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HOUSTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Armed Services Committee, called on leaders of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee to move forward with consideration of his legislation, S. 1838, to meet the inpatient hospital needs of South Texas veterans. In a letter sent today to committee chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and ranking member Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., Sen. Cornyn urged the committee to act on the important bill by the end of the year. Sen. Cornyn is scheduled to meet with veterans from the Rio Grande Valley in his Washington office on Tuesday to discuss the issue. Below is Sen. Cornyn’s letter to Veterans’ Committee leadership: Dear Chairman Akaka and Ranking Member Burr: I am writing to request that the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs bring up for consideration S. 1838, which I introduced on July 19, 2007. This legislation was referred to your Committee for review. South Texas has one of the highest per capita level of veterans in the entire nation, and the inpatient health care needs of these veterans is not being met by the existing medical services available in this region of Texas. The estimated 100,000 veterans in South Texas, when they are in need of inpatient medical care, are forced to drive up to 250 miles to San Antonio and elsewhere to receive it. These brave men and women answered their nation’s call to serve and did so with honor, having risked their lives to preserve the freedom of their fellow Americans and defend our democratic system of government. Now, we have a solemn obligation to honor our commitment to them by providing the inpatient health care they desperately need and deserve. While I am pleased the Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding veterans’ care in the region, I strongly believe more must be done to properly care for those veterans in need of inpatient care. While the Senate continues to take steps toward improving the overall military and veterans’ health care systems, the shortage of inpatient medical care for South Texas veterans has not been adequately addressed. Committee consideration and eventual Senate passage of this bill would be a major step toward providing the essential inpatient health care that our South Texas veterans so desperately need. I urge the Committee to act on this important legislation before the end of the year. Sincerely, JOHN CORNYN United States Senate Background: Sen. Cornyn introduced the South Texas Veterans Access to Care Act of 2007, S. 1838, in July. It is a Senate companion bill to similar legislation introduced in the U.S. House in January by U.S. Reps. Ortiz, Hinojosa, Doggett and Cuellar. Sen. Cornyn has a strong record in the Senate of working to ensure veterans and active-duty military personnel have the care, benefits and treatment they need and deserve. Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Border Security and Refugees subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee’s Airland subcommittee.