[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 8, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H355-H356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        VETERANS AFFAIRS BUDGET

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise concerning the budget cuts 
President Bush has proposed on the Department of Veterans Affairs. It 
is nothing more than a smoke screen to make the overall budget numbers 
look better while veterans are going to have to shoulder

[[Page H356]]

most of those costs. The budget makes veterans pay $250 to enroll in 
health services and doubles their copayments for prescription drugs, 
changes which will affect more than 2 million veterans. It makes 
veterans wait longer for claims to be processed, delaying very vital 
medical services. It provides a dismal 1.7 percent increase in funding, 
far from the 14 percent the Veterans Affairs Department really needs to 
sustain its current services.
  President Bush's budget also forgets about the new veterans serving 
abroad. Over 1,400 have been killed, 11,000 injured, and 10 in my 
district alone have been killed. These military families are struggling 
right now. They lack mental health care and other needed services such 
as bilingual services. They also lack burial funds. Let us keep our 
commitment and not cut back the budget.

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