[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 117 (Friday, September 24, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1698-E1699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 QUESTIONING BUSH'S RECORD ON VETERANS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 2004

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, on August 16, President Bush stood before the 
national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and 
proclaimed: ``. . . my administration has a solid record of 
accomplishment for our veterans . . . To provide health care to 
veterans, we've increased VA medical care funding by 41 percent over 
the past 4 years.''
  The reality is far more complex.
  In 1997, Congress gave the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) the 
authority to collect and retain veterans' copayments for health care. 
As a result, about 6.4 percent of the VA's medical care system is now 
(fiscal year 2004) comprised of veterans' copayments. The Bush 
Administration has made no secret that it would like to increase the 
share of this budget borne by veterans, including combat decorated 
veterans, while at the same time taking steps to discourage veterans' 
use of their health care system or explicitly bar their entrance into 
the system. The Administration's budget request for fiscal year 2005 
would increase the share of the budget financed by veterans to 8.7 
percent.
  The Congress--for the third consecutive year--has rejected the 
legislative proposals in the President's budget that would charge a new 
enrollment fee for certain veterans and increase copayments for 
pharmaceutical drugs. Democrats in the House and Senate have also asked 
VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi to reconsider his current position to 
prohibit some veterans from enrolling in the VA health care system.
  The President's claim that ``we've'' added 41 percent for VA medical 
care gives the false

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impression that he has endorsed all of these increases to the VA 
budget. In fact, the President has requested only about a 25 percent 
increase in appropriated funding over 5 years; the remainder has come 
from funding added by Congress and from increased collections of 
copayments from veterans.
  Keep in mind that during the same period, the number of veterans 
entering the VA health care system grew by almost 50 percent. 
Additionally, medical inflation (which VA forecast at five percent per 
year) increased by seven to eight percent per year. The total average 
annual increases of eight percent over the five budget cycles in 
question still have required VA to take dramatic action to continue to 
deliver health care services to veterans. In addition to halting 
enrollment for tens of thousands of veterans with incomes as low as 
$25,000 who might not be able to afford private health insurance, VA 
has proposed elimination of nursing home care for all but the most 
severely service-disabled veterans.

  Moreover, the President has actually opposed Congressional efforts to 
add funds to the VA health care system. On July 26, 2002, Congress 
authorized $275 million to address the costs of caring for VA's higher 
priority groups--service-connected and low-income veterans and those in 
need of specialized services. The President failed to designate these 
funds as emergency spending pursuant to the Balanced Budget Act, so the 
additional resources Congress sought to provide, which would have 
remained available to the agency throughout fiscal year 2003, were 
sacrificed.
  The Bush Administration also objected to Congressional attempts to 
add $1.3 billion for veterans' health care in the FY 2004 Emergency 
Supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and Reconstruction Bill. 
Joshua Bolten, Director of the White House Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) wrote to House and Senate appropriators on October 21, 
2003: ``The Administration strongly opposes these provisions that would 
allocate an additional $1.3 billion for VA medical care . . .''
  A second Bush term would likely create an even more difficult funding 
environment for veterans' programs. OMB guidance leaked to the 
Washington Post this spring indicated that, for fiscal year 2006, the 
White House would require VA to identify $910 million to cut from its 
fiscal year 2005 budget request for discretionary programs--primarily, 
medical care, construction, and research.
  The President also told the VFW: ``We've reduced the large backlog of 
disability claims by about a third; we will reduce it even further.''
  Again, not so and not likely. When President Bush assumed office in 
January 2001, 278,334 veterans' disability claims were awaiting a VA 
rating decision. As of August 21, 2004, there were 330,380 disability 
claims awaiting a rating decision. The one-third reduction claimed by 
President Bush is not supported by VA's own data.
  I am concerned that the Bush Administration's emphasis on 
productivity as a goal in itself, has actually been harmful to 
veterans. Veterans need a timely accurate decision when they apply for 
benefits. In an effort to meet production goals, I have found veterans 
rated on the basis of inadequate medical examinations which do not 
fully address the impact of a veteran's disability on his or her 
ability to function. It is tempting for well-meaning VA employees under 
pressure to reduce the backlog to decide the claim rather than sending 
the examination back to correct the deficiencies.

  One measure of accuracy is the marked increase in veterans' claims 
pending at the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA). When President Bush 
assumed office, 87,291 appeals were pending. As of August 14, 2004, 
there were 149,222 appeals pending. With increasing frequency, BVA 
continues to send claims back for evidence which should have been 
obtained before the claim was decided.
  The prospect for the future is even worse. Despite increasing numbers 
of claims for service-connected compensation from the current wars in 
Iraq and Afghanistan as well as past conflicts, the Bush Administration 
fiscal year 2005 budget calls for 289 fewer full-time employees to 
handle disability compensation claims than were on the rolls in 2003. 
Cutting employees who decide these claims at a time when the number and 
complexity of claims is increasing does a great disservice to veterans.
  The misdirection in the President's speech continued: ``For more than 
a century, federal law prohibited disabled veterans from receiving both 
their military retired pay and their VA disability compensation. 
Combat-injured and severely disabled veterans deserve better. I was 
proud to be the first President in over 100 years to sign concurrent 
receipt legislation.''
  Considering his threats to veto it, his party's vehement objections 
to it, and the behind-closed-doors Republican ``compromise'' that 
excludes two-thirds of those eligible and forces the rest to wait 10 
years to receive full benefits, ``proud'' seems an odd choice of words.
  ``We're getting the job done in Washington, D.C.,'' said the 
President to the VFW. Earlier this year, VFW then-Commander-in-Chief 
Edward S. Banas, Sr., gave his own assessment: ``The President ignored 
veterans in the State of the Union Address and with [the] release of 
his 2005 budget, it is further evident that veterans are no longer a 
priority with this administration . . . the American people will not 
tolerate this shoddy treatment of America's veterans, especially at a 
time of war.''

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