[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H1602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE VETERANS' BUDGET

  (Mr. SWEENEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SWEENEY. Mr. Speaker, growing up, one thing I learned from my 
father, a veteran of the Second World War, was that when you shake 
hands and make a promise with someone, you stick to it. This might seem 
a little old-fashioned, but it is a value I will never forget.
  Our servicemen and women enlist in the Armed Forces with a simple 
understanding. To their country they pledge their youth, their 
dedication, and if need be, their lives. In return, their country 
promises that veterans will have some basic needs provided for when 
they leave active service.
  The Clinton-Gore administration has broken this promise to our 
Nation's veterans. The administration's budget neglects our veterans' 
health care needs. The VA faces cost increases of more than $1 billion, 
and a shortfall of more than $100 million in medical insurance 
collections. In other words, our veterans are shortchanged by $1 
billion under the President's budget.
  If we add those costs up with the Clinton-Gore proposal, do we know 
what that amounts to? Disaster. Our veterans deserve better. That is 
why I support the largest increase in history for VA medical care over 
the administration's budget request. The majority's $1 billion increase 
over the Clinton-Gore budget for veterans will head off predicted 
closures of needed VA facilities. This is our promise to veterans, and 
we are going to keep it.

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