[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 116 (Thursday, September 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND 
             INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT. 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2684) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Veteran Affairs and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent 
     agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other 
     purposes,

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, as the daughter of a veteran, I rise in 
support of the Filner amendment to increase veteran's medical care by 
$1.1 billion.
  This amendment would designate these funds as emergency--making it 
possible to provide vital health care to hundreds of thousands of 
veterans without cutting any other essential programs.
  This amendment is about national priorities--if the bill passes 
without this amendment, our veterans will truly find their lives, and 
their health, in real states of emergency. We must do what's right.
  Our nation owes our veterans a tremendous debt. These courageous men 
and women sacrificed everything--whether in World War I, World War II, 
Korea, Vietnam, or the Gulf War--to ensure the freedom and opportunity 
that we so often take for granted. It is our responsibility to repay 
our veterans for the tremendous burdens that they bore and the 
sacrifices that they made to ensure peace and freedom for this country.
  I urge my colleagues to fulfill our commitments to our veterans. Vote 
for $1.1 billion in emergency funds for veterans' medical care. Vote 
for the Filner amendment. Do what is right.

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