[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 141 (Thursday, October 10, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6475-H6476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE REPUBLICAN SELF-IMPOSED GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Ms. BROWN of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss how the 
Republican self-imposed government shutdown is affecting our Nation's 
veterans. Just yesterday, VA Secretary Shinseki testified in the 
Veterans Affairs' Committee, and he put several points straight ahead.
  If the shutdown continues, there will be over 3.8 million veterans 
who will not receive disability compensation payments. That means they 
will not get their checks in the mail by November 1.
  315,000 veterans and over 200,000 surviving spouses or dependents 
will not see their pension payments.
  Education payments to more than half a million veterans using the GI 
Bill will end.
  It is really very shameful that the Republicans are doing this to our 
veterans--over $6 billion in benefits. Nearly 5 million veterans and 
their families will not receive their pension payments.
  Shame on the Republican House of Representatives.

                                           The Independent Budget,


                            A Budget for Veterans by Veterans,

                                                  October 3, 2013.
     House Speaker John Boehner,
     Longworth House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
     Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
     Hart Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
     House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
     Cannon House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
     Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,
     Russell Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Reid, Leader Pelosi and Leader 
     McConnell: On behalf of The Independent Budget--co-authored 
     by AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of 
     America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars--we would like to 
     express our tremendous disappointment that Congress' 
     inability to pass a full annual budget has led to a 
     government shutdown. Your failure is already causing real 
     harm to the brave men and women who have served and 
     sacrificed for this nation.
       The current government shutdown has stopped work on the 
     more than 250,000 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 
     disability claims that are awaiting adjudication; 
     compensation, pension and education benefits are in jeopardy 
     of not being paid; Vocational Rehabilitation offices are 
     working with reduced staffs; and the Department of Labor's 
     VETS programs and federal employment OneStops are closed. 
     These are real impacts on veterans, many of whom are 
     struggling to transition back into civilian life.
       Furthermore, funding the operations of the VA through 
     short-term continuing resolutions (CRs) or other stop-gap 
     measures are not acceptable solutions. Typically, short term 
     CRs don't take into account the effects of inflation or 
     increased demand for VA benefits and services. CRs also 
     prevent VA from starting or expanding critical programs and 
     disrupt or delay vital new research and construction 
     projects.
       As the leaders of Congress, we call on you to immediately 
     take all actions necessary to give final approval to 
     legislation providing the full year's FY 2014 appropriation 
     for all veterans programs. Our organizations and the millions 
     of veterans we represent will no longer tolerate Congress 
     leveraging veterans' health and wellbeing to achieve 
     unrelated political ends.
       In order to prevent future disruptions to veterans' 
     programs, we also urge you to approve legislation that would 
     extend advance appropriations to all VA discretionary and 
     mandatory appropriations accounts. Advance appropriations 
     have shielded VA health care from most of the harmful effects 
     of the current government shutdown as well as prior 
     continuing resolutions. Now Congress must provide the same 
     protections to all remaining discretionary and mandatorily 
     funded veterans programs, including disability compensation 
     processing and payments. There are currently bills pending in 
     both the House (H.R. 813) and the Senate (S. 932) that could 
     be quickly amended and approved to achieve this goal.
       Both government shutdowns and continuing resolutions 
     represent failures in leadership. Congress' obligation to 
     veterans does not start in the eleventh hour of a national 
     crisis; you have an obligation to pass a timely, sufficient 
     budget for all veterans programs, benefits and services.
       On behalf of our organizations and all of America's 
     veterans, their families and survivors, we call on you to 
     work together to immediately approve a full year's 
     appropriation for all veterans programs, and subsequently to 
     approve pending legislation to extend advance appropriations 
     to all VA discretionary and mandatory funding. Anything less 
     is unacceptable to the men and women who have served this 
     nation in uniform.
           Sincerely,
     Stewart M. Hickey,
       National Executive Director, AMVETS.
     Garry J. Augustine,
       Executive Director, Disabled American Veterans.
     Homer S. Townsend, Jr.,
       Executive Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America.
     Robert E. Wallace,
       Executive Director, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United 
     States.
                                  ____


        [From ABC News Chicago--Associated Press, Oct. 9, 2013]

   2013 Government Shutdown Could Hit Millions of Vets, VA Chief Says

       Washington.--The government shutdown is having a big impact 
     on the country's military. One problem--funding the death 
     benefit of military families--has been solved. Another 
     issue--veterans benefits--could turn into a massive headache 
     later this month.
       VA hospitals, like Jesse Brown on the West Side, are open 
     during the government shutdown. But veterans are concerned 
     that disability and other checks could be in jeopardy.
       ``I got a little money saved up, but a lot of guys here 
     live from check to check, month to month, that's going to be 
     the hard part,'' said Jesus Lebron, Vietnam Vet and Purple 
     Heart recipient.
       ``I think very few of us are prepared for this--we just 
     have to weather that storm,'' said David Brewster, Vietnam 
     War veteran.
       Vets are worried after the VA secretary testified on 
     Capitol Hill Wednesday, warning politicians that the shutdown 
     has slowed the process for disability claims--and the impact 
     could be widespread.
       ``It's over 5 million individuals who will be involved. 
     This is serious. And I'm hoping the leadership of this 
     committee will help us resolve it,'' said Eric Shinseki, VA 
     secretary.
       Shinseki broke down the numbers like this: 3.8 million vets 
     will not receive disability compensation; 315,000 vets and 
     202,000 surviving spouses or dependents will see pension 
     payments stopped. And because of that, vets are disappointed 
     with elected officials.
       ``We put our butts on the line. I would like to see them 
     put their butts on the line,'' said Leonard Soria, Vietnam 
     War veteran.
       In the meantime, the caskets of 4 fallen soldiers killed in 
     Afghanistan arrived at Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday 
     afternoon. Their families scrambled to raise money for 
     funerals because they did not immediately get the $100,000 
     death gratuity because of the government shutdown.
       ``She sacrificed for the country, for her family. Why 
     wouldn't that be taken care of? There is no excuse,'' said 
     Alexandra DiBella, friend of Army 1st Lt. Jennifer Moreno.
       Late this afternoon, Congress took action to fix that 
     problem by approving the death gratuity. That impacts 26 
     families who have had loved ones die since the shutdown.
       It's important to note, however, that all VA hospitals will 
     remain open during the shutdown.
       In all, more than $6 billion in benefits to about 5 million 
     veterans and their families would be halted with an extended 
     shutdown.
       In some areas, like health care, there have been few 
     adverse effects. Health care services are funded a year in 
     advance. In others, such as reducing the claims backlog, 
     Shinseki noted that the backlog has increased by 2,000 since 
     the shutdown began Oct. 1.
       At the end of September, the disability claims backlog 
     stood at 418,500, a drop of about 31 percent over the 
     previous six months.
       Shinseki drew comparisons to the last shutdown in 1996, a 
     time of sustained peace. The current shutdown occurs as the 
     war in Afghanistan is in its 13th year and as hundreds of 
     thousands have returned from Iraq. They are enrolling in VA 
     care at higher rates than previous generations of veterans.
       ``They, along with the veterans of every preceding 
     generation, will be harmed if the shutdown continues,'' 
     Shinseki said.
       Rep. Jeff Miller, the Republican chairman of the committee, 
     questioned whether the Obama administration had been 
     forthcoming enough in letting veterans know the impact of the 
     shutdown. For example, VA's initial guidance did not mention 
     any impact on payments to veterans or the processing of their 
     benefits, although it was updated before the shutdown began.
       Miller said a statement by President Barack Obama made it 
     unclear about whether veterans would be able to continue 
     getting counseling for PTSD. They can, at any VA health care 
     facility.
       ``We've had some difficulty in the last couple of weeks 
     getting good information about VA's contingency plan and the 
     effects a lapse in appropriation would have on veterans,'' 
     Miller said.
       Shinseki said the VA has confronted ``unprecedented legal 
     and programmatic questions'' and would do its best to keep 
     lawmakers informed.

[[Page H6476]]

       The House has passed legislation that would provide 
     veterans disability, pension and other benefits if the 
     shutdown is prolonged. But the White House has urged 
     lawmakers not to take a piecemeal approach to continuing 
     government services.
       Shinseki made that case as well, saying it's not the best 
     solution for veterans. He noted that even if the VA were 
     fully funded, some services to veterans would suffer.
       He said the Labor Department has largely shut down its VETS 
     program, which provides employment and counseling services to 
     veterans. The Small Business Administration has closed 10 
     centers focused on helping veterans create and operate 
     businesses. And the Housing and Urban Development Department 
     is not issuing vouchers to newly homeless vets, though those 
     already receiving the housing aid will still get it.
       White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that 
     veterans had done their job and that it was time for Congress 
     to do its job.
       Mitch McConnell's spokesman, Don Stewart, noted that the 
     senator pushed for a vote on House-passed legislation that 
     would protect disability benefits, but Majority Leader Harry 
     Reid objected.
       ``Maybe Carney should give him a call,'' Stewart said.
       The shutdown has disrupted the generally bipartisan 
     workings of the veterans committees in both chambers.
       ``Do you think Senator Reid doesn't like our veterans or 
     the VA in particular?'' Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., asked 
     Wednesday.
       ``Personally, I think he very highly values veterans,'' 
     responded Shinseki, the only Cabinet member to testify before 
     a congressional committee since the partial shutdown began. 
     ``As to why we are unable, Congress is unable to do its 
     business, I will leave to the members to discuss.''
       Meanwhile, some Democrats said a GOP bill passed last week 
     that would continue to fund disability payments didn't 
     include money for such things as medical or prosthetic 
     research and no money to maintain national cemeteries or 
     various construction projects.
       ``I keep hearing the Senate, the Senate. I put the 
     responsibility directly in the House. We could pass a clean 
     (continuing resolution) and you wouldn't be sitting here,'' 
     said Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla. ``I don't blame the Senate. I 
     thank God for the Senate.''
       Miller said there was bipartisan support in the House for 
     legislation that would fund the entire Department of Veterans 
     Affairs a full year in advance so it--so it would not be 
     subject to end-of-the-year brinkmanship. The VA had so far 
     not endorsed the effort.

                          ____________________