Back in Washington, Republicans in the House and Senate are trying
desperately to show people why they deserve re-election this year -
and they've come up with a real winner.
See, people have gotten the wrong idea about this Congress.
Just because Republicans have wasted years on such matters of import
as banning gay marriage, trying to keep Terri Schiavo alive, and
making sure that multi-millionaires get a few extra dollars to spend
on that new Hummer, it doesn't mean that Republicans don't care about
average Americans.
Take the troops, for example.
We all know how much Republicans have done for them.
The GOP knows that our troops are the toughest in the world, which is
why they sent them off to fight a war with inadequate body armor.
And when the troops come home, the GOP knows that they don't want to
be molly-coddled by the nanny state.
They want to pull themselves up by the bootstraps.
That's why "Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research
and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that
military scientists describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war,"
according to USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-08-brain-center_x.htm
House and Senate versions of the 2007 Defense appropriation bill
contain $7 million for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center -
half of what the center received last fiscal year.
(snip)
Scientists at the center develop ways to diagnose and treat
servicemembers who suffer brain damage.
The work is done at seven military and Department of Veterans Affairs
hospitals, including the center's headquarters at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Washington, and one civilian treatment site.
The center has clashed with the Pentagon in recent months over a
program to identify troops who have suffered mild to moderate brain
injuries in Iraq from mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside
bombs - the most common weapons used by insurgents.
Preliminary research by the center shows that about 10% of all troops
in Iraq, and up to 20% of front line infantry troops, suffer
concussions during combat tours.
Many experience headaches, disturbed sleep, memory loss and behavior
issues after coming home, the research shows.
The center urged the Pentagon to screen all troops returning from Iraq
in order to treat symptoms and create a database of brain injury
victims.
Scientists say multiple concussions can cause permanent brain damage.
The Pentagon so far has declined to do the screening and argues that
more research is needed.
Er, so let me get this straight - the Pentagon says we can't do
research on brain injury victims because more research is needed?
By EarlG
From Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Harry
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