[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15752-15753]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       VETERAN FUNDING SHORTFALL

  (Mr. SALAZAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, as a veteran, I have made a pledge to serve

[[Page 15753]]

my country, and because of my desire to defend the ideals of democracy 
that I still cherish.
  As part of our commitment, the Army promised all veterans a variety 
of benefits. In the past several years, I have seen some of those 
promises turn from honored commitments to veterans and their families 
to empty words that seem to be worth nothing more than the paper they 
are written on.
  Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, we were informed the Veterans 
Administration would fall short by more than a billion dollars of what 
is needed to provide critical services to veterans. I was angered and 
dismayed at this gross negligence and oversight and spoke before this 
very House in strong support of the emergency spending bill passed 2 
weeks ago.
  We will soon be seeing another request from the President to complete 
the needed funding for the health care of our Nation's veterans. I will 
support this measure too because I support our veterans, but it is 
absurd and it is a crying shame that the health of veterans boils down 
to bitter partisan fights.
  As Democrats, we have repeatedly demanded full funding for our 
veterans' needs. It is our duty to fully fund the Veterans 
Administration and do it right the first time, not after three or four 
attempts.

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