[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 160 (Thursday, November 6, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H10537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE CRISIS OF THE VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about the trend 
that we are seeing from this administration when it comes to protecting 
our troops and caring for our veterans. As more and more Americans are 
coming to understand, the VA health care system is in a crisis. 
Veterans are waiting months for appointments, and some are being turned 
away when they go to enroll in the system.
  The bottom line here is funding, obviously. If we want the VA to 
provide the veterans with quality care, then we need to recognize and 
address this funding problem.
  There are two things that we can do. We can appropriate the money 
that is needed, or we can refuse to put the needed funds into the 
system and instead throw the burden on the backs of the veterans 
themselves.
  Sadly, the second option is what this administration has chosen to do 
over the last 2\1/2\ years. I would like to describe a pattern of 
behavior that is coming from this administration. In February of 2002, 
this administration, through the VA, increased the veterans 
prescription drug copayment from $2 to $7 a prescription. Now, for 
veterans who are living on fixed incomes, many who take 8 or 10 or more 
prescriptions in a month, this is a tremendous financial burden. That 
was in February of 2002.
  In July of 2002, this administration, through its VA, issued a gag 
order. The VA deputy secretary issued a memo that instructed all VA 
network directors to halt outreach activities aimed at encouraging new 
veterans to come in for services. Instead, providing the resources 
necessary, the VA says to their doctors, their social workers, their 
nurses, you can no longer actively inform veterans of what they are 
entitled to receive. They even went so far as to tell these doctors 
they could not participate in a community health fair. That was in July 
of 2002.
  Well, in January of 2003, the VA decided they were going to create a 
new category of veterans. They called them Priority 8 veterans. These 
are veterans who served honorably. Many of them are combat-decorated 
veterans.

                              {time}  2000

  And the VA is saying to this group, you are out of here. Do not come 
to us. You can no longer enroll in the VA health care system because 
you make too much money.
  Well, the American people need to know that those of us who serve in 
this Chamber make about $155,000 a year and a combat-decorated veteran 
can make as little as $24,000 a year, and the VA is saying to you, you 
can no longer participate in VA health care. Think about that. We make 
$155,000, a veteran who served honorably, perhaps even in combat, can 
make as little as $24,000 a year and this administration says they are 
high income, so you cannot participate. I think that is shameful, quite 
frankly. Shameful.
  Well, that was in January of 2003. You see the pattern? Episode after 
episode of the VA doing things that are harmful to the veteran.
  Well, then in January 2003, the President sent his budget request to 
us. And in the President's budget request, he suggested that we not 
charge a veteran $7 for each prescription but that that be increased to 
$15 a prescription.
  Now, think about that. At a time when we are preparing to send our 
young men and women into battle, the President rewards our veterans by 
asking that their prescription drug costs be increased from $7 to $15 a 
prescription. It gets worse. In that same budget request coming from 
the President, he asked that there be a new annual enrollment fee 
imposed upon Category 7 and 8 veterans of $250 a year. I just think 
this is outrageous. The veterans of this country are coming to 
understand who their friends are. And how can this administration claim 
to be a friend of the veteran and at the same time put these 
increasingly onerous financial burdens upon them.
  Well, I want to talk about one other issue this evening with the time 
I have left. A few months ago, I received a letter from a soldier in 
Iraq who was concerned that his troops had not been provided basic, 
modern bulletproof vests, but instead were issued Vietnam-era flak 
jackets. The flak jackets are designed to protect against slower moving 
shrapnel and are incapable of stopping high-velocity projectiles such 
as bullets from assault weapons, and we sent our soldiers into battle 
in Iraq without this most basic protection. Shame on us.

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