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American Morning

Discussion with Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Aired November 11, 2003 - 08:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You're taking a look at a live picture of the Marine Corps War Memorial. It represents all of the Marines who gave their lives for this country.
Well, U.S. troops face daily dangers in Iraq, but the dangers don't necessarily end when they come home.

Earlier today, I spoke with Anthony J. Principi. He is the secretary of Veterans Affairs. And I asked him about his biggest concern for soldiers returning from Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY J. PRINCIPI, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: Well, I want to make sure that none of them fall through the cracks when they come home, that if they come back wounded and are in military hospitals that we have our staff in military hospitals to ensure that their transition to V.A. hospitals goes smoothly. And for those who go home without any wounds, I want to make sure that they receive the benefits that they have earned by virtue of their service in the Gulf and at some point in time if they should become ill that we're prepared to treat their illnesses that may be related to some environmental hazard or the battlefield.

O'BRIEN: Nevada Senator Harry Reed recently wrote in the "L.A. Times" this. He called for an updated G.I. Bill with the following things -- extending the child tax care credit for working families so that more military families can qualify, changing the policy that deducts veterans disability benefits from their military retirement pay, keeping up with the health care needs of veterans, and, finally, updating education benefits for veterans.

All those suggestions. What do you make of those? And do you think he's saying you're not going far enough?

PRINCIPI: I believe all of the suggestions are good ones. I applaud Senator Reed for his comments, his -- and the president is, in fact, implementing them. We'll be signing two pieces of legislation today, one to expand our national cemetery system; and shortly the president, for the first time in 100 years -- no Republican or Democrat before him has lifted the prohibition on receiving both military retirement pay and disability compensation.

So I'm proud to report that we're making great progress in education, in opening the door to a successful life. It is a good G.I. Bill and we're doing that.

O'BRIEN: What's your biggest challenge now? What's your biggest concern for all veterans?

PRINCIPI: I think health care. Clearly, Congress opened the doors to all 25 million veterans in 1998. Prior to that time, only about three million had eligibility for the full range of health care. Today, we're -- the demand for health care is very, very significant. We have seven million veterans now enrolled in the V.A. health care system.

So meeting the demand for an aging veteran population, our fathers from WWII and Korea and Vietnam, making sure that we have a health care system available to them, is my highest priority.

O'BRIEN: Some of the reason that we're chatting today is because, of course, it's Veteran's Day. And more than 80 years ago, the U.S. started observing Veteran's Day, although it wasn't called that back then.

Give me a big sense of the changes, the massive changes that have taken place between then and now. And obviously women in the military is just one of those changes.

PRINCIPI: Well, you know, I'm so proud of the men and women who are serving in uniform today, the all volunteer force. Of course, back then the numbers were much greater. You know, my generation, the men and women I fought with in Vietnam, we lost 58,000 in combat and hundreds of thousands were wounded. So the numbers are much less.

But the men and women in uniform today are truly magnificent. They are performing so, so remarkably well, both in courage, in combat, to compassion for the Iraqi people and the Afghani people. I think America is blessed to have men and women in uniform. And that's why we have Veteran's Day, once called Armistice Day, changed in 1954 to be called Veteran's Day to honor the great sacrifices and contributions of men and women in uniform.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony J. Principi, with us this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 11, 2003 - 08:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You're taking a look at a live picture of the Marine Corps War Memorial. It represents all of the Marines who gave their lives for this country.
Well, U.S. troops face daily dangers in Iraq, but the dangers don't necessarily end when they come home.

Earlier today, I spoke with Anthony J. Principi. He is the secretary of Veterans Affairs. And I asked him about his biggest concern for soldiers returning from Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY J. PRINCIPI, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: Well, I want to make sure that none of them fall through the cracks when they come home, that if they come back wounded and are in military hospitals that we have our staff in military hospitals to ensure that their transition to V.A. hospitals goes smoothly. And for those who go home without any wounds, I want to make sure that they receive the benefits that they have earned by virtue of their service in the Gulf and at some point in time if they should become ill that we're prepared to treat their illnesses that may be related to some environmental hazard or the battlefield.

O'BRIEN: Nevada Senator Harry Reed recently wrote in the "L.A. Times" this. He called for an updated G.I. Bill with the following things -- extending the child tax care credit for working families so that more military families can qualify, changing the policy that deducts veterans disability benefits from their military retirement pay, keeping up with the health care needs of veterans, and, finally, updating education benefits for veterans.

All those suggestions. What do you make of those? And do you think he's saying you're not going far enough?

PRINCIPI: I believe all of the suggestions are good ones. I applaud Senator Reed for his comments, his -- and the president is, in fact, implementing them. We'll be signing two pieces of legislation today, one to expand our national cemetery system; and shortly the president, for the first time in 100 years -- no Republican or Democrat before him has lifted the prohibition on receiving both military retirement pay and disability compensation.

So I'm proud to report that we're making great progress in education, in opening the door to a successful life. It is a good G.I. Bill and we're doing that.

O'BRIEN: What's your biggest challenge now? What's your biggest concern for all veterans?

PRINCIPI: I think health care. Clearly, Congress opened the doors to all 25 million veterans in 1998. Prior to that time, only about three million had eligibility for the full range of health care. Today, we're -- the demand for health care is very, very significant. We have seven million veterans now enrolled in the V.A. health care system.

So meeting the demand for an aging veteran population, our fathers from WWII and Korea and Vietnam, making sure that we have a health care system available to them, is my highest priority.

O'BRIEN: Some of the reason that we're chatting today is because, of course, it's Veteran's Day. And more than 80 years ago, the U.S. started observing Veteran's Day, although it wasn't called that back then.

Give me a big sense of the changes, the massive changes that have taken place between then and now. And obviously women in the military is just one of those changes.

PRINCIPI: Well, you know, I'm so proud of the men and women who are serving in uniform today, the all volunteer force. Of course, back then the numbers were much greater. You know, my generation, the men and women I fought with in Vietnam, we lost 58,000 in combat and hundreds of thousands were wounded. So the numbers are much less.

But the men and women in uniform today are truly magnificent. They are performing so, so remarkably well, both in courage, in combat, to compassion for the Iraqi people and the Afghani people. I think America is blessed to have men and women in uniform. And that's why we have Veteran's Day, once called Armistice Day, changed in 1954 to be called Veteran's Day to honor the great sacrifices and contributions of men and women in uniform.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony J. Principi, with us this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com