[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3477-3478]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  URGING COLLEAGUES TO SUPPORT THE BUDGET RESOLUTION, WHICH LEAVES NO 
                             VETERAN BEHIND

  (Mr. SMITH of New Jersey asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

[[Page 3478]]


  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, next year there will be 700,000 
more unique veteran patients in the VA health care network than were 
projected just 1 year ago. And as our veteran population continues to 
age and medical costs continue to skyrocket, we can expect to see this 
trend continue for most of the decade.
  As chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, I have been working 
with my colleagues to ensure that next year's budget meets the 
documented needs of our Nation's 25 million veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to say that, under the leadership of 
the budget chairman, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), the budget 
resolution that comes to the floor will not only maintain our sacred 
commitments, but will actually expand vital health care for our 
veterans.
  The VA's budget will grow to a record $56.9 billion, including a 
whopping 12 percent increase in VA health care. That is $2.8 billion 
for veterans' health care.
  It is a good budget, and I commend the chairman, the gentleman from 
Iowa (Mr. Nussle), for crafting this outstanding budget to our Nation's 
veterans.

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