[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15176-15177]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I applaud my colleagues for coming together 
in a bi-partisan manner to fix the budget shortfall at the VA. I 
proudly cosponsored the amendment and believe it was the best thing and 
the right thing to do. The amendment will provide $1.5 billion in badly 
needed funds. Although the VA could limp along until fiscal year 2006, 
it would have to do so by raiding other accounts and cutting

[[Page 15177]]

back on other projects. This is simply unacceptable.
  I am proud the Senate chose unity over division to make sure that the 
shortfall at the VA does not affect veterans. I applaud the Senate 
leadership, Republican and Democratic, for both decisive and effective 
action.
  The importance of adequately funding the VA cannot be understated. 
Along with our existing veterans, our men and women returning from 
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom need a VA that 
can support them and care for them.

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