[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7961-7962]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to address the vital needs of 
America's veterans, both of past wars and of our future veterans from 
the current war.
  I voted to give our President the authorization to use force against 
Saddam Hussein, recognizing Saddam's threat to both global and 
international security, his support of global terrorism, and his mad 
desire to create and undoubtedly use weapons of mass destruction. That 
said, whether we voted to approve military force against Iraq or not, 
the time for that discussion has passed. Our troops are abroad, they 
are fighting as we speak, and we support them there and hope that they 
will return home quickly and safely.
  My Republican colleagues have tried to use this conflict to paint 
Democrats as unpatriotic, trying to say if we oppose the war, we are 
against the cause of America. They forget that many of those who oppose 
this war are veterans themselves, veterans who know the pains of war 
better than many of those who would malign them. And just as 
importantly, these people, our veterans, understand what it is like 
when one returns home from battle. What we have seen from my colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle and from this White House with respect 
to veterans, in my opinion, is appalling.
  Our President cautions the loyalty of those who do not walk lockstep 
with him on the issue of war but then turns his back on our military as 
soon as they return to our shores as veterans. Our President has 
dismissed centuries-old health care entitlements to veterans with the 
stroke of a pen, while simultaneously hitting them with increased taxes 
on their prescription drug benefits.
  With respect to the care and treatment of America's veterans, the 
President's rhetoric does not match reality. It was offensive enough 
when our Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that, and I quote, 
``The drafted veterans of Vietnam added `no value,' no advantage, 
really, to the United States Armed Services,'' a comment to which this 
President and my Republican colleagues remain silent on, as if to give 
credence to these ludicrous and untrue remarks. Unfortunately, these 
comments were less a slip of the tongue and more a precursor of this 
administration's attitude towards America's veterans.
  For example, on January 16 of this year, the VA announced it was 
cutting health benefits for 174,000 veterans, including 13,000 veterans 
in my home State of New York, citing the high cost of care. They said 
this would affect only those 174,000 veterans in the highest income 
brackets, usually considered between $30,000 and $35,000 annually. Just 
days later, though, the administration released its budget, promoting 
an elimination in the tax dividend that would benefit mostly America's 
richest 5 percent, those making in excess of several hundred thousand 
dollars a year, well above the threshold for rich veterans of $30,000 
to $35,000 a year.

                              {time}  1715

  This follows a 350 percent tax increase levied by the Bush 
administration against the veterans in the 2003 fiscal year budget.
  In the President's 2003 budget, our President more than tripled the 
prescription drug copayment for veterans while also demanding the 
authority to raise it again if he deems it necessary. But this attack 
on our veterans hit a crescendo 2 weeks ago with a Republican budget 
that was to cut $15 billion from veterans disability payments and 
pensions and almost $900 million from VA hospitals.
  The Disabled American Veterans organization stated it best by asking 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), ``Has Congress no shame? Is 
there no honor left in the hallowed halls of our government that you 
choose to dishonor the sacrifices our Nation's heroes and rob our 
programs, health care

[[Page 7962]]

and disability compensation to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy?''
  Again, after much pressure from Democrats and veterans service 
organizations, the Republicans redrafted their budget to paper over 
these cuts, waiting for action from the Senate. They did not remedy 
these cuts to provide new money for veterans; they just said they would 
wait for the Senate to take action. In fact, this afternoon the 
Republicans repudiated their own budget by voting on a Democratic 
motion to strip out all $14.6 million of Republican cuts from veterans 
programs regardless of what action the Senate may or may not take.
  It is my hope that this new-found religion by the Republicans is a 
serious commitment and not just a cheap April Fool's joke.
  But there is little reason to be optimistic about the Republican 
actions today. America has seen Republicans drop veterans from what was 
once a guaranteed health care system, increase veterans prescription 
drug copayments, and propose massive cuts to veterans pensions and 
health care. In fact, there has been no outrage by the Republicans over 
these actions against our veterans, but cut their tax in half, and we 
can hear their scream of pain.
  Actions speak louder than words, and so far, this Congress has shown 
regardless of what they say, in fact they have no shame. Unfortunately, 
it appears that the Republicans are once again playing an April Fool's 
joke on our veterans, and this is not a laughing matter.

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