[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6847-H6848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE VA, HUD, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 
                                  1994

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mica). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, we are waiting for a resolution to come 
before the floor dealing with the bill we might have on the floor 
tomorrow, the motion to disapprove most-favored-nation treatment of 
China.
  I just want to take a few minutes to talk about the bill we have on 
the floor today. It is the Department of Veterans and Housing and 
independent agencies appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1997, and 
in that bill we have, in my opinion, adequately funded the hospital-
health care-medical care delivery system of the Veterans 
Administration.

                              {time}  2355

  That is so very, very important. Often we are asked the question, why 
should veterans have their own medical care? Just to point out what the 
need for it is that when many of our men and women enlist in the armed 
services of this country, they, in a way, even though they get so much 
out of it, they lose so much of their time on the advancement ladder. 
Just, for example, if you were a young man or woman who graduates from 
high school at the age of 18, and you enlist in the service instead of 
going on to college, you are working at what our minimum wage is 
compared to what your counterparts would be doing if they went into the 
private sector. All the way through life, these young men and women 
trail their counterparts who did not take the opportunity to serve in 
the military, whether it is in running their own business, whether it 
is advancing up the scale, up the promotion scale of success. 
Consequently, that is why we deal with earned benefits for our veterans 
of the armed services.
  In this particular bill, I am very proud that we are now funding a 
national cemetery in my home district, in Saratoga Springs, or in the 
County of Saratoga. This will be a veterans cemetery which was named 
the Saratoga National Veterans Cemetery. It will be similar to 
Arlington Cemetery, and I will provide for the internment of 
approximately 75,000 veterans and their dependents for the next decade 
or so.

  This is so terribly, terribly important. I want to thank the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Lewis] and the entire appropriations 
subcommittee for funding the $13 million that will provide the final 
construction money for the hospital.

[[Page H6848]]

  Mr. Speaker, the bill will be brought up again tomorrow morning. The 
gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Stump] of the Veterans' Affairs Committee 
and his ranking member, the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Montgomery] 
and myself will be offering an amendment to that bill, which will add 
approximately $65 million to the appropriations bill to increase the 
funding for the medical care delivery system portion of that bill.
  I would hope that when Members do come to the floor tomorrow that 
they will watch for the dear colleague letters that we have sent out 
showing the support of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American 
Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS, the Vietnam Veterans 
Association, and all of the other major veterans organization.

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