Thank you.
Many of the arguments are based on a medical model of transition from DND and active service to Veterans Affairs, ongoing commitment to our veterans, and then long-term care, which is almost a third phase. I'm sort of seeing it now in three phases. There's the transition, which includes some new Veterans Charter and rehabilitative stuff; support for everything from catastrophic injuries to lesser injuries, but maybe complex injuries; and then long-term care may be affected. Our previous witness said that long-term care needs may be different for veterans because of their service. Whether they are amputees or have other injuries, different care may be involved later in life.
What I heard you say--and it was clearer than it has ever been before--is that most of the arguments have been based on the service they gave, and that we owe them. You did say there's a debt, not just a gift. But you also said that specialized care is necessary.
So there are two things: the debt we owe for the service that men and women have given to our country is a covenant, not just a contract, and they have specialized needs that are different from the regular population. In the balance of those two in this new model, tell me a little about the specialized care you see as necessary.