[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27264]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  VETERANS ASSOCIATION ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  (Mr. FOLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th 
month, we will celebrate America's heroes and those are our veterans.
  Since President Bush and Secretary Principi have taken office, one as 
President, one as the head of the VA, we have opened 194 new community 
clinics for a total of 676 clinics; 87 percent of the veterans now live 
within 30 minutes of a VA medical facility.
  We have increased enrollment, increased outpatient visits. We have 
reduced waiting times for our veterans. We have increased prescription 
drugs coverage for our veterans. We lead for all veterans health clinic 
quality indicators throughout the entire scope of these facilities.
  We have increased homeless veterans outreach with a $35 million 
collaborative program with HUD and HHS. We have reduced the inventory 
of related claims from over 432,000 to 253,000. We have reduced waiting 
times for claims answers. We have increased national cemeteries, now 
six new cemeteries: Atlanta, Detroit, South Florida, Fort Sill, 
Pittsburg, and Sacramento. We remain on course to complete our national 
shrine commitment to improve the appearance of our national cemeteries.
  Veterans have received great response from this administration. We 
are proud of our record.

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