U.S. & World

WASHINGTON (CBS News) ― Senators pledged on Tuesday to consider all options to fix a broken system of caring for wounded troops as President Bush said former Sen. Bob Dole and former health secretary Donna Shalala will lead the administration's investigation into problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"The war in Iraq has divided our nation, but the cause of supporting our troops unites us," said Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We will do everything we can possibly do — not as Democrats or Republicans, but as grateful Americans — to care for those who have served our nation with such honor and distinction."

As his committee questioned top Defense Department officials, Levin also used the revelations of poor conditions and outpatient care at Walter Reed to take a swipe at the president's war polices.

"Today's hearing is about another example of the lack of planning for a war that was premised on the assumption that combat operations would be swift, casualties would be minimal, and that we would be welcomed as liberators, instead of being attacked by the people we liberated," said Levin, D-Mich.

The hearing was Congress' second in two days on Walter Reed. Reports of wounded troops battling excessive red tape and dilapidated living conditions have enraged Republicans and Democrats. They are worried that problems there point to a broader pattern of neglect at military hospitals.

Mr. Bush told the American Legion in a speech that he had chosen bipartisan leaders — Dole and Shalala — to head the White House's probe. "We have a moral obligation to provide the best possible care and treatment to the men and women who served our country," he said. "They deserve it and they're going to get it."

The Wounded Warrior Commission will report back to the president by June 30. The president has also directed Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson to establish an interagency group to determine what can be done to immediately improve the situation, CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports. The group includes the departments of Veterans Affairs, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Education, along with the Office of Management and Budget and the Small Business Administration.

Dole was a longtime Republican senator from Kansas and a presidential nominee in 1996. Shalala headed the Health and Human Services Department during the Clinton administration.

At Tuesday's hearing, the Pentagon's personnel chief promised action.

"I'm deeply chagrined by the events that bring us to this hearing this morning," David Chu said.

Arizona Sen. John McCain said Congress will consider whether legislation or additional resources are needed.

"I am dismayed this ever occurred," said McCain, the committee's top Republican who was captured and wounded during the Vietnam War. "It was a failure in the most basic tenets of command responsibility to take care of our troops."

During a House hearing Monday, two soldiers wounded in combat and a spouse of a wounded soldier recounted nightmarish stories of frustration as they tried to get medical attention and disability compensation.

Nicholson — who on Monday announced new measures to speed the processing of military benefit claims and cut through red tape for soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan — said Tuesday the horror stories emerging from the hearings were "unacceptable."

"It breaks my heart," Nicholson told CBS' The Early Show. But he drew a distinction between the benefit claims backlog and the delivery of needed medical treatment. "If they come to us for health care, they are admitted immediately," he said.

"I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg, that, when we (get) out into the field, we may find more of this," said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee that held the hearing.

Army officials said they accept responsibility but denied knowing about most of the problems.

"As we've seen, in the last couple of weeks, we have failed to meet our own standards at Walter Reed. For that, I'm both personally and professionally sorry," said Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who was in charge of Walter Reed from 2002 until 2004, when he became Army Surgeon General.

Kiley has said he had been aware of some issues, including an October service assessment citing problems with Walter Reed staffing, medical evaluations and patient handling. But Kiley told senators he was not aware of specific problems, including a backlog of maintenance orders and a lack of staff to conduct room inspections.

Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent, said Congress might need to revisit an earlier decision to close Walter Reed in light of the increasing number of wounded troops from Iraq. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said lawmakers should examine its own oversight process.

Democrats have pledged to add money to the administration's request for war spending to take care of wounded active-duty troops and improve health care for retired veterans.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)