[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10101]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON VETERANS' HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. SHOWS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, on Memorial Day President Bush established a 
task force he says that will improve health care delivery for our 
Nation's veterans. This task force will take 2 years to study veterans 
and military retiree health care. With all due respect, Mr. Speaker, 
the last thing veterans and military retirees need is another study. 
They need health care now.
  President Bush told veterans and military retirees that ``promises 
made will be promises kept.'' Instead, he has given them 2 more years 
of who knows what while almost 1 million veterans will die.
  Mr. Speaker, my bill, the Keep Our Promise to America's Retirees Act, 
has over 300 cosponsors and will go a long way towards restoring faith 
with them. Tricare, the military health care program, does not work for 
many military retirees. Veterans and military retirees are tired of 
empty words and broken promises. Let us think about it. For the last 20 
years we have been telling the military retirees and veterans about 
health care saying when we get some money, we are going to help them 
with their health care. We have not delivered. Let us not wait another 
2 years and let another million veterans die in disgrace.

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