[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 81 (Friday, June 23, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HINCHEY AMENDMENT

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                               speech of

                          HON. JOSEPH CROWLEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 21, 2000

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Chairman, I strongly support the amendment offered 
by the gentlman from New York Mr. Hinchey.
  Congressman Hinchey has been a tireless crusader for the rights of 
our nation's veterans, and this amendment highlights this fact by 
forcing the VA to abandon its flawed funding formula for providing for 
the health care needs of America's veterans.
  Under the current system, VERA bases its resource allocation on 
sending more dollars to areas where there are more veterans--not where 
the needs are the greatest.
  While that may sound rationale--the result has been horrendous for 
areas of the country like Queens and the Bronx, where I represent.
  The facts bare out that increasingly more VA dollars are going to the 
South and Southwest portions of the country where more veterans live--
veterans who are often younger and healthier. The result is less 
resources in the areas of the country, like New York City, where the 
veterans are older, sicker, and in more desperate need of care.
  I held a recent veterans Town Hall meeting in my district at the 
Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association office in Jackson Heights.
  There, a constituent informed me of a VA hospital he saw while on 
vacation in Florida.
  It was a state of the art facility, with plenty of doctors and nurses 
on call--and no patients.
  They informed me that the place was virtually empty--but they have 
the best money can buy.
  In New York City, meanwhile, we continue to see lay-offs of the 
professional doctors and nurses at our VA hospitals and clinics; long 
lines for care; and a far too high ratio of nurses per patient.
  I am not saying that we should deprive our veterans in the South and 
Southwest part of the country their fair share of resources--all we ask 
for this amendment is that the VA provide equal treatment and resources 
to all veterans regardless of where they reside.
  It is a shame that the VERA system has pitted veterans in one region 
of the country versus veterans in other regions.
  Therefore, I am supportive of the Hinchey amendment to prohibit any 
federal funds from implementing or administering the VERA system.
  I ask all of my colleagues from throughout the nation to support this 
amendment that has caused so much pain for so many veterans.

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