I've been hitting this issue hard since Chris Smith had his seat taken away as Chair of the Veteran's Service's Committee in the House. It's been no secret that we've been underfunded and most estimates have us at about 2.5 billion short... Our Offices response was immediate (working into the wee hours of the morning to make sure we had it ready... I'm pretty fortunate to work for a Congressional Office that makes veteran's issues it's number one priority. Here is the Press Release issued by our staff.):
Congressman Dennis Moore
Representing the Third District of Kansas
News Release
For Immediate Release:
Thursday, June 30, 2005
MOORE URGES HOUSE TO CORRECT VETERANS' HEALTH CARE FUNDING SHORTFALL
Moore leads efforts to honor promises to military personnel and veterans
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Congressman Dennis Moore (Third District-KS) urged his colleagues in the U.S. House to vote for a bill today to add $1.3 billion to address the shortfall in veterans' health care funding. Without the additional funds, veterans' hospitals around the country will not be prepared to meet the needs of military personnel returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"America must honor the sacrifice of our veterans and military personnel by providing the health care we promised," Moore said. "This additional funding is urgently needed to care for military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the heroes from other conflicts. The Administration's FY 2005 VA budget request was $2.5 billion short. We cannot do that to our veterans."
While Congress has already added $1.2 billion in VA funding, it is still $1.3 billion short of what is needed to provide adequate health care for veterans. Later today, the House is expected to pass the Emergency Supplemental Act for Veterans Medical Care, which would add the $1.3 billion. The action would represent a reversal of congressional leadership policies toward the VA. For the past four months, House and Senate leaders have repeatedly defeated amendments to boost VA health funding.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson told Congress on Tuesday that the department had vastly underestimated the number of wounded soldiers who would need care because it based its estimates on 2002 numbers. The VA estimated only 23,000 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan would need care; the number has been revised upwards to 103,000.
Congressional leadership also has proposed cutting veterans' funding in 2007 and later years by a level significantly below the expected rate of inflation. Moore has written the President calling for an amended FY 2006 budget that meets the health care needs of military personnel and veterans.
"In the future, we urge you to submit veterans' budgets that more accurately reflect the resource requirements of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the health care needs of current veterans and the many thousands returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan," Moore said in the letter. "At a time of war, funding for veterans must be made a clear and unmistakable priority."
Moore has led efforts in Congress to take care of our military personnel and veterans. When he learned that military personnel home on leave from Iraq and Afghanistan were being forced to pay their own travel costs to their home cities, he wrote a bill to direct the Department of Defense to pay all travel costs. It is now the law. Moore also wrote a bill to increase the death gratuity for the families of military personnel killed while on active duty from $12,000 to $100,000. It is now law.
"We talk so much about values in Washington, but we're not showing that we value or our veterans if we don't fund their health care services," Moore said. "We need to do all that we can to help military personnel and their families who are sacrificing greatly for our country. This is not about Republicans or Democrats. It's about showing that we value and appreciate the people who serve our country and that we will support the families of those who serve so we can live in freedom."
House Seeks to Close Gap in Spending on Veterans
Moderator: Site Admin
