of duty with shorter periods of rest at home there 
is no better time to ensure the men and women who serve our country are getting the mental health services 
they need said Senator Harkin We must do away with the stigma associated with mental illness and 
remove any obstacles to treatment We have a moral obligation to care for our wounded troops and ensure 
they receive the best care said Senator Lieberman Post traumatic stress disorder is afflicting 
many of our service members and it is imperative that we accurately and efficiently diagnose and 
treat it The stakes are high for those that are sacrificing their lives for our country and we must 
work together to correct any deficiencies that we find in our military s mental health system We 
can t afford to wait until a year after our service members have returned home to discover the affects 
of the unseen wounds of this war said Senator Murray PTSD is taking a horrible toll on our service 
members and their families and we must be sure today that they are being properly screened tracked 
and treated We can no longer be unprepared for this mounting problem Our men and women returning 
from war should receive mental health care equal to the physical medical care they are given and 
anything less is unacceptable Senator McCaskill said It took this country 15 years after Vietnam 
to look at the mental health needs of veterans We can t do that to another generation of soldiers The 
men and women who put their lives on the line for this country deserve the best care we can provide 
Senator Bernie Sanders said What has been revealed about Defense Department health care is a disgrace 
that needs to be addressed We need to find out whether there is a concerted effort by the Defense Department 
to shortchange our soldiers and veterans who are in need of mental health care and other benefits 
they have earned The text of the letter is below The Honorable David M Walker Comptroller General 
Government Accountability Office GAO 441 G Street NW Room 7125 Washington DC 20548 Dear Mr Walker 
We are writing to request that the General Accounting Office GAO undertake a review of Department 
of Defense DOD screenings diagnoses referrals and treatment of service members who may have Post 
Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD and other mental health conditions related to their service in 
Iraq and Afghanistan Several of us previously wrote the DOD requesting an examination of command 
practices and reports of biases and misdiagnoses in the treatment of mental health related injuries 
such as PTSD and other deployment related health problems including Traumatic Brain Injury TBI 
but have not yet received a response The stigmas associated with PTSD and other mental health needs 
are no less potent within the military than in the civilian world Indeed reports from soldiers suffering 
from PTSD suggest that the stigma is worse with some military commanders appearing to minimize 
the significance of PTSD and other mental health needs or suggesting that a service member is malingering 
to avoid redeployment There are allegations of commanders at Fort Carson Colorado denying soldiers 
access to mental health care and instead ordering them redeployed for additional tours in Iraq 
We have also heard of cases in which service members with PTSD are diagnosed as having personality 
disorders that the Army considers pre existing thus depriving otherwise eligible combat veterans 
of disability benefits and much needed mental healthcare Because the stakes for our service members 
and their health are so high we must move quickly to investigate and correct any deficiencies We 
have come to learn about a number of upsetting allegations at Fort Carson Therefore for the purposes 
of an expedited review we request to be briefed initially by GAO on these immediate cases We ask that 
you subsequently focus your inquiry not only on Fort Carson but on system wide mental health deficiencies 
within the DOD With the significant burdens already being placed on our service members and their 
families with multiple extended deployments we must ensure that they are not further burdened 
with any humiliation stigmatization or other minimization of genuine mental health needs Our 
service members are risking their lives for our nation s security it is our moral obligation to care 
for them We therefore ask the GAO to assess Known cases of improper discharges or misdiagnoses and 
patterns of systematic stigmatization employed by military commanders regarding the mental 
health needs of service members throughout the chain of command at Fort Carson and across DOD departments 
The growing number of discharges for personality disorders and whether or not such discharges 
are being improperly used when service members should in fact be given a mental health diagnosis 
that DOD does not consider preexisting The overall number of misdiagnosed cases of PTSD other mental 
health conditions and TBIs at Fort Carson and force wide DOD progress in implementing previous 
mandates to develop force wide criteria and procedures for screening diagnosing and referring 
mental health cases for follow up treatment The efficacy of the DOD s current mental health safety 
net and treatment capabilities for example what current mechanisms are available to service members 
in the event of misdiagnosis the steps and resources required to implement one on one face to face 
mental health screenings for all returning service members The number of service members men and 
women reporting mental health concerns related to sexual assault during deployment and whether 
current DOD personnel training and diagnostic guidance is sufficiently responsive to the needs 
of both men and women We seek to ensure that the DOD has the resources necessary to diagnose and treat 
service connected injuries that impact the mental health of U S service personnel It is vital that 
the U S military ensures it is treating the mental health needs of our forces with the same priority 
and resource investments it is devoting to physical injuries If you would like to discuss this request 
please contact redacted Thank you for your assistance in this matter   

Press Release 2 McCaskill 
  April 19 2007 Senators Urge GAO to Study the Military s Mental Health Care Obama Boxer Bond Akaka 
Harkin Lieberman Murray McCaskill Sanders ask for review in light of troubling reports WASHINGTON 
D C U S Senators Barack Obama D IL Barbara Boxer D CA Kit Bond R MO Daniel K Akaka D HI Tom Harkin D IA Joe 
Lieberman I CT Patty Murray D WA Claire McCaskill D MO and Bernie Sanders I VT today sent a letter to 
the General Accounting Office GAO requesting a review of the Department of Defense s treatment 
of service related mental health conditions affecting troops that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan 
The letter comes in the wake of reports of poor treatment and conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical 
Centers where many patients and family members described not receiving adequate mental health 
care and more recent reports that suggest the Department of Defense DOD has not effectively screened 
and diagnosed mental health conditions Senators Boxer Bond and Obama had previously asked that 
the Department of Defense to examine command practices and culture related to mental health care 
with no response As the DOD drags its feet the senators have requested the GAO to investigate agency 
practices related to mental health screenings diagnoses referrals and treatment of service members 
Recent reports suggest that the Department of Defense is ill equipped to effectively screen and 
diagnose the increasing number of service members who are suffering from mental health conditions 
such as post traumatic stress disorder said Senator Obama I m especially troubled by reports of 
some DOD commanders downplaying the serious mental health conditions confronting service members 
returning home from Iraq and then redeploying those troops without proper treatment It s time for 
a full accounting of how many of our troops are affected by post traumatic stress disorder other 
service connected mental health conditions and traumatic brain injuries and for an evaluation 
of our readiness to help the generation of soldiers returning home from war rebuild their lives 
Senator Boxer said Two years ago military doctors informed me that soldiers with serious mental 
health problems were being denied care and redeployed to Iraq Sadly even after we passed legislation 
and the Defense Department issued new mental health guidelines they are not being followed It is 
time for the GAO to investigate allegations of mistreatment and improper discharges The health 
and well being of our service members must be a priority for the Pentagon and for all Americans Combat 
stress and its impact on our soldiers and their families is a serious problem that continues to grow 
Reports that our military is unprepared or unwilling to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome 
or other mental health problems are unacceptable Being unprepared for these problems is no excuse 
for inaction It is our duty to take care of the brave men and women who have answered the call to duty 
said Senator Kit Bond I am deeply concerned about the consequences of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan 
on the mental health of those who serve said Senator Akaka PTSD and other mental health problems 
the often invisible wounds of war can be terribly debilitating As a senior member of the Armed Services 
Committee and Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee I am working to ensure that our wounded 
warriors receive a timely diagnosis of mental health problems and prompt and effective response 
This effort must begin while servicemembers are still on active duty and there have been far too 
many reports that this is not happening The results of this requested GAO review will be of great 
importance as we seek to ensure that DOD and VA meet the needs of our newest war veterans With news 
that our soldiers will be serving longer tours of duty with shorter periods of rest at home there 
is no better time to ensure the men and women who serve our country are getting the mental health services 
they need said Senator Harkin We must do away with the stigma associated with mental illness and 
remove any obstacles to treatment We have a moral obligation to care for our wounded troops and ensure 
they receive the best care said Senator Lieberman Post traumatic stress disorder is afflicting 
many of our service members and it is imperative that we accurately and efficiently diagnose and 
treat it The stakes are high for those that are sacrificing their lives for our country and we must 
work together to correct any deficiencies that we find in our military s mental health system We 
can t afford to wait until a year after our service members have returned home to discover the affects 
of the unseen wounds of this war said Senator Murray PTSD is taking a horrible toll on our service 
members and their families and we must be sure today that they are being properly screened tracked 
and treated We can no longer be unprepared for this mounting problem Our men and women returning 
from war should receive mental health care equal to the physical medical care they are given and 
anything less is unacceptable Senator McCaskill said It took this country 15 years after Vietnam 
to look at the mental health needs of veterans We can t do that to another generation of soldiers The 
men and women who put their lives on the line for this country deserve the best care we can provide 
Senator Bernie Sanders said What has been revealed about Defense Department health care is a disgrace 
that needs to be addressed We need to find out whether there is a concerted effort by the Defense Department 
to shortchange our soldiers and veterans who are in need of mental health care and other benefits 
they have earned Questions or comments Text Size