[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7584-7591]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 MISTREATMENT OF OUR NATION'S VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 2003, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members

[[Page 7585]]

may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on the subject of this special order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I am joined here on the floor of the House 
of Representatives by my colleagues to simply bring to the attention of 
the President of the United States and to our Republican colleagues the 
mistakes they are making in the way they are mistreating our Nation's 
veterans in the 2004 budget that passed our House in the wee hours of 
the morning last Friday.
  The irony of the President of the United States leading the deep and 
harmful cuts in this budget while we are in the middle of a war in the 
Persian Gulf, with our brave men and women in harm's way, is more than 
any American can understand. The veterans of this country are honored 
in ceremonies on Veterans Day and Memorial Day and at conventions, 
dinners, receptions and on and on and on, but when it comes to putting 
our money where our mouths are, increasingly we are abandoning our 
veterans and not taking care of their needs, as we promise them when we 
recruit them and when we benefit from their services.
  God willing, these young men and women fighting in Iraq will some day 
be veterans. They are going to have medical needs, housing needs; and 
we will need to pay for special programs and services to attend to the 
problems that they will have created by their service to this country. 
How then can we in good conscience turn our backs on these young men 
and women by cutting their budgets? We should be happy to provide 
services for our veterans.
  The President of the United States will probably try and tell the 
American public that we really cannot afford to take care of our 
veterans, but how can the President explain to our veterans why he 
insisted on a $1.3 trillion tax cut in 2001 and has come back to 
Congress with a demand for $675 billion in new tax cuts, tax cuts that 
benefit the wealthiest people in our society?
  Madam Speaker, it does not take a Harvard scholar to know we cannot 
keep cutting and cutting and cutting our income and pay for our basic 
services and have money for a rainy day. This President is simply 
mismanaging this country. We are now in deficit. The economy is 
failing. Our President and the members of his party have failed to come 
up with a stimulus package, and we have placed our Social Security 
system in jeopardy. Education is underfunded, and millions of Americans 
have no health care. But one of the most unconscionable consequences of 
the Republican budget is the deep and devastating cuts to our veterans.
  Let me just give my colleagues an example of how devastating it is. 
The Republican budget cuts $25 billion from veterans programs at a time 
when the Department of Veterans Affairs is already severely 
underfunded. The 2004 House budget has reduced funding for veterans 
health care by $844 million below the President's inadequate 
recommendation for next year.
  Over 10 years these programs will be cut by $9.7 billion. The House 
budget cuts $463 million from benefit programs such as disability 
compensation, pension, vocational rehabilitation, education and 
survivors benefits this year.
  Over the next 10 years, these programs will be cut by $15 billion. 
These cuts will likely result in the loss of 9,000 VA physicians and 
19,000 nurses. It could also result in the loss of 5,000 nursing home 
beds for veterans.
  Madam Speaker, I am so proud this evening to be a Democrat because my 
party developed our own budget, and we tried to convince our Republican 
colleagues not to make the deep cuts that they are making. The 
Democratic budget took a much more responsible approach to our Nation's 
heroes.
  Unlike the Republican budget, the Democratic budget does not include 
any cuts to veterans benefits over the next 10 years. In fact, it 
provides much-needed increases. It provides for more health care than 
the President's budget and the House Republican budget in each of the 
next 10 years.
  The Democratic plan provides $216 million next year for veterans 
health programs, including medical research and construction. It 
increases funding for these programs by $2 billion over the next 10 
years, and it fully funds compensation for service-connected 
disabilities, burial benefits, means-tested pensions for permanently 
disabled low-income veterans, Montgomery GI Bill education benefits, 
rehabilitation benefits and housing loan programs.
  In conclusion, the Democratic budget is an important and responsible 
budget that truly respects the sacrifices our veterans have made for 
our country.
  This evening I call on the President and my Republican colleagues to 
stop the empty rhetoric and support our veterans before we finally 
resolve the differences in the budget and come up with a budget that is 
going to be signed by the President of the United States. I hope we can 
reverse the harm that is being done in this Republican budget.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Madam Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. WATERS. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Madam Speaker, I first want to thank the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Waters) for giving us the opportunity tonight to 
speak out on behalf of America's veterans, and I can say to my 
colleagues firsthand that this is not the first time she has spoken 
out. Because 12 years ago she and I were both new members of the 
Committee on Veterans Affairs, and our veterans service organizations 
quickly learned that no one would speak out more loudly and more 
eloquently or more firmly in behalf of our Nation's veterans.
  Madam Speaker, I am privileged to represent the only two division 
Army installation in the United States, Fort Hood, Texas. Even as we 
speak tonight in the comfort of this congressional hall, thousands of 
soldiers from my district are being deployed to the Iraqi theater and 
within days could be fighting on behalf of our country.

                              {time}  1945

  Those of us here rise tonight to speak on behalf of those soldiers, 
our future veterans. There is one fundamental point that I would like 
to emphasize in my remarks, and that is that the true test of Congress' 
commitment to veterans is not what we say; it is what we do. Now, I 
would say it is fair that some people in this country believe that 
Republicans are veterans' best friends, but we should look at the 
facts. The fact is that not many Americans saw what happened at 3 a.m. 
on the House floor last Friday morning, but this is the fact. On that 
morning 214 House Republicans voted to cut veterans benefits by $28 
billion, to cut veterans benefits by $28 billion. Then 5 minutes later, 
they voted for a resolution saying we support our troops in Iraq.
  Madam Speaker, I find that hypocrisy to be outrageous. Last Friday 
morning, 214 House Republicans voted to cut veterans benefits, 
including benefits for war-wounded combat veterans, cut their benefits 
and their pensions and compensation checks; and 5 minutes later they 
voted for a resolution with no force of funds behind it saying we 
support our troops.
  Madam Speaker, today's troops in Iraq are tomorrow's veterans. So 
when Members voted last Friday to cut $28 billion out of veterans 
programs, they are basically voting to cut the veterans benefits of 
those fighting and putting their lives on the line for us right now. 
That is outrageous.
  Do not just take my word for it. Let us see what a distinguished 
American, Edward Heath, Sr., the National Commander of Disabled 
American Veterans, had to say about the Republican budget resolution. 
In a letter that he sent 9 days ago to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hastert), this is what Commander Heath said: ``Has Congress no shame? 
Is there no honor left in the hallowed halls of our government? Did you 
choose to dishonor the sacrifices of our Nation's heroes and rob our 
programs, health care and disability compensation to pay for tax cuts 
for the wealthy?''
  Well said, Commander Heath.

[[Page 7586]]

  Now, Madam Speaker, I think it is important to point out that if our 
country was at a time of war and we were asking all Americans to 
tighten their belts and sacrifice, I would imagine the first group at 
the front of the line to say we will play our part would be American 
veterans; but not one dollar in the Republican budget resolution was 
allocated for the Iraqi war, so these cuts were not necessitated to pay 
for war, they were necessitated to pay for a $374 dividend tax cut that 
will go to the wealthiest Americans who are sitting safely in their 
homes and offices as American soldiers from my district at Fort Hood 
will be fighting in Iraq. Outrageous.
  A dividend tax cut, a dividend tax cut paid for by reduced benefits 
and health care for our soldiers in Iraq today, and today's and 
tomorrow's veterans. I find that to be a bad idea at any time, cutting 
benefits to pay for tax cuts that benefit primarily the wealthiest 
Americans; but to do so within 24 or 36 hours of the beginning of our 
war against Iraq I find to be insulting. No wonder the National 
Commander of the Disabled American Veterans asked the question: Is 
there no honor left in the hallowed halls of our government?
  As the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) pointed out, it was 
good to know and I am proud as a Democrat to say that almost all House 
Republicans voted for these cuts, I am proud that all but one House 
Democrat voted against that resolution with veterans cuts. There were a 
handful of Republicans who went to the Republican House leadership and 
said these veterans cuts really are not fair, especially at time of 
war. I think America's veterans would be interested to hear what the 
response was from the House Republican leadership when, for example, 
our colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), went to them 
and said we should not be cutting veterans benefits, it is a horrible 
idea.
  Did the House leadership commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith) for standing up for veterans, the chairman of the Committee on 
Veterans Affairs? Did they salute him, honor him? I am afraid not, 
sadly not. Today's Roll Call newspaper on Capitol Hill has a headline 
stating: ``Smith Spars With Leaders, Veterans Chairman Upsets Fellow 
Republicans on Funding Issues.''
  Madam Speaker, let me read some of this: ``After months of railing 
against his own leadership, House Veterans Affairs Chairman Chris Smith 
has earned public rebukes from the Chamber's top Republicans and 
private warnings that he needs to do a better job toeing the GOP 
line.''
  So not only did they not commend him for fighting on behalf of 
veterans, they threatened him. They said he is guilty of not toeing the 
GOP line. I am glad to be another colleague of the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) not toeing the GOP line. Perhaps later on they found 
some way in their hearts to commend him for fighting for veterans.
  They said: ``Smith has pushed hard for more funding for veterans this 
year. In the process, he has criticized both the House Republican 
budget resolution and the White House spending proposals. Earlier this 
month, Smith's complaints about veterans funding at a Republican 
conference meeting so angered Speaker Dennis Hastert that he rose to 
deliver the New Jersey lawmaker a highly unusual tongue lashing. 
`Hastert got up and just shut him down,' said a Republican source that 
witnessed the exchange. `It was off the charts. I've never seen 
anything like it. It was scathing.'''
  Madam Speaker, a scathing attack from the House Republican leadership 
on a Republican House Member for the crime of standing up and saying we 
should not be cutting veterans benefits by $28 billion in time of war.
  I think the veterans of America are smart enough to know the 
difference between those who speak out on behalf of veterans on 
patriotic occasions like Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and then vote 
for a resolution at 3 a.m. on Friday morning saying we support our 
troops, and 5 minutes later that very morning would vote to cut 
veterans benefits by $28 billion. Who do they think they are fooling?
  Madam Speaker, they are not fooling the veterans who put on our 
Nation's uniform, fought for our country, many have died for our 
country, and those who have survived understand the sacrifices that our 
country has asked them to make.
  This article gets better, Madam Speaker. It goes on and says that the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) does not understand what being a 
team player is about: ``As one Republican staffer put it, `The 
leadership wants Smith to remember that a chairmanship is a privilege, 
not a right.'''
  Let me rephrase that. The American people need to understand that the 
leadership of this House and top staffers for them have threatened, in 
effect, the Committee on Veterans Affairs chairmanship by the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for having said that he thought it was a 
bad idea to cut veterans benefits by $28 billion. Just as DAV National 
Commander Heath was outraged and insulted by the cuts for veterans, I 
think America's veterans are going to be even more outraged at the 
added insult to injury that the House leadership not only wanted the 
cuts, they rebuked and even now in effect have threatened the 
chairmanship of a Member of the House who said that was wrong.
  We will be judged when it comes to supporting our veterans not by our 
words, but by our deeds. That is the way it should be. I hope America's 
veterans will look at the facts and the present Republican leadership 
and its effort to undermine important commitments for health care and 
benefits to America's men and women who have served our Nation.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I yield to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland).
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Waters) for her care and concern for veterans.
  As I rise tonight, I am thinking of two people, one a veteran and one 
I hope who will soon be a veteran. One of the people I am thinking 
about is my oldest brother, Charles, who is 79 years old, currently in 
the hospital with a broken hip. He served our country during World War 
II. The other individual I am thinking about tonight is a younger 
person, 20-year-old Matthew Dingus. Matthew is my nephew's son. We do 
not know where he is, but we know he is in Kuwait; and tonight our 
thoughts and prayers are with Matthew as he joins other young Americans 
in carrying out the orders of his Commander in Chief.
  I speak tonight not only for veterans, but for all those who are 
active duty servicemen and women because they hopefully soon will be 
veterans. It is shocking to me that this Republican administration, 
that this President who has made the decision to send our young men and 
women into battle would at the same time preside over a budget that is 
so harmful to America's veterans. Some of these facts are so shocking 
as to almost be unbelievable.
  Mr. Speaker, if there are those watching who think that I and my 
colleagues are exaggerating tonight, I encourage them to seek out the 
facts because what this administration is doing to veterans is 
shameful. I will just mention a few things.
  About a year and a half ago when most veterans went to a VA Hospital 
to get a prescription medication, they were charged a $2 copay per 
prescription, and I was outraged when the Department of Veterans 
Affairs decided to increase that copayment from $2 to $7 a 
prescription, and I introduced legislation to roll back that copayment 
increase because many veterans get 10 or more prescriptions a month, 
and they get a 3-month supply at a time, and veterans on fixed incomes 
cannot afford this additional financial burden.
  But what did the President ask for in his most recent veterans 
budget? He asked that that copayment be increased from $7 to $15 a 
prescription. Think about that. An additional burden of that magnitude 
on our veterans, I just simply find it outrageous. How, at a time when 
we are literally giving tax breaks to the richest people in this 
country, can we justify increasing the

[[Page 7587]]

copayment for prescription drugs for our veterans, a copayment that has 
already been increased from $2 to $7, and now the President wants that 
copayment increased from $7 to $15 a prescription? That is outrageous. 
But the outrage does not stop there.
  The President in his budget has asked for a $250 annual enrollment 
fee be imposed upon veterans for enrollment in the VA health care 
system. So we increase the cost of their prescription drugs, and then 
we impose a $250 annual enrollment fee.
  Then we create a special priority group of veterans. We call it 
priority group 8, and these are veterans who have served our country 
with honor; and we are saying to these priority group veterans, some of 
whom make no more than $28,000 a year, you are a high-income veteran. 
And because they are high-income veterans, they will no longer be 
allowed to enroll in the VA health care system.

                              {time}  2000

  I think the American people should know that those of us who serve in 
this Chamber, the President, his Cabinet, all the Members of the 
Senate, the Supreme Court and those of us in the House of 
Representatives make about $150,000 a year. Yet we have the gall to 
imply that if you make $24,000 or $25,000 a year, you are a high-income 
veteran and so you should no longer be allowed to enroll in the VA 
health care system. It is outrageous. It is almost unbelievable when we 
really look at what they are trying to do to our veterans.
  It gets worse. About a year ago, the VA decided to impose a gag order 
on their health care providers. Think of this. All of the health care 
providers around the country were told, too many veterans are coming in 
for services and we do not have enough money to provide those services. 
I guess it is because we want to use our resources to give tax breaks 
to wealthy people. And so a memo was put out mandating a change in 
policy. Health care providers were told, you can no longer market our 
services. You can no longer participate in community health fairs. You 
can no longer make public service announcements. You can no longer send 
out newsletters encouraging veterans to take advantage of the services 
they are entitled to receive under the law.
  Think of that. It is what I call the VA's if-you-don't-ask-we-won't-
tell policy. If you do not ask as a veteran what services you are 
entitled to receive under the law, services that the Congress has 
decided that you should receive, if you do not ask, the VA system is 
not going to make an effort to tell you what services you are legally 
entitled to receive.
  Reference has been made here to the VA budget. It is true that the VA 
budget passed out of this House is a shameful document. No wonder they 
decided to do it at 3 o'clock in the morning last Friday morning when 
most of America was asleep. We passed two bills during those late-night 
hours. One bill was to provide a resolution in support of our troops, 
the men and women currently fighting for us in Afghanistan and in Iraq 
and in other parts of this world. Within 5 or 10 minutes of casting 
that vote, we cast another vote to pass the Republican budget 
resolution. That Republican budget resolution cuts funding for 
veterans' benefits and health care by over $28 billion. Think of that. 
With one hand we salute our troops and we pass a resolution thanking 
them for their service, and with the other hand we take our voting 
cards and we vote for a budget that cuts $28 billion out of veterans 
health care and veterans benefits.
  I want to say something that I believe deep in my heart. The best way 
to honor the troops who are fighting for us now is to keep our promises 
to the troops who have fought for us in the past. When we honor our 
veterans, we honor our current young men and women who are fighting for 
us. The American people need to know what is going on. What we are 
doing in this Chamber is cutting health care benefits for veterans and 
other benefits for veterans so that we can have the money and so that 
we can give it to the richest people in this country in the form of tax 
cuts.
  That is shameful. The American people need to know it; and the 
veterans of this country need to rise up, draw a line in the sand and 
say, no more. We paid the price, we have given the service, we have 
risked our lives, and in some cases we have given our body parts for 
the defense of this Nation.
  This President and this Congress have a responsibility to keep their 
promises to the veterans.
  I want to thank the gentlewoman from California for having this 
Special Order and for giving us an opportunity to speak out. I want to 
thank her for her commitment to America's veterans.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I 
thank her for holding this Special Order.
  First of all, we need to put these cuts in perspective and with the 
budget to see how we got to where we are. This is a chart, not spin, 
not adjectives, a chart of the budget deficit which you notice goes 
deep under the Reagan and Bush administrations, 8 years of digging out 
in the Clinton administration up to a surplus and right back down into 
a deep deficit. This is not a war budget way down here, because this 
was passed without the war budget money in it. The war budget will take 
you off the chart. This is where we are.
  What is the plan? You notice we started with a little surplus in 
2001, and we spent all the Medicare surplus; in 2002, all the Medicare, 
Social Security and then some for as far as you can see. We had no 
growth, unemployment is up, the stock market is down. And what is the 
consequence of running up all that debt? Right now, a family of four, 
divide the country into the interest on the national debt, $4,500 for a 
family of four paying on the national debt. If we had not messed up the 
budget, we would have paid off the whole national debt and have zero 
debt tax. But by 2008 it will be $6,400; and by 2013 it will be $7,500 
for a family of four because we have run up so much debt.
  Because we have so much debt, we have had to cut the budget. We have 
had to cut agriculture. We have had to cut education, energy and 
commerce; and we have had to cut veterans benefits, disability 
compensation, pensions, GI bill, housing subsidies, health care. This 
is wrong. We are cutting these because we have run up the debt because 
of the tax cuts.
  Our veterans deserve better. We should improve the budget before 
final passage and restore the cuts in those veterans programs. We 
should honor the sacrifices our troops are making today by restoring 
the cuts in veterans programs. Today's troops are tomorrow's veterans.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Ryan).
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I would like to thank the gentlewoman, also, for 
holding this Special Order tonight.
  I would also like to thank the gentleman from Ohio whom I share 
Mahoning County with in northeast Ohio. He has done a fine job and been 
quite a leader on veterans issues.
  Madam Speaker, is it no wonder that people do not vote? Is it no 
wonder that people are disconnected from their government when they see 
the duplicity that we have seen in the last week or so in this Chamber? 
It has been stated many times tonight and I hope it will continue to be 
stated, where on one hand we are falling all over each other to say we 
are supporting our troops in Iraq and at the same time in the wee hours 
of the morning we are cutting veterans benefits, $15 billion in 
benefits, $9.7 billion in health care.
  All of a sudden, we say that we can afford a tax cut that is 
primarily going to the top 1 and 2 percent in this country, which is 
going to lead to more debt. At the same time, we have more seniors, we 
have more veterans, we have more challenges and need more aid to spread 
democracy around the world. We need more aid to heal and mend the 
international relationships that we have ruined over the past few 
months. We have more of a demand for education in this country.
  Madam Speaker, let me make some recommendations. We need to index

[[Page 7588]]

the GI bill for inflation so that our veterans can afford to be 
educated. We need to increase the service-connected compensation and 
death benefits.
  One thing that I constantly hear back in my district is the 
concurrent receipt, where someone who has been issued disability 
benefits, veterans disability, they leave their limbs on the 
battlefield all around the world, they come home, and they do not just 
take the benefits, they go out and they work and they get a Federal job 
and earn a Federal military retirement. And then we have the audacity 
to say you are not allowed to get both. You can leave your limb in 
Europe, but you are not allowed to get any benefit from it.
  If we say we support our troops now, then we can only really mean it 
if we support our troops from wars gone by. And so I urge this Congress 
to reevaluate the decisions we made in the wee hours of the morning 
last week. Let us not be duplicitous, let us not contradict ourselves 
by saying one thing and doing something completely different and, more 
importantly, let us respect the sacrifices that have put us all in this 
Chamber, the respect for freedom and the dignity and what this country 
really stands for. Let us honor our veterans.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I am so proud of Democrats this evening. 
They have taken this evening to come to the floor to speak up for this 
Nation's veterans.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. 
Davis).
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask this 
Congress to seriously consider the harmful impact the budget resolution 
could have on veterans health care and other VA services. Already, 
thousands of veterans face waiting lists 6 months or longer to see a 
physician in a VA medical facility. All too often, veterans must seek 
treatment elsewhere simply because the VA does not have the resources 
to meet the need.
  With so many veterans living in San Diego, I see firsthand the 
difficulties they encounter. Just today, Petty Officer Al Kovach, a 
paralyzed veteran from Coronado, called my office to share his story. 
He was bedridden for more than a year due to a service-related injury. 
Once doctors realized he required surgery, it took 6 months for an 
operating room to become available. I have heard from hundreds of 
others who have experienced similar delays in the VA health care 
system.
  I do not see how, after the great sacrifices they have made, we can 
support a budget that cuts more than $25 billion in VA funding over the 
next several years. This astonishing amount will greatly reduce 
services and undoubtedly cause these waiting lists for health care to 
become even longer.
  Madam Speaker, we are in a time of war. Last week we stood before the 
Nation and passed a resolution in support of our military personnel 
fighting in Iraq. On the same day, this body approved a budget outline 
that communicated a very different message to the men and women in the 
battlefield, that when the fighting is done and you return home, do not 
expect us to care for your needs.
  I call on my colleagues to correct this contradiction, to prove that 
we support the men and women in harm's way and to prove to our veterans 
that we appreciate their sacrifices. We must restore appropriate levels 
of funding to the health care system and other VA services. Like the 
young men and women fighting today in Iraq, our veterans were there 
when we called upon them. Now we must be there when they call upon us.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Indiana 
(Ms. Carson).
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I extend certainly my heartfelt 
appreciation to the honorable gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) 
and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) for bringing this very 
crucial situation to the ears and eyes of America.
  Madam Speaker, we come into this Chamber on a regular basis and we 
are faced with this wonderful display of the first President of the 
United States, George Washington. In 1789, General, President George 
Washington said, ``The willingness with which our young people are 
likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly 
proportional as to how they perceive veterans of earlier wars and how 
they were treated and appreciated by this country.''
  How scary to think that that is still true today. It is hard to 
believe that those words, 200 years ago plus, have so much meaning 
today. We all know what President Washington was saying. We recognize 
and acknowledge the service of our veterans if we are to expect our 
young people to serve and to fight. The government must do its part 
with their benefits.

                              {time}  2015

  All of us as citizens must do our part; and the great corporations of 
this country need to do their part, too. After all, corporations are 
the direct beneficiaries of veterans services because, collectively, 
veterans have preserved the free enterprise system under which 
corporations operate.
  Due to the limitation of time remaining, let me eliminate some of my 
comments and point up a few facts for edification.
  Estimates are that homeless veterans run from 200,000 to 294,000, 
based on a VA fact sheet and the community homelessness assessment for 
veterans. Twenty-five percent of homeless persons are veterans. Thirty-
three percent of male homeless persons are veterans. Seven hundred and 
seventy-five Reserve and National Guard personnel working in the VA 
were called up for active duty in Operation Iraq Freedom. This created 
a shortage in critical care nurses which may negatively affect 
veterans' care or add to the preponderance of the problems that 
veterans already face.
  The Department of Defense announced today the identity of an Army 
soldier unfortunately killed in action March 24 in Iraq. Army 
Specialist Gregory P. Sanders, 19 years of age, Indianapolis, Indiana, 
was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor, Fort Stewart, Georgia.
  A quote from a female soldier at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, who was 
waiting to get shipped out to the Persian Gulf, a future veteran, knows 
what the cost is and yet is willing to serve: ``People are dying over 
there. Let me go and do my job. I want to help my comrades.''
  Ladies and gentlemen of America, there are some of us who came under 
fierce criticism for not supporting the resolution that passed last 
week because in part it commended the war in which America is now 
engaged; and, yes, indeed it did provide our support and our prayers to 
those noble women and men who are serving in Iraq for the safety of our 
country, but let me say very sincerely there is not a Member in the 
House of Representatives that does not support all of those women and 
men who serve in harm's way 24 and 7. We love you, we uphold you, we 
respect you, and we appreciate you for stepping out in that situation 
that most Members of Congress who are here today would not dare do.
  But I am pained to know that, even in our prison system, those who 
are incarcerated today constitute a large proportion of veterans who 
were in the Persian Gulf, who were in Vietnam. We just had an execution 
in my State last week of a Persian Gulf War veteran who was convicted 
for murdering someone at the military camp. A terrible situation, an 
abominable situation, but what is America doing for our veterans? We 
support the troops by resolution, but what do we do in fact in terms of 
those noble men and women who return to this country?
  Again, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) and the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) so very much because I know 
they, too, love and admire the troops that are serving so fearlessly 
for the United States of America; and I am so grateful that they have 
called this very urgent and critical matter to the attention of all of 
the people in this country who love the troops but who need to 
recognize what happens to the troops when they return back to American 
soil and thus become veterans of America. I thank them so very much.

[[Page 7589]]


  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. 
Carson).
  I call on the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).
  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and 
I thank them all for being here tonight to stand up for our Nation's 
veterans.
  Our troops in Iraq are being funded at the rate of about $1 billion 
every 2\1/2\ or 3 days, $1 billion every 2\1/2\ or 3 days. We want our 
troops to have the best. We want our troops to have everything they 
need for success in Iraq. But if we have the money to send our troops 
to war, we must have the money for them when they come back from war, 
and that is all we are saying here tonight.
  What we are saying is for 2\1/2\ or 3 days of that war in Iraq, we 
can fund everything that our veterans need this coming year. That is 
the amount of money that has been subtracted by the Republicans in 
their budget, $25 billion over the next decade.
  We have the money. It is a question of the will. We have the 
resources. It is a question of our priorities. And, ladies and 
gentlemen, it is time to call the names and take the prisoners of those 
who are hurting our veterans.
  You hear on Memorial Day and on Veterans Day the words of support, 
but watch what they do when they come and vote. Watch what they do when 
they vote on the budget. Watch what they do when they vote on the 
appropriations. Watch what they do when they take your future away from 
you. Watch the procedural votes. Watch us, ladies and gentlemen. 
Because if you just take the words, everybody here supports you, but 
the money ain't there to make it happen.
  Let me say a couple of things that the Republican budget takes away 
if it goes through. As we heard earlier, a co-payment for a month's 
worth of prescription drugs, the drugs that you need to survive, is 
going to double, more than double, from $7 to $15. We are going to 
charge enrollment fees to veterans who are in ``a higher priority'' but 
who are veterans and who deserve the treatment, and we can give it to 
them. We are going to cut 5,000 nursing home beds so only those 
veterans with the worst kind of disability will be able to be cared 
for.
  We will abandon our goal of eliminating homelessness amongst our 
veterans. Every evening, Madam Speaker, 250,000 of our Nation's 
veterans are on the streets. Can the Members imagine that as a way to 
pay back what they have given to our country? They are homeless, and we 
do not seem to have the resources to change it. We give the program $20 
million a year, $20 million a year. That is nothing in the context of 
our budget.
  Disabled veterans, disabled veterans will be cut from care if this 
budget goes through. The Montgomery GI bill, which helps our education 
of our veterans, will not be funded. VA home loans will not be funded. 
Markers and flags for deceased veterans will not be funded.
  This is hypocrisy, ladies and gentlemen, hypocrisy that comes from 
saying we are for the veterans and not providing the money.
  Madam Speaker and the gentlewoman from California, right now there 
are 200,000 veterans who have waited more than 6 months for their first 
appointment. Veterans will die while they are waiting for that first 
appointment, and yet we say we cannot do anything. Let us resolve to 
change this.
  I ask all the veterans, when we consider the appropriations, come to 
Washington, surround the Capitol, camp out, bivouac, and do not leave 
this place until we pass a budget that is worthy of you.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Filner), and I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda).


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Blackburn). The Chair will remind all 
Members to direct their remarks to the Chair and not to the viewing 
veterans.
  Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Waters), I really appreciate this opportunity for us to be able to 
speak to the members of our country and to share the information that 
somehow and sometimes never get to their ears.
  Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about what it really means 
to support our troops and our Nation's veterans.
  Madam Speaker, I believe it is easy for any Member of Congress to 
stand here in the well on the floor and say they support veterans and 
support our troops in Iraq. It is always easy to talk the talk, but the 
real question we should be asking is, will they walk the walk?
  Just last week, the Senate passed a unanimous resolution in support 
of our troops. The following day, the House Republican leadership had 
the same opportunity to send an equally powerful message to our troops 
by introducing a clean resolution similar to the Senate version. But, 
instead, the House Republicans denied the troops this message of unity 
and decided to politicize the issue by drafting House Concurrent 
Resolution 104, a resolution that included language in support of 
President Bush's misguided Iraq policy.
  By drafting a resolution that mixes support for our troops and 
support for President Bush's policies, Republicans sought to coerce 
Members opposed to the war into voting for the resolution. While I 
fully support our troops, I vehemently disagree with the President's 
decision to abandon a diplomatic solution to disarming Saddam Hussein 
and could not support a resolution that endorses that decision.
  However disturbed I was about the politicization of support for our 
troops, it does not even come close to the feelings of outrage I have 
over the passage of the House Republican budget resolution. Just 10 
minutes before the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 104, the 
House Republicans pushed through their budget resolution. I can think 
of no better way of describing the Republican budget resolution than by 
using a quote by the Disabled American Veterans. The quote is: ``Has 
Congress no shame? Is there no honor left in the hallowed halls of our 
Government that you choose to dishonor the sacrifices of our Nation's 
heroes and rob our programs, health care and disability compensation, 
to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy?''
  The Republican budget resolution makes room, makes room, for the 
President's $1.6 trillion tax cut, while cutting discretionary health 
care spending for veterans below the level needed to maintain 
purchasing power at the 2003 level.
  The Republican budget also directs the House Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs to cut $14.6 billion from mandatory benefit payments to 
veterans, including compensation for service-connected disabilities, 
burial benefits, and veterans' education benefits.
  This is why the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of 
America, and the American Legion all issued statements opposing the 
Republican budget.
  The Democrats, in contrast, eliminated the $14.6 billion Republican 
cut to mandatory veterans' benefits program, including compensation for 
service-connected disabilities, burial benefits, Montgomery GI 
education benefits, and housing loan programs. Our budget also 
protected the veterans' health benefits from the Republican cuts, 
providing $16.2 billion more than the House Republican budget.
  I voted for the Democratic budget. I am proud to support our troops. 
I am proud to support and reflect our budget and our values.
  Madam Speaker, this pattern of patriotic posturing must end. Congress 
needs to start showing real support for our troops by taking care of 
our Nation's veterans. During this time of war, we must do no less.
  Republican leaders can sure talk the talk, but can they walk the 
walk?
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Filner). I call on the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).
  Mr. POMEROY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and 
I especially thank her for organizing this important hour to discuss 
the deeply troubling cuts in the funding of veterans' services in this 
country.

[[Page 7590]]

  This is a serious night. We are at war. We have young men and women 
of our country with their lives on the line in Iraq, fighting for all 
of us, and yet here in the Congress, while we honor their service and 
to a man and woman serving in this Chamber, I believe we honor their 
service, we are fighting this partisan fight on whether or not we ought 
to fully fund the veterans' services.
  I find it nothing less than stunning that our Republican friends 
would bring a budget that takes $28 billion out of the funding of 
veterans' services over the next 10 years, $14 billion from that 
portion of veterans' funding that goes to the health benefits for 
veterans, and $14 billion from that portion of the budget that funds 
the disability benefits for those who have laid their lives on the line 
and wear the scars of battle the rest of their lives.

                              {time}  2030

  It is unbelievable that this, at all times, would be the time that we 
would see a budget cutting veterans services to fund those tax cuts, 
tax cuts that flow so disproportionately to the wealthiest few in this 
country, contained in the Republican budget. It is wrong.
  You do not have to take our word for it, because the veterans of this 
country have spoken on this matter, and spoken with one voice and great 
clarity.
  The Paralyzed Veterans of America: ``We do not consider payments to 
war-disabled veterans, pensions for the poorest disabled veterans and 
GI Bill benefits for soldiers returning from Afghanistan to be waste, 
fraud and abuse'' worthy of the kind of cuts in the majority budget.
  The Disabled Veterans of America state: ``Has Congress no shame? Is 
there no honor left in the hallowed halls of our government that you 
choose to dishonor the sacrifices of our Nation's heroes and rob our 
programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy?''
  The American Legion writes: ``This budget defies common sense. There 
must be a better way to provide tax relief to the American people than 
to balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans.''
  Mr. Speaker, there are other colleagues here also eager to speak, so 
I will cut my remarks short, other than to say in my entire time in 
Congress, I have never seen a worse policy judgment than to cut the 
funding of veterans services while our Nation is at war and the lives 
of young men and women are literally laid on the line in battle for our 
country tonight. We have got to overturn the Republican budget.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Dakota.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. I want to take this opportunity to thank the 
gentlewoman for taking this time. I have the pleasure of sitting on the 
Committee on Veterans Affairs, and let me just indicate that we really 
must honor our veterans' service. We honor them by ensuring that we 
honor the promise that we make to them to provide them with the access 
to quality benefits and services once they come home.
  Let me also add at this point in time, our veterans are reaching that 
point in time where they need our help. They are reaching the age where 
they need this assistance. They were there for us; we need to be there 
for them now. With our troops in the field and, sadly, with many 
Americans already experiencing war's devastating effects, it is 
shameful that the House would pass a budget resolution on the same day 
that our soldiers began Operation Iraqi Freedom cutting $15 billion, 
yes, cutting $15 billion, from the veterans disability compensation 
programs and $9.7 billion from veterans health care.
  The budget resolution also, as it calls for that cut, indicates that 
it is under the disguise of trying to do away with ``fraud, waste and 
abuse.'' Let me tell you that 90 percent of the budget on spending for 
the VA entitlement is paid out in monthly payments to disabled veterans 
and their survivors. I do not consider payments to our war-disabled 
veterans pensions, pensions for the poorest disabled veterans and the 
GI benefits for soldiers returning from Afghanistan to be fraud, waste 
and abuse.
  I recently joined, and I want to thank my colleague on the House 
Committee on Veterans Affairs, the gentleman from New Jersey (Chairman 
Smith), in a very bipartisan recommendation to the Committee on the 
Budget, which would have added $3 billion next year alone for veterans 
discretionary programs, including medical care and research, 
construction and programs that fund the administration costs of other 
important benefits such as compensation, pension and education 
programs. I want to thank the gentleman for the efforts he has made in 
working with us in that area.
  But I urge all my colleagues to do the right thing and to honor our 
commitment to our veterans. These cuts are irresponsible; they are 
shameful and unacceptable.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity once again to thank the 
gentlewoman for taking this time tonight. It is important that we 
continue to talk about this issue. We cannot allow this issue to go 
away, because, as we stand here tonight and as we go back and talk to 
our veterans, I never hear one Member talk and say they are not going 
to be responsive. Yet Members say it is important what we do, not 
necessarily what we say, because what we do, and the budget says it 
all, that is going to be very important.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for allowing me to be here 
tonight with her.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Delahunt).
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I 
want to congratulate her for presenting to the American people the 
truth.
  I was so impressed as I heard my colleagues come to the floor and 
describe the realities of what is occurring. The gentleman from Texas 
just alluded to the chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs and 
praised him for his efforts. It is fascinating to read in today's Roll 
Call that he was castigated and admonished by the House Republican 
leadership for his efforts in this regard. That, I suggest, says 
something loud and clear to the American people.
  We know what is happening. The veterans know what is happening. But 
it is time for the American people to be informed, and I congratulate 
the gentlewoman for her efforts.
  What I find particularly fascinating is sometime supposedly next week 
we will be considering a supplemental budget in the amount of $75 
billion, some $63 billion of which I think we all support. It is for 
our troops and for the men and women that find themselves in harm's 
way. The rest of the money, much of it, is allocated to other nations: 
$1 billion for Turkey, monies for Egypt, for Jordan. And for what 
reason I cannot understand. But if we can afford to take care of the 
rest of the world, we should be able to take care of the men and women 
that served us, not just in this war, not just in the Vietnam conflict, 
not just in Korea and World War II, but all of our veterans.
  It is absolutely unconscionable. It is un-American. Those men and 
women that will be coming home from the Middle East and leave the 
military, many of them will assume the title ``veteran.'' While we 
honor them while they are there, we are disrespectful to them when they 
come home, and that has to stop.
  We, and I know the gentlewoman has been a leader in this regard, have 
to design a strategy when it comes to that supplemental budget to take 
care of those men and women and not to continue the disrespect that has 
been shown to them.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I tonight rise in ardent support of our 
troops fighting in Iraq. As a veteran of the Korean War, I fully 
understand the sober task which our soldiers have undertaken. We must 
remember that these troops are on the front line doing their duty, 
saluting and following orders. They are great Americans. I want them to 
know, along with their families, that they have my unwavering support. 
It is well known that I strongly disagree with the policies that have 
led us to war in Iraq. It is my opinion on many, many levels that the 
U.S. should not be at war in Iraq. However, my support of U.S. troops 
is resolute.
  I think it is important that support be more than just lip service. 
Last week I voted against

[[Page 7591]]

the Bush Administration's budget which would have drastically reduced 
veteran's health care and benefit programs. Even though the President 
is waging this preventive doctrine war, he presented a budget to 
Congress that would have cut Mandatory Veterans Programs benefits by 
billions of dollars. Mandatory veteran's programs include disability 
compensation, pensions, vocational rehabilitation, and survivors' 
benefits. The Bush administration's budget slashes compensation for 
service connected disabilities and education benefits by $15 billion 
and cuts veteran's health care funding by another $15 billion over the 
next ten years. The Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans 
and the American Legion have all issued statements opposing the Bush 
Administration's budget. In fact, the Michigan Chapter of Paralyzed 
Veterans wrote to me, stating, ``the proposal, if implemented, would 
have a shocking effect on VA health care services and be an affront to 
millions of veterans. The proposal, approximately 1.3 billion above the 
FY 2003 appropriation, would not even cover inflationary impact and 
anticipated salary increases for VA health care workers.'' Furthermore, 
``budget resolutions set spending priorities. We find it hard to fathom 
that veterans would not be priority to the Budget Committee, or the 
leadership of the House of Representatives.'' I submit to you that 
budget cuts such as these do not bode well for strengthening the 
solidarity of our troops to our country.
  I'd like to close with a quote from George Washington, ``The 
willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, 
no matter how justified, shall be justified, shall be directly 
propositional as to how they perceive the veterans of wars were treated 
and appreciated by the Nation.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bradley of New Hampshire). The time of 
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) has expired.

                          ____________________