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Houston - Wounded Hero Home Program Ceremony: SlideshowHOUSTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today participated in a Veterans Day event in Houston, which honored a local Iraq war veteran, U.S. Marine Corporal Steven Schulz, and his family with the presentation of a new home that will be custom-built to meet their needs. Awarded through the Houston Rotary’s “Wounded Hero Home Program,” construction on the new home will begin in March. Sen. Cornyn was joined by Rotary leaders, participating business owners, local elected officials, including U.S. Reps. Brady, Green, McCaul, Poe, and Stein, along with Baylor College of Medicine Executive VP and Dean, George Strake. “As we honor the invaluable contributions of America’s bravest men and women on Veterans Day, I am humbled to have the opportunity to show our gratitude to one local veteran and his family who have endured significant hardships and made great sacrifices for our country,” Sen. Cornyn said. “While we can never fully repay our veterans for the sacrifices they’ve made and our freedoms they’ve protected, today’s presentation of a new home to a brave Marine and his family is a generous display of appreciation made possible by many local businesses and leaders of the community. “I hope we can each do our part, on Veterans Day and every day, to show our gratitude to the men and women and their families who have risked so much for our safety and well-being. God bless our service members in the front line of duty today, and the many before them who have served our nation with bravery and honor.” Background on Sen. Cornyn’s legislative efforts for America’s veterans: Ensuring quality care and benefits for America’s veterans continues to be one of Sen. Cornyn’s top priorities in the Senate. Earlier this year, Sen. Cornyn introduced the Veterans’ Housing Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007, which has been included in a larger bill, the Veterans’ Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007 (S. 1315), that is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor. Sen. Cornyn’s legislation would:

• Strengthen current law to provide for the specific needs of burn victims for housing and automobile grants;
• Ensure that wounded Service members/Veterans with other specific needs such as Traumatic Brain injury are covered by grants;
• Strengthen DOD-to-VA transitions by providing partial housing grants for those Veterans residing with a family member and to cover service members still on Active Duty awaiting their final VA disability rating.

Further, Sen. Cornyn is an original cosponsor of The Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act, S. 1606, which takes important steps toward providing America ’s wounded warriors the additional care and support they need and deserve. Sen. Cornyn was able to include an amendment in the final bill that requires the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a comprehensive policy on the care, management and transition from the military to VA or civilian life for all service members with a serious injury or illness that may render them unfit for duty. The Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act passed the Senate unanimously on July 25. Background on U.S. Marine Cpl. Steve Shulz: Cpl. Shulz was injured in Iraq in April 2005, five months into his second tour, when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his military vehicle. Cpl. Shulz took the full force of the blast through his window, which resulted in serious head injuries. Fourteen operations later, Cpl. Shulz still has little use of his left leg and arm, but he is recovering well and is undergoing rehabilitative treatment at The Transitional Learning Center, a facility in Galveston.