January 26, 2008 – Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are calling for $2 million in additional funding for the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Hawaii senator says many of the servicemen and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will be suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, increasing demand on the center.
In a letter to the secretary of veterans affairs requesting the additional funding, the Hawaii Democrat notes that the center’s budget has dropped from a 2005 high of just over $10 million. He says the center has seen its staff levels decline steadily since 1999.
Akaka is chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
