[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17154]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       VETERANS BUDGET SHORTFALL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 22, 2005

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to comment on 
the inadequate Supplemental request that President Bush has sent to the 
Congress for its approval.
  The President has sent up a new supplemental request, this time for 
Fiscal Year 2006. While the amount of $1.977 billion sounds like a lot, 
the devil is in the details.
  Of this amount, $300 million is the additional money for Fiscal Year 
2005 that the original supplemental did not include.
  Also, the President continues to insist that veterans have not done 
enough to protect the freedom of this country. He is continuing to 
insist that a $250 user fee and an increase in the prescription co-pay 
be included in the budget.
  This House of Representatives, in fact this Congress, has spoken many 
times against these provisions. They do not want to pass these costs 
onto the backs of veterans.
  Yet again and again, President Bush ignores the wishes of the public 
and this Congress by submitting a supplemental that includes these 
legislative policies of his.
  I am trying to understand this series of events.
  The House passed $27.8 billion for FY05. The request for the VA in 
FY06 was the same $27.8 billion. There was no accounting for inflation, 
the rapid increase of health care costs in general or the fact that a 
war was ongoing. Soldiers were to return from Iraq and Afghanistan and 
would need to be integrated into the system.
  George Bush underestimated the problem to the detriment of veterans 
health.
  A first year accounting student could understand that adding more 
people and services into an already overwhelmed system would cost more.
  Except in the George Bush land of make-believe.
  Then Bush comes to us with a ``make-believe'' $975 million 
supplemental to cover the shortfall. However, that turns out not to be 
enough and that you actually need $300 million more.
  As I said earlier, the Fiscal Year 2006 supplemental of $1.977 does 
not include funding for the ``legislative policies'' of George Bush by 
charging veterans for their service to this country.
  This supplemental request is short by another $1.2 billion.
  In reality, this request of $1.977 should read at least $2.977 if you 
use George Bush's estimate of what these ``legislative policies'' will 
cost. Most likely it will cost much more.
  Support the higher amounts advocated by the Senate: $1.5 billion in 
emergency supplemental funding for FY05 and $3.2 billion in emergency 
supplemental funding for FY06.
  I am not looking forward to whatever budget fiction George Bush is 
planning to lay on the veterans for Fiscal Year 2007.