[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15755]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          VA BUDGET SHORTFALL

  (Ms. BERKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, once again the administration is forced to 
admit that it failed to acknowledge the full extent of the VA's budget 
shortfall. In June, the administration submitted a request for $975 
million to keep the VA ship afloat. This number was a joke. Democrats, 
myself included, protested that at least $1.3 billion would be required 
to meet the VA's obligation to our Nation's veterans.
  Former VA Secretary Anthony Principi, then Chairman Chris Smith and 
Ranking Member Evans, the Independent Budget, the American Legion, and 
countless veterans wrote Members of Congress and warned us that the VA 
could not operate with the budget request submitted by the 
administration. As usual, the administration stubbornly clung to its 
ridiculously low figure. Once again, the administration was wrong.
  Now that the administration acknowledges its billion-dollar 
shortfall, let us make sure our veterans are provided for and that no 
veteran in this country goes without the best health care we can 
provide to these great Americans.

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