[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 90 (Thursday, June 30, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H5585-H5591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MAKING SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR VETERANS MEDICAL SERVICES

  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3130) making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2005 for 
veterans medical services.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3130

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the 
     Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal year 2005:

                     DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

                     Veterans Health Administration


                            medical services

       For an additional amount for ``Medical Services'', 
     $975,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2006.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Walsh) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh).
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this evening I bring to the floor a bill to provide 
urgently needed funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs. During 
the last week, it has become known to most of us that the Department is 
in dire straits with regard to funding for medical services. It has 
been pointed out to us in hearings that funding originally allocated 
for capital expenditures is being diverted to pay for medical services, 
and reserves which were intended to cover future requirements were 
instead needed this year.
  Based upon information provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
in a hearing today before the Committee on

[[Page H5586]]

Veterans' Affairs, as well as information provided on Tuesday when he 
appeared before the Committee on Appropriations, I am asking the House 
to pass this supplemental appropriations bill today in the amount of 
$975 million. This amount is within the 302(a) allocation for 2005 
available to the committee and therefore does not need to be offset.
  In the coming weeks, the committee will work with the Department to 
determine the implications for fiscal year 2006 of their recent changes 
in workload and utilization. This will allow us to use the most 
accurate information available to ensure that sufficient funding is 
also provided when we complete the 2006 bill later this year.
  To make it clear, this funding we are talking about tonight in this 
supplemental is just for 2005. I expect full cooperation and disclosure 
by the Department as we develop the final number for fiscal year 2006. 
I do not expect, nor will I accept, partial or vague information or 
misinformation. This process can only work well if we all work 
together. That is what I expect of everyone involved in solving this 
problem.
  For today, the bill I bring to the floor provides the necessary 
resources to ensure that all veterans receive the medical care 
promised. This funding will also allow the Department to restore 
funding to its capital accounts to ensure that maintenance and repairs 
are completed and necessary equipment procured so that future care will 
not be placed in jeopardy nor held in abeyance.
  I regret that the Congress and the committee was not informed of the 
very real problems at the Department earlier in the process. Having 
said that, I look forward to working together with my friend and 
colleague, the ranking member, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards); 
the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Office of Management and 
Budget; and the Members of the other body to be sure that we do not run 
into this situation again.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I will vote for this emergency funding bill for veterans 
health care for two reasons: first, the VA desperately needs the $975 
million right now to address a very serious shortfall in VA health care 
funding, a shortfall that I wish had never occurred; second, 
unfortunately, the House Republican leadership decided earlier this 
evening that the House, Republicans and Democrats alike, would not even 
be allowed to vote on the $1.5 billion emergency funding bill for VA 
health care that the Senate has already passed on a unanimous basis 96 
to zero earlier this week.
  For the record, I want to say that I believe the $975 million 
probably will not cover all of the hole that has been dug for veterans 
health care for this year. I hope I am wrong; but I was not wrong 
earlier this year, and I was not wrong last year when I said that the 
present VA budget would provide cuts in real health care services to 
veterans during a time of war.
  Also I want to say for the record that I appreciate very much the 
leadership of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), whose commitment 
to America's veterans is genuine, deep, and consistent. Had he not 
called hearings this week and brought the VA leadership before the 
House in his Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans 
Affairs, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations, I do 
not think we would be here on this floor tonight debating additional 
emergency money for VA health care spending.
  I want to commend my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Indiana 
(Mr. Buyer), who worked very hard to bring to light this immediate 
crisis that we are facing. His leadership on the House Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs was instrumental in us being here today.
  Having said that, I believe the American people and America's 
veterans, Mr. Speaker, have a right to know how we got into this $1 
billion hole for veterans health care during a time of war, and, most 
importantly, need to help us understand how not to get into this hole 
again.
  This issue did not just come up. This problem did not just pop up 
overnight or this week or last week. For 2 years, respected national 
veterans organizations have been pleading with the administration and 
Congress to provide adequate funding for the VA health care system. 
Unfortunately, their pleas were often ignored by the Republican 
leadership in the House.
  As far back as February of 2004, the Republican chairman of the House 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, then the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith), signed a bipartisan letter saying that unless we funded $2.5 
billion more than the administration budget request for VA health care, 
real services for real veterans would have to be cut this year during a 
time of war. Did the House leadership salute the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) for standing up for veterans? No. In fact, they 
fired him. They did not just take away his chairmanship of the VA 
committee; they took him off the committee itself.
  What was the crime of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith)? He 
refused to support an inadequate budget resolution for VA health care 
for 2005 which the Republican leadership had endorsed. He put his 
loyalty to America's veterans above blind partisan loyalty to the House 
leadership, and he was right to do so.
  While America's veterans were honoring the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Smith), the House Republican leadership was punishing him.
  In the spring of 2004, House Republicans passed a fiscal year 2005 
budget on a partisan basis, a budget that veterans groups, Democrats, 
and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) had said would require 
more than $1 billion in cuts to veterans health care services this 
year. The insight of time has proven that Democrats, veterans groups, 
including the DAV, American Legion and VFW, were right. The House 
Republican leadership was wrong: wrong on veterans health care budget 
resolutions and wrong to put partisanship above loyalty to veterans and 
veterans health care.
  Repeatedly over the past 2 years, House Democrats, myself included, 
have asked the Republican leadership to join on a bipartisan basis to 
stop real cuts in veterans health care services during a time of war. 
Over a year ago, we tried genuinely to increase the veterans health 
care budget for 2005. The leadership said no.
  This year, veterans groups and Democrats pleaded with the Republican 
leadership to provide more adequate funding for veterans health care. 
On the 2006 budget resolution, they said no.
  Then in May of this year, Democrats and veterans groups pleaded with 
the Republican leadership one more time to add additional VA health 
care spending to the Iraqi war supplemental appropriations bill. Once 
again, the leadership said no.
  That was not the last time they said no. The gentleman from Wisconsin 
(Mr. Obey) tried to add an amendment in the Committee on Appropriations 
increasing funding for VA health care so we would not get into this 
hole, cutting services for veterans during a time of war. Again, the 
answer was no.
  That is not even the worst of it. The House leadership on a partisan 
basis pressured Republican colleagues of mine this year to vote for a 
House budget resolution, and, listen to this, vote for a House budget 
resolution that would cut present services for veterans by $14 billion 
over the next 5 years.

                              {time}  2230

  Let me repeat that in case anybody did not hear it or believe it, 
because it is a fact: the House leadership passed a budget resolution 
in this very room earlier this year that would require a $14 billion 
cut in present health care services to veterans. And, by the way, that 
includes over 100,000 veterans of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars who 
have needed VA health care. I must wonder which Members of the House 
leadership will include in their Fourth of July speeches the fact that 
they pushed through this House a budget resolution this year to cut 
veterans' health care services by $14 billion over the next 5 years. I 
hope to join with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis in the years 
ahead to undo what would be a terribly harmful cut to our veterans and 
send a destructive message to our active duty servicemen and women 
serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  Having said all of that, we come today to face a shortfall that the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith),

[[Page H5587]]

the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs 
predicted a year ago, and the VA, American Legion, VFW, and Democrats 
predicted a year ago. I wish we were voting for a $1.5 billion increase 
in emergency funding. I think our veterans deserve it. Certainly, the 
Senate, on a unanimous vote, 96 to 0, endorsed that level of funding.
  But, thanks to the goodwill and the genuine leadership of people such 
as my colleague and friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), we 
have a chance to take a step forward today, an important step forward, 
in funding, more adequately funding veterans' health care, and for that 
I am grateful. I hope we can work together, as the gentleman mentioned 
a few minutes ago, on a bipartisan basis to see that we never, ever 
again dig this kind of a hole for veterans' health care in time of war 
or peace, but certainly we should never do it in time of war.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I certainly thank the 
chairman for yielding me this time.
  I rise today in very strong support of the Veterans' Health Care 
Supplemental Appropriations Act. We are here tonight because the VA 
needs $975 million for the remaining 3 months of fiscal year 2005. 
Earlier today, Secretary Nicholson made it clear that the shortfall 
resulted from faulty, outdated and, quite honestly, unrealistic 
forecasting models.
  I represent the highest number of veterans of any Member of this 
body. I have very often taken on my own party to fight for increased 
veterans' funding. And do you know what? They responded. We have 
consistently provided more than what the VA has requested over the 3 
brief years that I have been here. This side of the aisle has 
recognized the problem, and we are acting swiftly to resolve it by 
passing the supplemental today. I commend the Republican leadership for 
their speedy response to a real need.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the other side of the aisle to stop the petty 
bickering and mud-slinging and ask everyone to support this very 
important bill. Republicans have increased veterans' funding over 43 
percent since 2001. We will continue to fight to meet the needs of 
veterans' health care and other veterans' needs, because we provide 
solutions and action, not useless fingerpointing.
  Mr. Speaker, earlier today, another Member from Florida engaged in 
some political diatribe in committee and said she could not understand 
why veterans vote for Republicans. Clearly, they vote for Republicans 
because we are very quick to respond to a need and that we produce 
solutions, not just useless rhetoric.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), the ranking member of the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I support this measure, but I believe that it 
does not go far enough. Already, the VA has acknowledged a $2.7 billion 
problem next fiscal year.
  Health care for veterans today is being affected by budgetary 
shortfalls. Although the VA insists that $975 million is sufficient, 
there also argued as recently as just only 2 days ago that any 
additional funding was unnecessary.
  I do not know what we tell the homeless people in this country who 
would get no assistance if the committee bill would be dropped. We want 
to know how much money we could have saved by closing down State 
nursing homes and all the other innovative programs that the VA has 
been in favor of. If we cannot run a first-class hospital system, then 
shame on us for not fighting for the defending people of our Nation as 
much as we fight for other wars for people from foreign lands.
  I thank my colleagues and urge quick passage supplemental funding.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Brown), a member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. BROWN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
New York for yielding me this time.
  No one wants to be told that the Department needs nearly $1 billion 
more than anticipated, but the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has 
frankly come forward and acknowledged that their budget model has been 
simply overpowered by a host of factors, including an unexpected surge 
in demand this year.
  The numbers that we discuss is important, because they have a real 
impact in all of our districts and for our constituents who have served 
this great Nation. The consequences of chronologically underestimating 
the funding requirements, in my mind, are simply unacceptable.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on 
Veterans Affairs, my job now and our collective job tonight is to fix 
this problem. I want to commend my chairman, my good friend from 
Indiana (Mr. Buyer) for his leadership and having the courage to dig 
deep into this issue and address this in a head-on way. I also want to 
commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) for his efforts in 
moving quickly to get this measure to the floor tonight. Together, with 
our Senate colleagues, I hope we can move forward in a bipartisan 
manner to get these much-needed funds into the hands of those who 
provide the quality care to our veterans every day across this great 
Nation.
  I think it is critical that we continue the dialogue with the VA that 
we have started so that we can ensure that the health care needs of our 
veterans continue to be met in a reliable and timely fashion. Equally 
important, I want to continue to work with the Secretary and the 
administration to refine the budget process for coming years, making 
sure that we avoid similar shortfalls in the future.
  As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, I want to assure all 
of the veterans that are out there tonight that we are going to be 
absolutely sure that their health care needs are met in a timely 
manner.
  With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues here in 
the House to support this resolution.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Reyes), a member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3130, the day-late-
and-dollar-short legislation.
  Where were we last year when Secretary Principi said that he was 
underfunded by $1.3 billion? Where were we in March when I sat here in 
this very same seat and asked to fund $1.3 billion out of the 
supplemental fund? Earlier tonight, we could have funded our veterans 
at the same level as the Senate did last night, at $1.5 billion, but 
no, we could not do it the right way, we could not do the right thing.
  So tonight as an American, I am angry; as a veteran, I am outraged; 
and as a Member of Congress, I am ashamed. Angry, outraged, and ashamed 
that our only option is a supplemental of $975 million when we need 
$1.5 billion. I am angry because in this House, if you need an 
emergency supplemental, no problem. If you need another one, no 
problem. Need yet another emergency supplemental? Again, no problem. 
But do not even think about an emergency amendment of $1.3 billion for 
veterans' health care. No, all $300 billion has been spoken for, and no 
veteran need apply.
  Mr. Speaker, I am outraged as a veteran because, like emergency 
supplementals, if you need a tax cut, no problem. Need another one? No 
problem. Want a third? No problem again. What a deal. The richest 1 
percent in this country get a gold mine; our veterans get the shaft.
  As a Member of Congress, Mr. Speaker, I am ashamed and frustrated. 
Why? Because we have consistently failed to stand up for our veterans 
and have failed to stand up to an administration that continues to 
mislead and deceive, an administration that adopted Pinocchio as their 
mascot and has trampled on the rights and the needs of our veterans. 
Just once, I wish we would do the right thing for our veterans: fund 
them at $1.5 billion.
  I do support this legislation, a day late and a dollar short.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I just am thunderstruck by the rhetoric that I just heard. Stomping 
and trampling on the rights of our veterans? That is really beneath the 
dignity of this institution. Everyone I

[[Page H5588]]

know, and I know most Members in this body, has the greatest respect 
for our veterans, the greatest respect. The gentleman asked the 
rhetorical question, I believe it was a rhetorical question, where were 
we last year when Secretary Principi asked for an additional $1.3 
billion? Mr. Speaker, we were there. When we completed our budget, our 
appropriation for 2005, we put an additional $1.3 billion in, based on 
that request.
  So let us try to dampen the rhetoric and stick to the facts.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Gilchrest), one of our Nation's veterans.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee 
for yielding me this time, and I thank him for bringing this 
supplemental to the floor this evening. I am also encouraged that I am 
sure all of my colleagues will vote for this today.
  I want to make sure that another voice is heard. I am a veteran, as 
there are many veterans on this floor. I have been in Navy hospitals, I 
have been in veterans' hospitals, and I have gone through the veterans' 
health care system.
  I also want to say that in the last 10 years, in my district, there 
have been three health care clinics for veterans built just in those 10 
years that provide excellent care. We have a veterans' hospital for the 
psychiatric problems that veterans often experience that go from 
Alzheimer's to posttraumatic stress syndrome from Vietnam and other 
conflicts, to people with schizophrenia. Nothing is perfect. There are 
no utopias on the planet. We need to provide this supplement until the 
end of this fiscal year, and make sure we do not make the same mistake 
in the next fiscal year. But we have done a great deal, and we will 
continue to work hard for the veterans of this country, and we have.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Maine (Mr. Michaud), a member of the House Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs.
  Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly support addressing the funding crisis that is 
hurting veterans, so I will vote for this measure this evening, but I 
am deeply disappointed that we are not providing the VA with an 
additional $1.5 billion. Because this amount is less than the $1.5 
billion offered by the Senate, veterans will be in limbo, forced to 
wait for the care that they have earned. I will vote ``yes'' because I 
want veterans to get a measure of relief as soon as possible, but we 
can do better in this House, and we all know it.
  Mr. Speaker, we should not even be here. We would not be here if the 
VA, the administration, and the leadership had listened to the veterans 
groups and the members of the Committee on Veterans Affairs who warned 
about this problem in recent years. Let us make no mistake: this 
shortfall is definitely hurting our veterans.
  At Togus VA Medical Center, they ran out of money for medical care, 
so they had to divert their maintenance fund. Now, when their own brick 
building is crumbling, they cannot fix the problem. Instead, workers 
had to put up scaffolding to keep bricks from falling on the heads of 
sick veterans and their medical staff. This is a disgrace. This is what 
this shortfall is doing for our veterans.
  We also know that even the funding that will be approved this evening 
still leaves a major gap. For example, I am concerned that this 
supplemental may not address the shortfall funding for mental health 
services. Today, I asked Secretary Nicholson whether the $975 million 
would cover the gap in service for mental health care, including 
substance abuse.

                              {time}  2245

  He would not give me a clear yes or no answer. So we are left 
wondering again if this supplemental will solve the full shortfall in 
veterans health care. I am also concerned that the supplemental offered 
does not deal with the half a million veterans who are barred from 
seeking care from the VA. Since January of 2003, this administration 
has instituted a policy of banning a group of veterans referred to as 
Priority 8 veterans from enrolling in health care. This is wrong.
  So in closing, I will vote to support this measure because it is the 
first step in correcting the outrageous problem, but it should never 
have been in the first place.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would just like to respond to a couple of the points made by the 
gentleman who just spoke. The first is that we have provided in the 
2005 bill $2.11 billion for mental health for our veterans. That is a 
very substantial amount of money. And in the 2006 budget, we have 
proposed $2.2 billion, and we fenced it so that that money cannot be 
used for any other purpose. That has never been done before in a 
veterans appropriations bill. And I am very proud that our subcommittee 
took that action, and it was a bipartisan action.
  The second point is that we have before us a straightforward stand-
alone supplemental bill that provides just under $1 billion for the 
Veterans Administration health administration for this year, for 2005, 
only for 2005. And so it is very simple. If we pass it, and send it to 
the Senate they can act on it tonight or tomorrow as a stand-alone 
bill, identical bill, and the President could sign it tomorrow before 
the Fourth of July, and that is what I hope happens because I believe 
we will get broad support. I cannot imagine anyone voting against this 
bill.
  But the Senate bill, and the Senate has not passed a bill that 
includes this funding. They have not. Out of committee they have passed 
an interior appropriations bill for the 2006 fiscal year that has a 
$1.5 billion attachment to it for veterans affairs. That bill is a 2006 
bill. It will not even take effect in law until 2006, which will not 
help the 2005 budget at all. This is the vehicle to use. And I am very 
hopeful that once we pass it and send it to the Senate with a strong 
unanimous or bipartisan voice from the House that it will become law.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Oregon (Ms. Hooley), also a member of the House Veterans Affairs' 
Committee.
  Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding who has 
been such a champion of veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, veterans care is in a state of crisis. As the gentleman 
from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) pointed out earlier in the evening, veterans 
at the Portland VA Medical Center in Oregon have arrived at the short-
stay unit only to see this sign which says, ``We regret to inform you 
that due to budget issues, we can no longer supply meals to patients. 
Please bring a meal from home if you are going to be in the short-stay 
unit. We apologize for any inconvenience.''
  Well, this is not about the food. But it is about our health care for 
veterans. We have had to close beds because we are 150 people short at 
the VA hospital. This is no way to treat our heroes. The Portland VA 
does a wonderful job. It is not their fault. This is our 
responsibility.
  I have been working on this issue for years calling for more funding 
for VA health care. If the leadership had allowed a vote on an 
amendment I tried to offer with the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
Baird) to add $1.3 billion to the supplemental for VA health care, we 
would have dealt with this issue months ago. This did not have to 
happen. Not one soldier who puts his or her life on the line should 
have to worry about health care.
  While I am glad that we are finally acknowledging the financial needs 
of the VA, I cannot help but be disappointed that even now, when we 
know they are desperate for additional funding, we are still not giving 
them all of the money they need to serve our veterans.
  As a result of this budget shortfall, the Portland VA Medical Center 
is delaying all non-emergency surgery by at least six months. For 
example, veterans in need of knee replacement surgery won't be treated 
because of the budget shortfall. Recent visitors to the short care stay 
unit were surprised to see a handwritten sign declaring that ``due to 
budget issues, we can no longer supply meals to patients,'' and asking 
patients to bring a meal from home.
  The facility is reducing staff as a cost-cutting measure and is now 
short at least 150 hospital staff, including nurses, physicians, and 
social workers. As a result of budget cuts for staffing, the VA has cut 
the number of medical

[[Page H5589]]

beds available to care for veterans. And for fiscal year 2005, the 
facility needed $13 million for medical and clinical equipment but only 
received $2 million.
  But this should not come as a surprise to us. All you have to do is 
visit the VA health care facilities to see the overcrowded waiting 
rooms, the worn equipment, to know that they need additional funding. 
And we've been saying this for years.
  Just this March, the Republican leadership of the House refused to 
allow us to debate and vote on an amendment that I tried to offer that 
would have added $1.3 billion to the Supplemental Appropriations bill 
specifically for Veterans Health Care. Had we been allowed to debate 
whether the VA needed supplemental funding in March, or any of the 
numerous other times that House Democrats have tried to raise the 
issue, we could have dealt with this problem long before it became a 
crisis.
  Not one soldier who puts his or her life on the line should have to 
worry about getting health care when he or she returns from battle. But 
how are we supposed to provide adequate health care to these new 
veterans when we can't even meet the needs of our current veterans? Our 
veterans deserve better.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Davis).
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, tonight we are scrambling 
around to make up for a shortfall in veterans funding that was caused 
by the poor planning of this administration. The VA medical system 
cares for the brave men and women who have risked life and limb to 
serve this country without questioning why. Let us not forget that the 
VA's medical system serves as a back up to the Defense Department 
during national emergencies and as a Federal support organization 
during major disasters.
  Please consider my district, the city of San Diego. Our VA Medical 
Center is well managed, but is being forced to divert millions of its 
maintenance funds to partially cover its operating expenses while our 
communities' veterans sit on waiting lists of over 750 patients.
  Mr. Speaker, we are the keepers of the promise to America's veterans. 
We are obligated to address this funding crisis quickly and prevent it 
from happening again. The lives of countless men and women who defend 
it, or our own lives, may very well depend on it.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, we should not be in this hole. We did not have to be in 
this hole. I am glad we are taking a partial step to get out of this 
hole, a hole that we put veterans in, veterans who have served our 
country in combat, veterans who have been unfortunately denied care 
this year that they had a right to receive because of inadequate 
funding in the past. I am glad we are moving forward.
  I wish we were moving forward with a $1.5 billion emergency funding 
bill passed unanimously by the United States Senate. I do not know why 
the House leadership felt 96 Members of the Senate, including the 
Senate Republican leadership, were being too generous to veterans. I do 
not think they were being too generous to veterans. But I am glad we 
are taking a step forward. And I do genuinely appreciate the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Walsh) and the gentleman from Indiana's (Mr. Buyer) 
work on this effort.
  The most important thing we need to do tonight is learn the lesson of 
how we got in this hole and how not to get into it again. I have heard 
some say, well, we have increased veterans funding over the last few 
years so we should be happy with that and veterans should not complain 
about it, in effect. But the fact is that there has been an increase of 
250,000 veterans a year each year for the last 4 or 5 years into the VA 
health care system.
  You add that to VA health care inflation, drug cost inflation, and 
the fact is that we have not kept up with even current services for 
veterans in the budgets we have passed in the last 2 years. For some, 
not so much in tonight's debate, but in other debates this week, who 
have suggested, well, these are Democrats being partisan, well, some of 
those charges were leveled when we said a year ago and 5 months ago and 
2 months ago that this budget was going to provide a shortfall for 
funding.
  But let us take it out of the debate of Republicans versus Democrats. 
Let us go to the respected Disabled American Veterans. Alan Bowers, the 
national commander of the DAV said, not last week or last month, he 
said on March 23 of 2004 about the 2005 budget resolution, ``The VA 
will be required to delay medical care for some veterans and deny it 
all together for other sick and disabled veterans just to enable it to 
meet inflationary costs.''
  To the veterans of this Nation it is incomprehensible that our 
government cannot afford to fund their medical care and benefit 
programs at a time it can afford generous tax cuts costing hundreds of 
billions of dollars more.
  Let us go beyond the Disabled American Veterans. Let us look at the 
legislative directors of Paralyzed Veterans of America, the AMVETS, the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars. This is what they said about the 2005 budget 
resolution passed on a partisan basis in this House over the objection 
of Democrats. They said passage of the budget resolution as presented 
``would be a disservice to those men and women who serve this country 
and who are currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world 
in our fight against terrorism.''
  No Member of this House questions any other Member's respect for 
veterans. But we are not talking about good feelings tonight. Good 
feelings and good intentions do not fund veterans health care. We are 
talking about budget priorities. And we on the Democratic side of this 
House believe that adequate funding for veterans health care should 
trump tax cuts for billionaires. It seems to me that the leadership of 
America's major veterans organizations agree with us.
  I hope, perhaps, from this day forward we can go together on a 
bipartisan basis to see that we do not ever, ever, ever again cut real 
services for America's veterans during a time of war.
  I encourage my colleagues to vote for this resolution, despite my 
deep disappointment that the House Republican leadership would deny us 
even the right to vote on the $1.5 billion emergency funding for 
veterans hospitals that 96 Senators in a unanimous vote said was needed 
by our Nation's former service men and women.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer), the distinguished chairman of the 
Veterans Affairs' Committee and himself a veteran of the Gulf War.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Walsh) for his leadership in bringing this supplemental, being 
responsive to the administration's requests. I would also like to thank 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards), the ranking member, for working 
cooperatively with the gentleman from New York as he has done since he 
assumed this position. The gentleman's leadership is important and it 
is valuable.
  Yesterday, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) and I kind of joked 
with each other when I came up to the gentleman and I said, what is the 
powerball? And the gentleman looked at me and said, what? And I said 
what is the powerball, because if the gentleman could actually guess 
what the number should be for the veterans budget, the gentleman should 
also know what the powerball is. We kind of had fun, we had some 
laughter amongst each other because what we are dealing with is hard. 
It is difficult. There are people that are a lot smarter than me and 
that have Ph.D.s in how to do the actuarial studies.
  And it is rather interesting that the VA, for the longest time, I 
want to share with my colleagues what had been done was that the VA 
would formulate the health care portion of their budgets using 
historical trend analysis, inflation, and then they would also take 
into consideration new initiatives. Then the VA said, well, we ought to 
change that. Let us improve workload projection capabilities, and let 
us do some better forecasting.
  And so they go out and they hire Milliman Incorporated, which is an 
outside actuarial firm that provides expertise and guidance to the top 
private health companies in America. Well, that sounded like a pretty 
good idea to do. Then what we learned on June 23 in the Full Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs as we get into the issue on health care modeling, 
I know you say, my gosh, why are you talking about this? This is pretty 
important. What we learn about the modeling is, is that

[[Page H5590]]

model wrong that the VA is using to protect the budgets? How come we 
get into these positions? What we learned is it is not necessarily that 
the model is in error. The model that is used in the private sector and 
that is used to guide the VA is adjusted for these private firms on an 
annual basis.
  The VA uses this model and stresses it. They stress the model to 
project between 2.5 and 3.5 years out. Now, that is not right. So what 
we are going to do, and the gentlemen from New York (Mr. Walsh) and the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) and myself and the gentleman from 
South Carolina (Mr. Brown) and the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud), 
we are going to work together here because we are going to stop this 
stuff going on. If they recognize that the data is old and stale and 
that their assumptions are not right and they are not doing annual risk 
adjustments, then we are going to have to do it for them. Right?
  So it is important for us to continue our oversight. So when this was 
brought out in the hearing last week, the administration, the testimony 
of Dr. Perlin was we have some work around solutions. Well, we listened 
to it. And then we began to talk among ourselves, Republicans and 
Democrats alike, listening to evidence and stories from our own 
districts and said, you know, this does not feel right and we should 
take some action.

                              {time}  2300

  The administration responded. What we said to the administration was, 
and I share with my colleagues in the Senate because their immediate 
response, we were not even done with our hearing in the House and the 
Senate calls a press conference and says we are going to fund it at 1.5 
or 1.6.
  They are making up numbers over in the Senate. We are not going to 
make up numbers here in the House. I have heard some of my dear friends 
on the Democrat side say, I am really disappointed it is not $1.5 
billion. Where do you get $1.5 billion? We cannot make it up.
  If our responsibility to the taxpayer is to get the number right, 
then let us get the number right. So when we asked the Secretary to 
come over and testify and he did this morning, we said we want an exact 
number and that is exactly what he delivered to us.
  So of the $975 million supplemental, this morning he said I need $273 
million to fund health care for returning Operation Iraqi Freedom, 
Operation Enduring Freedom veterans, including members of the Guard and 
Reserve. They also needed $226 million to continue funding of the 
shared Federal and State VA long-term care nursing home program. They 
need another $200 million to fund unanticipated increases in the health 
care for priorities 1 through 6 veterans. He needed $95 million to fund 
unanticipated energy, fuel, and utility costs. He needed $84 million to 
buy emergency medical equipment and $39 million to pay for the increase 
in health care benefits for dependents of 100 percent service connected 
veterans as the need has increased at a rate greater than expect.
  And there is another number that no one has talked about. You know 
what it is? Accounts receivables. So I asked the VA, you came and told 
us you need $975 million. What is your accounts receivables? What in 
the final quarter of 2005 do you anticipate that you are going to 
collect? $325 million.
  So basically what we have, if you are in business we have a cashflow 
problem. We also have a shortfall. So they have accounts receivables 
out there and they have a bogey, a deficit. So when we say okay, we are 
going to do an infusion. So we do an infusion of $975 million, you know 
what? The number is higher than that. Because it is $975 million plus 
the $325 million of accounts receivables. It is $1.3 billion is the 
infusion. That is the monies available for the VA in the final quarter. 
That is the exact number.
  So I am hopeful that when we pass this bill, and I agree with the 
gentleman from New York (Chairman Walsh). I do not think there is going 
to be one vote against this because we will all speak together in a 
unified voice. We will send this to the other body and say this bill 
comes to a total of $1.3 billion in available resources that the VA can 
use in the final quarter and those monies that you cannot use we will 
move over into 2006. We will continue to work on the 2006 number. We 
will work on that budget amendment.
  The next thing we will do is the VA is working on the 2007 budget 
because they have responsibilities to get that transferred soon to OMB. 
We will get all this worked out because this Secretary owns that 2007 
budget and he owns the 2006 budget and he owns this mistake and he 
understands that.
  I urge all of my colleagues in a bipartisan fashion and in a big 
voice, let us wake up the other body. We pass it tonight. They can pass 
exactly what we have here, and we can make a tremendous impact on the 
veterans community. Let us pass this bill.
  I congratulate the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh).
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my great 
disappointment about the fact that the Republican majority has refused 
to allow Representative Edwards the opportunity to offer his bill to 
provide $1.5 billion in emergency funding for veterans health care. 
Instead, we are being asked tonight to vote up or down on a bill that 
will provide only part of the funds that are desperately needed to 
provide essential care to those who served our country so well. Full 
funding is critically needed by the Veterans' Administration to 
overcome its massive budget shortfall caused by the Bush 
Administration's war in Iraq and the Republicans' shameful budget.
  Last Friday, the Washington Post reported that the Bush 
Administration finally acknowledged that it is short $1 billion for 
covering current needs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, despite 
repeated efforts by House Democrats to adequately fund VA healthcare. 
Even that admission is likely to be short of the mark. Earlier today, 
the Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee reiterated that 
the Senate would quickly pass a $1.5 billion emergency supplemental if 
the House would first approve the measure. Unfortunately, the 
Republican majority has offered a bill that provides only $975 million, 
and then denied us the opportunity to offer an amendment to increase 
that level. To shortchange our veterans during a time of war is not 
only shocking, it is greatly disrespectful to the brave men and women 
who have volunteered their service to defend our country.
  The shortfall that the VA is experiencing has resulted in some VA 
medical facilities no longer scheduling appointments for veterans, 
others not filling vacancies of medical and nursing staff, and others 
having to close operating rooms or not replace basic medical equipment, 
such as hospital beds.
  Because of the Republicans' refusal to provide sufficient funding, 
many of the 50,000 veterans who are currently waiting in line for 
medical appointments will be forced to continue their wait. It is 
shameful that the Republicans in Congress have once again failed our 
veterans. It is apparent that the Republicans do not represent the 
priorities of the American people. At a time of war, Americans want the 
Congress to offer bipartisan support and services for our veterans and 
their families. They do not want us to shortchange military families 
and they certainly believe that taking care of our Nation's veterans 
should be a higher priority than providing tax breaks for millionaires. 
The Republicans should have done the right thing and worked with the 
Democrats on this nonpartisan issue.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this supplemental, 
but not of the process that brought it to the floor.
  Last Friday, the Washington Post reported that the Bush 
Administration acknowledged that it is short $1 billion for covering 
current needs at the Department of Veterans Affairs this year, despite 
repeated efforts by House Democrats to fund VA healthcare. In response, 
the Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to give the VA an extra $1.5 
billion this year to cover the health care shortfall. But House 
Republicans today offered just $975 million, meaning additional work 
will have to be done to correct this serious problem.
  But the problem we face is larger than dollars and cents. There is an 
emerging credibility gap, one that Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
Nicholson would do well to address and quickly. It simply strains 
credulity to suggest, as some in the House have this week, that neither 
the Secretary nor his staff could have foreseen this problem. Mr. 
Nicholson's predecessor, former VA Secretary Anthony Principi, who is 
currently chairing the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, 
certainly had no difficulty giving the Congress honest assessments on 
the VA's needs. Indeed, Secretary Principi was too forthright for White 
House officials, who were undoubtedly both embarrassed and angered by 
his candor during the last Congress.
  You remember the story, I'm sure. At the annual VA budget hearing on 
February 4, 2004, in response to a question by my friend and colleague 
from Illinois, Mr. Evans, then-

[[Page H5591]]

Secretary Principi acknowledged that he needed at least $1.2 billion 
more to meet the medical needs of America's veterans than President 
Bush had requested in his Fiscal Year 2005 budget submission to 
Congress. My friend from Illinois showed his usual courage and 
tenacity, and fought to get Secretary Principi the money they both 
knew--the money we all knew--was needed to properly care for our 
veterans. And even if this supplemental funding is provided, there will 
still be at least a $600 million shortfall in VA funding this fiscal 
year.
  What does this shortfall mean in human terms? It means not enough 
psychiatric nurses to care for veterans with post-traumatic stress 
disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric disorders. It means some veterans 
will not get prosthetic devices they need to function in the real 
world. It means that hospital administrators will have to raid medical 
care accounts in order to pay for equipment repairs to keep air 
conditioners functioning and electrical systems working. It means 
longer clinic waiting times for veterans seeking appointments. All of 
these shortages are both unacceptable and avoidable.
  If we can find the money to buy the hardware to send our men and 
women into battle, there's no excuse for us not to find the money to 
pay for their wounds of war after they come home. Shortchanging 
America's veterans on America's birthday is truly a manifestation of 
Tom Paine's sunshine patriotism. I urge my colleagues to not only 
support this supplemental, but to demand that the President and the 
House leadership provide the full funds the VA needs to care for our 
wounded warriors.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the supplemental 
appropriations for veterans' medical care. This measure corrects the $1 
billion shortfall in veterans' health care funding, which was belatedly 
acknowledged by the Bush Administration last week. House Democrats have 
been standing with America's veterans fighting to increase support for 
veterans' health care. Republicans have consistently chosen other 
priorities and voted against veterans' healthcare, leading to a 
shortfall that did not have to happen.
  This measure is a first step to correcting this gross underfunding of 
our veterans' health care system. However, additional steps need to be 
taken to comprehensively address this serious problem. I am troubled 
that many of our Nation's veterans are unable to receive the health 
care they need in a timely fashion. Without adequate funding, veterans 
will continue to stand in line, waiting for the services they have 
earned. Let us keep our promises to our veterans and servicemembers who 
have fought for our country. I will continue to fight for funding that 
meets our active and retired military personnel's health care needs.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the 
supplemental appropriation of $975,000,000 that will fill the huge gap 
that was left by the Administration's FY 2005 request for the Veteran's 
Administration health care system. While my veteran constituents such 
as a 23-year old male who now suffers from kidney and liver failure due 
in part to administrative failings in the Veterans Healthcare 
Administration. The paltry funding levels set by the Administration and 
codified by the Republican Congressional Leadership have caused young 
soldiers like my constituent to suffer unnecessarily and cause their 
parents to shed tears. I just visited this young man at the Walter Reed 
Medical Center last week, and his condition reminded me of the very 
irresponsible work of this Administration.
  Hundreds of thousands of veterans just like my young constituent are 
being told that they cannot enroll in VA health care. When the current 
Administration decided to ban new Priority 8 veterans from enrolling in 
January 2003, it estimated that by 2005 the number of affected veterans 
would be 522,000. Some veterans' hospitals are reporting shortages of 
medical supplies. Furthermore, the number of Operation Iraqi Freedom 
veterans lined up for treatment is expected to rise dramatically as the 
poorly managed war effort causes physical and mental ailments to 
increase exponentially.
  In the 18th Congressional district of Texas alone there are more than 
38,000 veterans and they make up almost ten percent of this district's 
civilian population over the age of 18. Yet, despite these large 
numbers we often forget about our veterans. We do this in part because 
our men and women of the armed services come home from war and lead 
normal productive lives; often our veterans go unnoticed in the general 
population. However, our veterans are not normal people; they are truly 
extraordinary individuals who have changed the course of our lives in 
ways that we may not even realize. I hope we will always keep this 
thought in mind; we cannot forget to celebrate our veterans, for if we 
forget to honor them, we forget all that makes this nation truly great.
  There are over 26,550,000 veterans in the United States, the great 
majority of whom rely upon these services to maintain a healthy 
standard of living. In the 18th Congressional District alone there are 
there are more than 38,000 veterans and they make up almost ten percent 
of the district's civilian population over the age of 18. These 
veterans rely upon the great services offered at the Michael E. DeBakey 
VA Medical Center in Houston. Of course any great medical facility is 
only as good as its health care personnel.
  Mr. Speaker, today's vote is the first step to correcting an enormous 
underfunding of our veterans. However, this amount does not match that 
offered by the other body--therefore, the problem has not been solved, 
and soldiers like my young constituent at Walter Reed will continue to 
suffer the dire and potentially fatal consequences.
  This body must increase funding to $1.5 billion so that our debt to 
those who have sacrificed for us is paid. Even if my colleagues pass 
this measure, these men and women will not receive the benefits before 
July 4! The amount offered by the House Republicans did not match the 
figure that passed in the other body. It is truly shameful that we must 
watch our Republican colleagues give piecemeal care to our veterans 
when the needs are so urgent.
  For the reasons above stated, I support this measure, but I ask that 
my colleagues continue to press for full funding at the level passed in 
the other body
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3130.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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