[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 45 (Tuesday, April 11, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E536-E537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LET'S CRAFT A FAIR DEAL FOR OUR VETERANS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 11, 2000

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, today I testified before the VA, HUD 
Appropriations Subcommittee. In that testimony which follows, I 
emphasized our duty to provide adequate funds for the vital programs 
that serve our Nation's veterans.
  I am pleased that the administration's budget for the year 2001 
recognizes that the men and women who have served in uniform deserve an 
adequate budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], and I 
believe that the efforts of many members of the House VA Committee and 
the efforts of our veterans' service organizations, specifically in 
formulating the Independent Budget, have been instrumental in producing 
a much better budget proposal than last year. I want to acknowledge 
these efforts.
  The $1.4 billion increase in the health care budget will assure our 
aging and disabled veterans who need medical care--especially long-term 
care, emergency care and specialized services--that their needs are a 
high priority. However, I join my colleagues and the authors of this 
year's Independent Budget in objecting to the proposal that $350 
million of new resources for medical care authorized by the recently 
passed Veterans Millennium Act be deposited to the Treasury. Funds 
collected from veterans for the provision of veterans' health care 
should be used to enhance the health care for veterans--not as a 
substitute for appropriated dollars.
  I also want to emphasize my continuing concern that the VA is not 
adequately meeting the benefit and health care needs of veterans who 
served in the Gulf war and who now suffer from various diagnosed and 
undiagnosed disabilities. It has been almost 10 years since the men and 
women of our armed services were sent to the gulf! The veterans of the 
Gulf war are sick with illnesses whose causes and cures remain a 
mystery. We must not relax our efforts to fund necessary and 
appropriate research. I join the authors of the Independent Budget in 
supporting an increase in funding for VA medical research, and 
specifically request that the medical research budget be increased by 
$65 million as recommended in the Independent Budget and that at least 
$30 million of that increase be directed to research involving the 
health of Gulf war veterans.
  As our veterans population ages, the need for long-term care 
increases. One means of providing access to such care is through the 
funding of State Veterans Homes. A new home will be opening in April in 
my congressional district, and already there is a waiting list. I want 
other areas to have the same opportunity as the veterans in the San 
Diego region will have with the opening of this new home. Therefore, I 
am opposed to the proposed decrease in funding for State Homes and urge 
this committee to provide adequate funding for this critical program.
  I am also pleased that this administration has recognized what 
Members of Congress have known for years. Additional personnel are 
needed if the VA is to promptly and accurately adjudicate claims for 
compensation and

[[Page E537]]

pension benefits. This budget will help to provide a well-trained corps 
of adjudicators to replace those who are nearing retirement age. I want 
to emphasize that the continued loss of experienced adjudicators over 
the past 7 years together with an increased workload in the number of 
issues which must be decided in each claim have led to serious problems 
of quality and timeliness. The increased staffing in this budget is 
essential to stem the tide of deterioration in claims processing.
  As a former college professor, I recognize the value of a quality 
education for our Nation's veterans. I am disappointed that no increase 
for the G.I. bill is provided in the administration's budget. The G.I. 
bill currently provides far less than is needed to obtain an education 
at a public institution, and I support raising the basic education 
benefit. I have joined with The Partnership for Veterans' Education, a 
coalition representing a number of associations advocating on behalf of 
veterans, in calling, as a first step, for an increase in the basic 
monthly stipend from $535 to $975 a month.
  Veterans comprise about one-third of our Nation's homeless 
population, but only 3 percent of HUD funding for the homeless is 
directed to specific programs for homeless veterans. I strongly urge 
this committee to heed the testimony of Ms. Heather French, Miss 
America 2000, and allocate $750,000 from the HUD fiscal year 2001 
appropriation to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans to 
provide technical assistance to homeless providers. This assistance is 
critically needed to help veteran specific homeless programs receive a 
fair share of Federal funding for our Nation's homeless veterans.
  I also urge the committee to fund the Department of Labor's Homeless 
Veterans Reintegration Program [HVRP] at its authorized level of 
$15,000,000 for fiscal year 2001. These programs are effective in 
placing homeless veterans in taxpaying jobs. They work and should be 
funded.
  The administration's budget proposal recommends paying full 
disability benefits to Filipino World War II veterans who reside in the 
United States. Currently, these brave veterans who were drafted into 
service by President Roosevelt receive only half the amount received by 
their counterparts--U.S. veterans with whom they fought side by side to 
defeat our mutual enemy. I support this increase as an important step 
toward equity for Filipino World War II veterans.
  However, more is needed. Because Congress, in 1946, rescinded the 
health care benefits for most of these veterans, Congressman Gilman and 
I have introduced legislation, H.R. 1594, to provide access to VA 
medical facilties--both in the United States and in the Philippines--
for Filipino World War II veterans. Health care is a crucial need for 
these men who are now in their 70s and 80s! $30 million is all that is 
required to provide health care access to Filipino veterans, with the 
same priority status as veterans currently using the VA. I request that 
this amount be added to the fiscal year 2001 budget.
  As we honor our veterans during their lives, so must we honor their 
remembrance in death. The administration's increase in funding for the 
National Cemetery System will improve the appearance of our cemeteries 
by a long-overdue and much needed renovation of grounds, gravesites, 
and grave-markers. I urge this committee to fund the National Cemetery 
Administration and the State Cemetery Grants at the levels recommended 
by the House Veterans Affairs' Committee.
  Again, may I say that the proposal before you represents a fine 
starting point. I hope that my suggestions will be useful as the 
members of this committee work toward a budget that gives our Nation's 
veterans a fair deal.

                          ____________________