[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E413-E414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A BUDGET WORTHY OF OUR NATION'S VETERANS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 1999

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a travesty that 
happened in the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs just a few hours 
ago. As we all know, this committee has had a long-standing tradition 
of bipartisanship, of working together, of advocacy for our nation's 
veterans.
  That all changed today. Unbelievably, on the eve of the bipartisan 
retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Members of the majority on this 
committee decided not to allow a discussion or a vote on an alternative 
budget that was derived from the Independent Budget for Fiscal Year 
2000, a comprehensive policy document created by veterans for veterans 
and endorsed by over 50 veterans' service organizations.
  As we are well aware, the Administration's fiscal year 2000 budget 
for veterans is completely unacceptable. Under this budget, the VA 
health care system is drastically underfunded and in danger of actual 
collapse. This budget for the GI Bill is far short of realistic needs 
and failing as a readjustment benefit and as a recruitment incentive. 
Desperately needed staffing increases included in this budget appear to 
be phony--little more than transparent shell games. The National 
Cemetery System has been underfunded for years, and the money needed 
for the most basic repairs and upkeep is unavailable. These are drastic 
problems and they demand serious, substantial solutions! Veterans have 
been

[[Page E414]]

wronged by this budget, and it is the responsibility of Congress to 
right that wrong.
  For many, many years, America's veterans have been good soldiers. 
They have done their duty and been conscientious, responsible citizens. 
Every time the Veteran's Affairs Committee was handed a reconciliation 
target, it met that target. Billions of veterans' dollars have been 
handed over in order to balance the budget and eliminate the deficit. 
Time and time again, America's veterans answered their nation's call. 
The country needed their support, and America's veterans gave all that 
they could give.
  Well, the budget deficit has been eliminated. That battle has been 
won. I believe that this year, it is time for America's veterans to 
come first. We, as a nation, owe them that.
  I listened closely to the testimony of the many veterans' service 
organizations as they have come to Washington to appear before the 
House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees over the past few weeks. 
I carefully studied the Independent Budget for Fiscal Year 2000, which 
I mentioned earlier. I hear a strong sense of urgency and frustration 
and even anger that I've never heard before. America's veterans are 
telling us that they have done more than their fair share--and now they 
expect us to be their advocates.
  As I read the Independent Budget, I was struck by this powerful 
statement that I would like to share with you. The signers of the 
Independent Budget said, ``As the Administration and Congress develop 
budgets and policies for the new millennium, we urge them to look up 
from their balance sheets and into the faces of the men and women who 
risked their lives to defend our country. We ask them to consider the 
human consequences of inadequate budgets and benefit denials for those 
who answered the call to military service.''
  I took this to heart! Because, as I said earlier, the Administration 
budget of $43.6 billion is completely unacceptable, we Democrats on the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee developed a proposal, based on this 
Independent Budget, that would add $3.19 billion to the Administration 
proposal.
  We came to the meeting today, hoping for a full discussion of the 
chairman's proposal which added $1.9 billion to the Administration's 
request, the Democratic alternative which added $3.19 billion--and a 
vote on which one to send to the Budget Committee. For I believe that 
it is our duty, as members of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, to send 
to the Budget Committee the very best ``views and estimates'' on the VA 
budget that we can.
  In a democratic society, it is our right to be able to express 
ourselves, to debate and discuss various alternatives, and to vote!
  The chairman's recommendation could have gained more votes than the 
Democratic alternative proposal, but we will never know. Because a vote 
was not permitted. Not to allow a full discussion of the needs of 
veterans and the best way to meet those needs--this is simply 
outrageous. These are the needs of our veterans that we are talking 
about! Let us hope that the travesty that occurred this afternoon in 
the Veterans' Affairs Committee will not be repeated for a very long 
time.
  As the Independent Budget asks of us, I ask my colleagues to remember 
the faces of the men and women who sacrified so much as we develop a 
budget worthy of our nation's veterans.

                          ____________________