[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Baucus, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Burr, 
        and Ms. Collins):
  S. 402. A bill to improve the lives of our Nation's veterans and 
their families and provide them with the opportunity to achieve the 
American dream; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today with Senator Baucus, Senator 
Lincoln, Senator Burr, and Senator Collins to introduce the Keeping Our 
Promise to America's Military Veterans Act. Quite simply, my colleagues 
and I strongly believe that Congress must remain focused on fully 
supporting our veterans and their families in the 111th Congress. As we 
begin this new Congress, our legislative priorities should reflect the 
unending gratitude of the American people for the sacrifices of our 
veterans and their families in defending the Nation and our way of 
life.
  To date, the war on terrorism has already generated nearly 1 million 
discharged veterans and their ranks will grow with nearly 300,000 new 
veterans per year. The Congress must not waver in our commitment of 
support for their service, as well as the service and sacrifices of 
each of our citizens who have taken that extra step and donned the 
uniform of this great Nation. The bill that we are introducing would 
express the sense of Congress that legislation should be enacted in the 
111th Congress to improve the lives of our Nation's veterans and their 
families and provide them with the opportunity to achieve the American 
dream, including legislation to assure funding for medical care and for 
timely and accurate adjudication of all benefit claims, to assure 
accesses to high quality treatment for PTSD and TBI conditions, and to 
assure a seamless transition for veterans and their families from 
military to civilian life.
  As we consider legislation for this Congress, I point out, for 
example, the problem of providing the VA health care system with 
funding in a timely and predictable manner. With the exception of last 
year, VA appropriations have historically not met this simple standard. 
To correct this problem, I have supported, and will continue to support 
measures to make VA appropriations mandatory, or to provide advance 
appropriations to the VA. Neither are new budget concepts, but rather a 
means of achieving timely, predictable, and sufficient funding of VA 
health care via the current annual appropriations process. I joined 
with a number of senators in the last Congress, including then-Senator 
Barack Obama, on legislation to provide advance appropriations to the 
VA, and will continue to work to this end in the 111th.
   Of the many challenges on which this Congress must act in the weeks 
and months ahead, we believe that it is imperative that we not waver in 
our support for our Nation's veterans and their families. I sincerely 
hope that my colleagues will join Senator Baucus, Senator Lincoln, 
Senator Burr, Senator Collins, and me and offer their support for this 
important legislation.
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