[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15758]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORT OUR TROOPS--GIVE VETERANS BETTER HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. FILNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, this morning in ``CQ Today'' we see: 
``Shortfall in Veterans Funds Widened.''
  The chairman of our committee says, well, we have to find the right 
number somewhere; we have to find the right number.
  Well, I tell you, we had a process where we had the right number. The 
veterans service organizations through this Independent Budget said 
exactly what was needed and what we should have both for this year and 
for the coming year. But did we listen to them? No.
  The Democrats on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Democrats on 
this floor tried to amend the appropriations bills so we would get the 
money that veterans need. They were voted down by a strict party-line 
vote: all the Democrats voting for the veterans, all the Republicans 
voting against.
  We are at war, Mr. Speaker. The way that we win a war is to make sure 
that the troops when they come home have sufficient funding for health 
care. I have a thousand veterans on the waiting list at my veterans 
hospital in San Diego. The brave young men and women who are returning 
from Iraq and Afghanistan will have a high probability of having post-
traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.
  Will they get the treatment they need? No. Will they have to wait a 
year for a dental appointment? Yes.
  Let us support our troops by supporting them when they come home with 
proper VA health care funding.

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