[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6431-H6432]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               VETERANS DESERVE MORE THAN HOLLOW PROMISES

  (Mr. FILNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, our Nation's veterans are getting a raw 
deal. Last week the Republican budget conference approved a veterans 
budget $573 million below that recommended by President Clinton. Now 
the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education of 
the Committee on Appropriations has recommended that the funding level 
recommended by President Clinton for veterans' employment services 
provided for disabled veterans outreach program specialists and local 
veterans employment representatives be cut by almost $12 million. As a 
result, 28,000 fewer veterans; that is, 28,000 fewer veterans, will be 
placed in jobs than proposed in the President's budget.
  Additionally, the Republicans have recommended that the transition 
assistance program be terminated October 1. This successful program has

[[Page H6432]]

trained hundreds of thousands of men and women leaving our Armed Forces 
to find, and to find quickly, good permanent civilian jobs.
  Mr. Speaker, the Republicans are anxious to spend billions of dollars 
on a dubious son of star wars program but are unwilling to provide the 
$2 million necessary to help veterans earn a living in their civilian 
communities. Let us hope the Committee on Appropriations restores this 
money. Veterans deserve more than hollow promises.

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