Akaka, chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, alleged in a news release that the Bush administration has underestimated the cost of caring for veterans who have suffered brain injuries and other severe wounds.

He added the Department of Veterans Affairs was "wholly unprepared" to deal with veterans returning from Iraq.

Akaka, D-Hawai'i, issued the statement in response to a television news special by Woodruff, the ABC News anchor and reporter who suffered a brain injury while reporting in Iraq.

The program highlighted Woodruff's recovery and showed how veterans with similar wounds are coping back home.

"Looking at these young soldiers with such devastating injuries, we are reminded of the true costs of war," Akaka said in a news release issued by his Washington office.

The senator said he would raise his strong concerns about government care for troops with brain injuries when he meets Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson on Thursday.

Woodruff was riding in an Iraqi army tank in Taji, Iraq, his head and upper body exposed through the hatch, when a roadside bomb went off nearby early last year.

He briefly lost consciousness, fell back into the tank, and spat up blood.

Woodruff later fell into a 36-day coma. When he woke up, he couldn't name any of the 50 states or even recall his twin 6-year-old daughters — not just their names but their very existence.

Two-thirds of Tuesday's special was about how the U.S. government is dealing with veterans returning with brain injuries. Several families argued the federal government was unprepared and was underestimating the number of people returning with brain problems.

Akaka said Veterans Affairs has improved its brain injury care centers but still has much more to do.