[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                     VETERANS HEALTH CARE SHORTFALL

  (Ms. HERSETH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. HERSETH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern shared 
by many of my colleagues this morning regarding the veterans affairs 
health care budget shortfall.
  I am afraid this shortfall is further evidence that the misgivings 
many Members of Congress, veterans, and veterans service organizations 
have had about the VA health care budget have been justified.
  The bottom line, in recent years veterans health care has not been 
given sufficient consideration when it comes time to write the budget. 
Providing the benefits earned by veterans, yesterday's heroes and 
today's, is part of the Federal Government's responsibility to provide 
for the common defense, a responsibility that should direct our funding 
priorities.
  The necessity to reprogram $1.27 billion to the medical services 
account for fiscal year 2005 and possibly up to $1.7 billion, not 
factoring in $600 million for enrollment fees and increased co-payments 
that will not be accepted by Congress, over the President's request for 
fiscal year 2006 is an obvious signal that VA health care is not 
suitably funded to meet the needs of our veterans.
  However, this is not the first indication that the problem existed. 
It is not a problem that has crept into the system in the last few 
months. It is a problem that has existed for many years. I am pleased 
that we are now working to solve the shortfalls of fiscal year 2005 and 
2006 and to ensure effective methodologies that can produce reliable 
projections regarding adequate levels of funding in the future.

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