[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 39 (Thursday, March 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PRESIDENT OBAMA'S 2010 BUDGET

  Mr. BURRIS. Madam President, as we contemplate this 2009 Omnibus 
Appropriations Act before us this week, I wish to look ahead to 
President Obama's proposed 2010 budget.
  As a proud member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am 
particularly pleased by the significant increase in funding that the 
administration is seeking for the Department of Veterans Affairs, led 
by its Secretary, GEN Eric Shinseki.
  In the proposed 2010 budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs will 
see a $25 billion increase over the next 5 years. This additional 
funding will be directed toward a major expansion of benefits for those 
who serve our Nation in uniform.
  The 2010 budget will directly assist veterans by expanding access to 
high-quality care for approximately 5\1/2\ million veteran patients and 
ensuring that care is delivered in a timely manner. More remarkable, 
this funding establishes VA Centers of Excellence to provide veteran-
oriented care in specialized areas, such as prosthetics, vision, spinal 
cord injury, aging, and women's health.
  The President's budget also reaches out to veterans with moderate 
incomes, bringing an additional half million veterans into the VA 
system by 2013, while maintaining or expanding existing care for low-
income and disabled veterans.
  At the same time, the new budget enhances services related to mental 
health care and broadens access and treatment areas throughout rural 
America. America's veterans have earned through their service the very 
best care we can offer, and the 2010 VA budget is a promising start.
  During a recent tour through Illinois, I had the remarkable 
opportunity to visit with both veterans of past service, as well as 
meeting the young recruits training to wear the American uniform in the 
years ahead.
  During that trip, I visited the 1082nd Airlift Wing of the Illinois 
Air National Guard located in Peoria, IL, and spoke with many fine 
airmen from this wing, including MSG Warren McCray. Master Sergeant 
McCray is an air guardsman who trained as a joint terminal attack 
controller. He deploys with Army troops on the ground ensuring that 
airpower can be employed against enemy positions when needed.
  This courageous young man has recently returned from a tour of duty 
in Afghanistan and was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor. While speaking 
with Master Sergeant McCray, he told me of the multiple tours he had 
served as an air guardsman mobilized in support of Operation Enduring 
Freedom in Afghanistan. I was deeply impressed by his professionalism 
and dedicated service to this country. Even more so by his dedication 
to his fellow service men and women of the 1082nd Airlift Wing.
  As we consider our mission abroad and weigh the cost in terms of 
troops and treasure, it is our duty to also consider the capacity at 
which these young men and women are serving us.
  It doesn't matter whether they are a soldier, sailor, airman, marine 
or Coast Guard, or whether they are Active Duty, Guard, or Reserve. We 
must never forget the personal toll and sacrifice of these brave 
Americans and the effects made on their lives, their future, their 
spouses, and their children.
  We must ensure that our veterans receive superior accessible care in 
return for their service and sacrifice, and we have an obligation to 
honor our veterans by serving them in the same way they have served us 
so selflessly.
  The administration's 2010 budget for the Department of Veterans 
Affairs recognizes this. And in addition to expanding health benefits 
and high quality of care, the budget provides for comprehensive 
educational benefits, particularly the post-9/11 GI bill so that 
following their service, veterans can have access to unprecedented 
levels of educational support to complete their schooling.
  In the same week, I visited the Naval Station Great Lakes and the 
North Chicago VA Medical Center. During my visit to these sites, I 
learned about plans for the Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes, the North 
Chicago VA Medical Center to merge and expand over the next couple of 
years. This merger will be extensive and costly, but also essential for 
sailors and veterans of Illinois, many of whom spend much of their 
lives at these facilities.
  At the North Chicago VA Medical Center, I met with veterans of all 
ages and backgrounds. I heard their stories, their hopes, and their 
needs. At the Recruiting Training Command, I met with both naval 
officers and naval recruits and was given a tour of the barracks by LT 
Ellen McElligott.
  I was particularly impressed with Lieutenant McElligott, a Chicago 
native, who serves as the ship's officer for the USS Arizona. Her 
professionalism, discipline, and enthusiasm for her work are qualities 
she shares with countless young service men and women across this great 
country of ours.
  While touring the facility with Lieutenant McElligott, I saw the 
faces of hundreds of young sailors training so that they may one day 
serve this country.
  It is so very important that LT Ellen McElligott and the young men 
and women like her receive adequate care and compensation while on 
Active Duty, Guard, or Reserve, and, most importantly, that they 
receive the care and resources they deserve when they return from 
serving their country.
  As a nation, we have a moral obligation to serve and care for those 
brave individuals as they work so hard to serve us.

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