[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17549-17555]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2361, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
       ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006

  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to 
take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2361) making 
appropriations for the Department of the Interior, environment, and 
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for 
other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate 
amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.


Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 2361, Department of the Interior, 
       Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:


[[Page 17550]]

       Mr. Obey moves that the managers on the part of the House 
     at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses 
     on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 2361 be instructed 
     to agree to section 439 of the Senate amendment, providing 
     $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 for the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs for medical services provided by the 
     Veterans Health Administration and designating that amount as 
     an emergency requirement pursuant to section 402 of H. Con. 
     Res. 95 (109th Congress).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XXII, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Taylor) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, for the past 3 years, a number of us on this side of the 
aisle, including the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards), myself and 
several others, have tried to bring the administration to the 
realization that we needed many more dollars in the veterans health 
care funds than, in fact, they requested each year. And each year we 
have been able to drag them a little bit towards that goal, but we have 
not been able to drag them far enough.
  As a result, we have heard many, many horror stories. We have heard 
that thousands of patients have had to wait more than 3 months for 
appointments in California. We have heard that in States like Arkansas 
and Oklahoma and Mississippi and Louisiana, the VA has stopped 
scheduling appointments for many veterans who are eligible for care. We 
have heard of 6-month delays in emergency surgery in Oregon. We have 
heard that facilities have had to erect scaffolding to protect patients 
and staff from falling bricks in Maine. We have heard that a medical 
center in Vermont has major shortfalls in their prosthetics budget. We 
have been told that doctors have had to pilfer supplies from 
neighboring hospitals to carry out routine procedures in Illinois. And 
we have been told that life safety improvements like replacing fire 
alarm systems have been postponed as the funds are used to cover 
operating expenses in States like California.
  Yet, in the face of stories like that, in April VA Secretary 
Nicholson told the Congress that no additional funds would be needed 
for fiscal year 2005. But by the end of June he had to admit that there 
was a big problem, and he then testified that an additional $975 
million was needed. Two weeks later, the problem in their eyes got even 
bigger. OMB asked for yet another $300 million for fiscal year 2005, so 
they are admitting a $1.3 billion shortfall right now; and the numbers 
look worse for the coming fiscal year.
  The VA has already amended their $20 billion medical care budget 
request for an additional $1.7 billion, and that does not count the 
additional $500 million they are going to need, because I doubt that 
many Members want to go along with the administration's proposal to 
raise the veterans health care fees and co-op pays as has been 
suggested by the administration.
  I would hope that by now every Member realizes that we have a VA 
health care crisis and we have to deal with it right now. The other 
body did the right thing in the interior bill. They provided $1.5 
billion of emergency money for the VA. That would cover the immediate 
$975 million shortfall and provide an additional $525 million that 
could be distributed among the VA regions to take care of the source of 
problems that each of us has been hearing about.
  I would point out also that in my view some Members of this House 
have paid a very high price for speaking out on behalf of our veterans. 
We saw earlier this year news stories which reported the fact that the 
majority caucus not only removed from his chairmanship but removed from 
the committee itself the Member on the other side of the aisle who 
chaired the committee in charge of veterans funding because he had been 
too insistent in agreeing with those of us on this side of the aisle 
who kept insisting that we needed more funding for veterans health 
care.
  I would hope that it would be recognized that he was right, that we 
were right, not just about yesterday's problems but about today's and 
tomorrow's with respect to this account.
  So I would simply urge each and every Member of this House to vote 
for this motion. This money is going to be provided. It is just a 
question of how many times we have to hit the House along side the head 
before, like a stubborn donkey, they finally recognize that something 
needs to be done.

                              {time}  1215

  Reality is here. It would be nice if we faced up to it. I would hope 
this would receive the unanimous support of the Members of the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we will soon, I think, hear from our chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, and 
Related Agencies, who will be speaking on this. I know that the error 
that was made is being taken care of in this legislation, in 2005 with 
$1.5 billion, and in 2006 with another $1.5 billion to make the entire 
$3 billion.
  Every year, Mr. Speaker, we have raised benefits for American 
veterans, and rightly so. Some 68 percent of our veterans are from 
World War II and Korea, and we know when we go out on the plaza and see 
the monument to the World War II veterans the sacrifices paid. We all 
have relatives who served in World War II, and we know they saved this 
world with their dedication. We know also how much our other veterans 
give to this country, those who fought in subsequent wars right up 
through the current time with our own children fighting in Iraq.
  So all of us want to provide the materials and the health care 
benefits for our veterans, and this amendment will be one of the steps 
in providing that.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished ranking 
member of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks).
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I want to compliment the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards), and all the Members who deeply 
care about our veterans in this body.
  I am always surprised that this issue takes on a partisan tone, 
because I really believe each Member cares about veterans. It is just 
that there seems to be an unwillingness on the part of this 
administration to face up to the reality of how much money is needed to 
take care of the veterans. And with the war raging in Iraq, and with 
the seriousness of the injuries, any of us who have been out to Walter 
Reed or to Bethesda to see these heroic young men and women who have 
come back with these very severe wounds, I think all of us want to see 
the best care given to our veterans.
  We have been reading about post-traumatic stress syndrome and the 
consequences and the effect on the lives of these soldiers and sailors 
and marines when they come home after having been involved in the kind 
of violent combat that is being seen in Iraq. I had a chance to visit 
the VA Hospital in Seattle recently, and I was told by the people there 
that they still have a backlog, a waiting list of 2,500 people waiting 
to get their appointments at the Seattle VA. Now, that is just 
unacceptable. I hope that that has been reduced.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I believe the other body was correct 
in adding this money, but this is not something that normally would be 
part of the Interior appropriations bill. This is not within our 
jurisdiction. This is just something that happened--we were the first 
bill moving through, and it became a convenient vehicle in the other 
body to put this $1.5 billion onto.
  There was an effort here to put some money, I think it was, what, 
$975 million--or thereabouts, which the House adopted, I believe, 
overwhelmingly, maybe unanimously, but it is simply not enough. I think 
Mr. Nicholson has not been as forthright as he should have been in 
telling the various committees on the Hill what was needed.

[[Page 17551]]

But in my mind there is absolutely no excuse for not approving this 
$1.5 billion.
  I hope that it will be unanimous that every Member of the House will 
vote for this because I think we should do as much as we can to take 
care of the legitimate needs of these people. As I said, this should 
not be a partisan issue. I just regret that the administration 
continues to underfund this important priority.
  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards), who has been a key leader on this 
issue as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Military Quality of 
Life and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, for 2 years, our Nation's respected 
veterans' organizations, along with Democrats in Congress, have been 
predicting cuts in veterans' health care services due to inadequate VA 
health care budgets. In February, in fact, of 2004, nearly a year and a 
half ago, Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), and his Democratic 
ranking member, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), in a 
bipartisan letter predicted the administration request for VA health 
care for this year would be $2.5 billion short.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, what was the reaction of the House Republican 
leadership? Did they stand up for veterans' health care needs in 
funding? No. They fired the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) from 
his job as chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and 
even took him completely off the committee. That may be hard to 
believe, but it is true. The House Republican leadership punished a 
Member of Congress, a member of its own party, for putting loyalty to 
veterans above loyalty to the House leadership during a time of war. It 
is not only true, it is sad.
  To make matters worse, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), 
House Democrats, and veterans' organizations were right in saying 
veterans' health care services were underfunded and the House 
leadership was wrong. At every step of the way over the past 2 years, 
in the Committee on the Budget, in amendments there; in the Committee 
on Appropriations, in amendments there; in the 302(b) allocation, the 
amount of money for veterans' care in the Committee on Appropriations, 
in all of these places and on this House floor repeatedly the House 
leadership has fought against the money needed to adequately support 
our veterans' health care needs during a time of our war on terrorism.
  Even after it became public that the VA has a $1 billion shortfall, a 
$1 billion-plus shortfall this year, even after that, the House 
leadership dragged its feet. They are still dragging their feet in 
trying to adequately fund veterans' health care needs.
  It is time for Republicans and Democrats alike, today, to do the 
right thing and to instruct the conferees on the Interior 
appropriations bill to support the same $1.5 billion emergency 
veterans' health care funding that was approved by a bipartisan vote of 
96 to 0 weeks ago in the Senate.
  It is morally wrong for our Nation to ask young troops to go into 
combat and then shortchange their health care when they return home as 
veterans. Supporting veterans' health care may be costly, but it is the 
right thing to do. Standing up for veterans may have cost the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) his job as chairman of the House Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs, but it was the right thing to do.
  The right thing to do now is to send a message to this House 
leadership, that has opposed adequate funding for veterans' health care 
for 2 years now, that supporting veterans is more important than 
misplaced partisan loyalty.
  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have remaining on each 
side?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Issa). The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Obey) has 19 minutes remaining, and the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Taylor) has 28\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for 
yielding me this time and for his leadership on behalf of our Nation's 
veterans, leadership which has sorely been lacking in this House.
  This administration and this Congress has insulted our veterans 
community repeatedly in the last few months, insults which I hope we 
will remedy with today's motion. The head of the Office of Management 
and Budget actually had the nerve to testify before the Committee on 
the Budget that over the last 3 years the Veterans Administration had 
received $.5 billion more than it actually needed, more than it 
actually needed, when we have waiting lists which the gentleman 
outlined, when we have nursing and medical vacancies, when we have 
maintenance backlogs, when we have people waiting a year for an 
appointment for a dentist, and months and months for surgeries that are 
needed. OMB told the veterans that we have more than what was needed!
  Then the Secretary of our Veterans Administration testified before 
committees of this Congress that we got it wrong because we had a bad 
mathematical model. We had a mathematical model that did not take into 
account the fact that there was a war going on and thousands of troops 
were coming back with significant injuries and with post-traumatic 
stress disorder. We did not know a war was going on, so we underfunded 
the VA. That is an insult to our Nation's veterans, that we did not 
know a war was going on, and we did not provide the money. Many are 
suffering today as a result of that decision.
  And, Mr. Speaker, when we had a chance to help the veterans before 
our last recess, the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs 
said, we can only give $975 million, that that was the right number, 
while the Senate did $1.5 billion, which we are now instructing our 
House to accept today. We could have had this money flowing to our 
veterans' centers weeks ago. This could have been signed by the 
President several weeks ago, yet in my hometown of San Diego, we have 
1,000 people on a waiting list just to have their first appointment. We 
have maintenance backlogs and nursing shortages, and we cannot get them 
the money because we did not have the right numbers, said the veterans 
chairman.
  Well, we had the right number all along, my colleagues. The 
Independent Budget, a professional document prepared by our veterans' 
service organizations, had the numbers exactly right. The mathematical 
model could have been tested against this, and we could have had the 
proper support for our Nation's veterans. So everybody who talked about 
our Nation's veterans when we had Memorial Day, when we had our July 
4th celebrations, and we will hear it on November 11th as we have heard 
today, that we all support our veterans. Well, let us show it by the 
proper votes!
  The Democrats in this Congress have tried at every level, on the 
Committee on the Budget, on the Committee on Appropriations, in the 
Senate, in the House, and we tried on the floor of this House to give 
the Independent Budget numbers the force of law, but we were voted down 
on pure party-line votes. So I hear that everybody supports our 
veterans, but when the votes come, the majority party is not supporting 
our Nation's veterans.
  Let us pass this instruction motion. Let us honor our veterans and 
give the veterans the support they need, especially when they come home 
from war.
  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, and 
Related Agencies, a member of the party which, as we all know, has 
supported our veterans with increases every year.

[[Page 17552]]


  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies of the Committee on 
Appropriations for calling for this motion to instruct conferees, and I 
rise in support of that motion, and I thank him for his hard work and 
support on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, we have come to this point through a fairly long 
circuitous route this year. There has been a number of different 
estimates as to what the actual needs of the Veterans' Health 
Administration are. We conducted lengthy, extensive hearings, as did 
the authorizing committee, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and we 
have been receiving different information all the way along.
  It is our best determination that the $1.5 billion figure will 
provide us the funds that we need to complete this fiscal year, the 
2005 fiscal year, and the funds that are not utilized in 2005 will be 
available in 2006. We are also working with our Senate counterparts to 
make sure that the 2006 figure is correct.

                              {time}  1230

  This has all been done with the very best intention of providing the 
Veterans Administration and our veterans with the resources they need 
to meet the demands of the patients of the hospitals of the Veterans 
Administration.
  I think the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Nicholson, has an 
opportunity here as the new Secretary. And he did not develop the 
budget; the budget was developed by his predecessor with the advice and 
counsel of the Office of Management and Budget.
  Mr. Nicholson now has an opportunity to make his impression on the 
Veterans Administration, and the key here is accountability. Making 
sure that the people who provide Congress with the cost estimates to 
tell us how we can best serve our veterans and keep our promises, those 
individuals need to be accountable to the Secretary of the Veterans 
Administration. I know he is setting about doing that, and hopefully 
this difficult process that we have had this year will not be repeated.
  I might add we have had estimates from the veterans service 
organizations in each of the 6 years that I have been chairman 
responsible for the appropriations for Veterans Affairs. We have been 
right, and I think they have been wrong; and this year their estimate 
was higher than ours. Who is closer, we will see at the end of the 
process. But to cite the estimates this year, we need to reflect those 
against all of the preceding years, and I think by and large we have 
been on the money.
  By the way, we have increased this Veterans Administration budget 
each year in the neighborhood of double digits. No other budget within 
the Federal Government other than perhaps defense health has had those 
kinds of increases.
  The House has the power of the purse. We establish our priorities 
with that purse, and clearly the Veterans Administration is the 
priority of the House of Representatives. I stand on that record.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown).
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my 
support for the Senate-passed amendment to include $1.5 billion to the 
veterans budget. After the budget shortfall was announced, both sides 
of the aisle in the Senate came together to take immediate action to 
address the issue. They passed a $1.5 billion emergency funding 
amendment to immediately get the funds to the people who need it, our 
veterans.
  The Republican leadership of the House decided to sit on their hands 
and wait for President Bush to pull out of the air a number. That 
number was $975 million. This House passed that funding level and left 
for the July 4 recess. However, it turned out that the Bush level was 
$300 million short of funding veterans health. We know that budget is 
underfunded by more than $3 billion, that is B, billion. All Members 
need to do is read the independent budget. Every year they release 
their priorities, and every year the VA is short of funding to complete 
its mission.
  While we were sitting on our hands, the three surgical operating 
rooms at the White River Junction in VAMC was closed on June 27 because 
the heating and air conditioning system was broken.
  The community-based outpatient clinics needed to meet veterans' 
increased demand for care in the North Florida and South Georgia VA 
health care system was delayed due to fiscal restraint. As of April in 
Gainesville, Florida, there were nearly 700 service-connected veterans 
waiting for more than 30 days for an appointment.
  Let us get past the $1.5 billion for veterans health care; let us 
just stop all of the talking and put our talk into action. Pass this 
motion to instruct and get veterans the health care that they need and 
deserve today.
  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).
  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to come to the floor and say the 
gentleman from Washington is correct, all Members of this body that I 
know, Republicans and Democrats, totally stand behind our veterans in 
giving them resources; and that is the spirit with which we should 
approach this debate.
  But I have to tell Members, one thing we forget around here, money is 
one piece of it, and accountability is another. I have to tell Members 
that now that this is added to the interior bill, and that is where I 
serve, this is when I speak, that the VA is still not accountable 
enough.
  Yes, we need this money; but do not think for a minute that more 
money is the answer. Some of these needs are not being met because they 
are not accountable. They are not efficient enough. The VA in my area 
is still not accountable enough, but we need this money.
  To allege or assert in any way that the House Republican leadership 
removed the gentleman from New Jersey, let me tell Members, I was 
there. While I am not going to say what was said in the meeting of the 
steering committee, we hired the gentleman from Indiana. For all of the 
right reasons, we hired the gentleman from Indiana as the chairman of 
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs because of what he is doing and we 
need to do in terms of reforms and accountability at the VA. It needs 
to be done.
  On issues like homeland security and veterans, Members can always say 
it is not enough money to try to appeal to people. But we have to give 
them the money that they need when they need it for the purpose they 
need it and hold them accountable for better management. This body does 
not exert enough oversight on how the money is being spent. That is the 
truth, and it is especially true with the Veterans Affairs operation 
nationwide.
  So, yes, let us give them the money; but let us not just throw them 
the money and say, There, that is more money. Let us follow through 
with a much more scrutinized process of accountability at the VA.
  The VA should have been moving money around 10 years ago to reform, 
to close the facilities they do not need, open new facilities, even 
contract so people can go to the best health care provider in their 
community to receive health care.
  We have got to reform the VA and give them more money, and I come to 
the floor today to say that the appropriations process can do that. The 
chairman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), has done an 
outstanding job here, but surely the general public knows that Members 
of Congress support our veterans. All Members of Congress that I know 
support our veterans with the necessary funds.
  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the motion to 
instruct conferees on H.R. 2361, Department of Interior, Environment 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2006.
  This bill will provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with 
supplemental

[[Page 17553]]

funding of approximately $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2005. Several 
weeks ago, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 3130 
which provided $975 million in health care funding for the fiscal year. 
We did that in response to revelations at the time to a line of 
questioning that I had with Dr. Perlin of VHA at a full committee 
hearing on health care modeling and forecasting.
  We learned that since the spring of this year VA hospitals and 
clinics were shifting significant amounts of funds into medical 
services from maintenance and capital equipment accounts. This shifting 
was driven by underestimates of long-term care requirements and 
increased use of VA facilities by returning Operations Enduring Freedom 
and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans to also include a surge of 
veterans in categories 1 through 6 and category 7 for health care.
  I directed Secretary Nicholson to tell us what additional funds he 
needed for 2005. I also then immediately informed the Speaker of the 
House and the majority leader of this issue.
  The Secretary returned from meetings with his staff on June 30, 
bringing to us a number of $975 million. This House acted the very same 
day in which the Secretary made his request through the President of 
the United States approving to the penny the VA's request. Yet the 
number was not even dry on the paper when, in fact, days later we were 
then informed that number was really $1.275 billion, and they needed an 
additional $300 million.
  The $300 million is for a carryover account which we in Congress 
permit the VA to utilize. So you will hear this number. What is really 
important is the $975 million number; and as a matter of fact, just 
last week the VA said they hold to the number. The additional $300 
million is for the carryover account.
  The Republican Senate leadership offered a number of $1.5 billion. 
Now the challenge we have is they passed a number on the Senate 
interior appropriations bill of emergency supplemental. The House 
passed a $975 million number that was paid for out of the 2005 budget. 
As Members go to the interior conference, we have a challenge. We have 
got moneys which were paid for, the Senate asks for emergency. Now I 
suppose we are asking for an instruction that is saying make it an 
emergency supplemental.
  So what we are doing is rolling one on top of another. We have $975 
million which was paid for out of the 2005 budget. Now we are going to 
vote for an instruction to the conferees on $1.5 billion on emergency 
supplemental. So these are issues that conferees are going to have to 
work out at conference.
  But when we look at VHA's forecasting performance which has been the 
focus at some of our animated hearings in the House, 3 over the last 
several weeks, in April they provide notice to the Committee on 
Appropriations that they are going to reprogram $600 million. Then in 
the latter part of June when we hold our hearing, they testify they are 
short $975 million, but they have ``work-around solutions.''
  Then a few days later while we are on our July break, we learn that 
the number was short $300 million. They are going to spend down the 
$975, and the $300 million is the carryover account. We either take 
care of that in 2005, or we have to include it in the 2006 budget 
amendment.
  If Members watch this, we go from $600 million to $975 million to 
$1.275 billion. What is it going to be in August? I think that is what 
the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Walsh) are indicating. So that is why I am going to support the 
motion to instruct, because there is a loss of confidence here in the 
House with regard to the number that has been given to us. Patience 
with the VHA bureaucracy has run out.
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BUYER. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's efforts and he 
is sincere in everything he says.
  Has the committee held any hearings on why they are having all of 
these financial difficulties? What is driving this increase?
  Mr. BUYER. We have. We have held three hearings. Part of the reason 
dealt with their modeling and their forecasting. For the 2005 budget, 
they used 2002 data, and they also had false assumptions. So we have 
informed them that they have every opportunity to get right the 2007 
budget because now they tell us about the use of old data and poor 
measuring criteria. So they have every reason now to get it right. So 
what are they changing with regard to their assumptions and how are 
they improving the data with regard to the 2007, because that is what 
they are doing right now.
  So what has occurred is we get the 2005 right. They come with a 2006 
budget amendment. We just held a hearing on the 2006 budget amendment, 
which is just under $2 billion; and then we told them that we are going 
to do some handholding as they prepare the 2007 budget.
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will continue to yield, are 
you able to get OMB to cooperate, because sometimes the agencies try 
their best to do the right thing, but then they are told by OMB they 
cannot do that because we are trying to fight the deficit. Is OMB being 
helpful here or not?
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I would say everyone wants the modeling to be 
correct and for us to reestablish trust and confidence on our 
predictability of a budget number. When we do that, we bring purity to 
the process and OMB also brings trust and confidence. I think there is 
lack of trust and confidence under the budget number, and OMB has 
proven they are not as good of a caretaker here as they think they are. 
We will work cooperatively with OMB because they also are part of this 
process of the pain.
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that explanation.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, the issue is accountability. The gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Walsh) touched on it and so did the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Wamp). The credibility must be rebuilt, and OMB is 
integral to this process.
  I have asked Secretary Nicholson to review the leadership of the VHA 
bureaucracy to ensure that the right people are running it, and also 
its finances and some within the health network.
  In particular, I am greatly disappointed and have lost confidence in 
the leadership and management of the Deputy Under Secretary for Health, 
for Operations and for Management. In the meantime, Congress will 
ensure that veterans health care is funded. We will hold VA accountable 
for its use of these dollars in the performance of its mission.
  Over the recess, other Committee on Veterans' Affairs members, staff, 
and I will personally visit VA health care facilities because there is 
no substitute for boots-on-the-ground examination.

                              {time}  1245

  I will specifically visit a polytrauma center in Minneapolis.
  One of the harshest realities of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan is 
the number of servicemembers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with 
loss of limbs and other severe and lasting injuries. With the body 
armor which we are providing to our soldiers, they can turn that up, 
and what is happening is it protects the torso, and they are having now 
loss of limbs and traumatic brain injuries.
  VA has four regional traumatic brain injury rehabilitation centers. 
One of them is in Minneapolis, one is in Palo Alto, another one is in 
Richmond, and one is in Tampa. These are very important regional 
referral centers for individuals who have sustained these serious 
disabling conditions due to combat. VSOs and others are saying that 
these individual veterans are not being seen because of cuts in the VA. 
I find that challenging. I want to make sure these allegations are 
correct, so I am going to go on the ground to see if it is true.
  I have also asked the GAO to review the VA's budget process, and I 
think that will be very important for some other eyes on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, America's veterans will receive the health care they 
have

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earned. $1.5 billion is a significant number for an important 
constituency, and I anticipate that we will act quickly to provide it. 
We can all see that only 2 months remain in the fiscal year. Unspent 
funds from this appropriation will be available for their use as down 
payments on the 2006 budget supplemental so that all funds will be put 
to good use.
  I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) for his 
work. I would like to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for 
this motion. I also commend my colleagues in the Senate for their 
willingness to act quickly to Secretary Nicholson's request and to 
resolve this matter. I also want to thank the President, because when 
this was alerted to everyone's attention, the President acted and sent 
over a number. He also did the 2006 budget amendment.
  In the end, those of us who exercise great care to raise and support 
the military know that our obligation does not end upon one's 
discharge. We care for the wounds and the injuries. We care for those 
who are left behind. We care for them to make as whole as possible and 
to create a climate so that one may take advantage of economic 
opportunities to live beyond a disability paycheck so that the 
defenders of liberty may also enjoy the bounties of the liberty for 
which they fight. I urge my colleagues to support the motion to 
instruct conferees in order to ensure that the veterans' funding can be 
done as quickly as possible.
  Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, let me conclude on this side by making four 
simple points. First of all, one of the previous speakers tried to 
suggest that, in fact, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) had 
not been fired by the majority party caucus because he had been too 
willing to speak his own mind about the needs that he saw for veterans' 
health care. I would simply say that I am perfectly happy to believe 
that if the House is ready to believe that my grandmother is an 
astronaut and that the Cubs are going to win the pennant this year. The 
fact is that we know what the facts are, or were, I should say, with 
respect to the removal of the gentleman from New Jersey from office. He 
simply did not follow the party line and paid a price. So did the 
veterans. And now this bill is trying to help meet those costs.
  Secondly, the gentleman from New York indicated that there had been a 
variety of estimates about what would be needed for veterans health 
care funding this year. The fact is that the Democratic estimates that 
we offered were consistent, and the bipartisan estimates that were 
offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Evans) were consistently that we needed $2.5 billion 
in this account over the budget request. The House earlier enacted a $1 
billion increase. This $1.5 billion in this motion now brings us to the 
$2.5 billion that we have been saying all along was needed and that the 
gentleman from New Jersey and the gentleman from Illinois were saying 
all along was needed.
  Thirdly, I would simply say that the administration's denial of the 
truth on this matter follows a pattern. We saw earlier over the past 
year and a half when the Veterans' Administration was discouraging 
outreach, because if veterans knew what they were entitled to, it would 
cost more money, and that would impact the budget. So we have already 
seen that effort to not fully explain to the American veterans what 
they were entitled to. In that sense, it is very similar to the action 
of the administration in threatening to fire the government official 
who tried to tell Congress what the true cost of the prescription drugs 
under Medicare proposal was that the administration proposed last year.
  Lastly, I would simply say one of the previous speakers raised the 
question as to why we were providing this money as an emergency. It is 
very simple: because it is an emergency for each and every veteran who 
otherwise will not be adequately served. We have a war going on. It 
would be nice if during that war we had a sense of shared sacrifice 
that was conveyed to each and every citizen of this country. But we 
really do not. We have a narrow band of people, those in the uniformed 
services of the United States, who are being asked to sacrifice 
virtually everything while 90 percent of American society is making no 
sacrifice about the war. They are getting tax cuts. They are able to be 
comfortable in their homes. It is only a precious few military families 
who are bearing the entire burden of that war.
  It is human nature, I guess, for Americans, when our soldiers go off 
to war, to cheer and to have the bands playing, but it would be nice if 
we had that same enthusiasm for veterans when Johnny comes marching 
home again. Unfortunately, we have not demonstrated that because of the 
shortfalls that we have seen in the veterans' health care budget.
  I would hope that we would adopt an understanding that if we ask 
someone to put his very life at risk, to put his family's future at 
risk and go to war to defend an action of the President of the United 
States, I would hope that we would recognize that we have a concurrent 
and permanent obligation to each and every one of those soldiers to 
meet the full cost of meeting their health care needs, their education 
needs, and their economic readjustment needs when they return to this 
country. That is the very least that we ought to do. This amendment 
tries to measure up to that standard. I would urge a unanimous ``yes'' 
vote.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
Motion to Instruct Conferees to accept the Senate position to provide 
an additional $1.5 billion for Veteran's Medical care under H.R. 2361 
the Interior Appropriations Bill. This motion to instruct will remedy 
the shortfall in veterans' health care for this year. Clearly, we have 
an obligation to our veterans that is not being met and can not go 
another day allowing this deficiency in Veteran's Medical care to 
continue.
  The sad fact is that it has been 33 days since the Bush 
Administration acknowledged a $1 billion shortfall in Veteran's Medical 
care for FY 2005. Every day we see more and more veterans turned away 
and health care rationed across the country because the VA lacks the 
resources it needs to care for veterans. Every day we don't act, is 
another day that a veteran who bravely served our Nation is 
shortchanged.
  To remedy this situation more than three weeks ago, the Senate 
unanimously passed a $1.5 billion bill. But the amount offered by House 
Republicans did not match that passed in the Senate, meaning money has 
not gotten to VA medical facilities and veterans will continue to wait 
in lines for health care. It has been nearly one month since this 
shortfall was first acknowledged, and yet Republicans continue to fail 
our veterans. Veterans and this Nation as a whole can not wait another 
day for this shortfall to be addressed; waiting any longer would be a 
travesty.
  The truly sad facts demonstrate that the shortfall in veterans health 
care funding has resulted in some VA medical facilities no longer 
scheduling appointments for veterans, others not filling vacancies of 
medical and nursing staff, and others having to close operating rooms 
or not replacing basic medical equipment, such as hospital beds. Right 
now, there are more than 50,000 waiting in line for medical 
appointments, with more than 100,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan 
seeking health care. But instead of remedying this situation as quickly 
as possible, Republicans continue to reject proposals that would give 
veterans the resources they so desperately need. This spring, Democrats 
attempted to add $1.2 billion for veterans' health care on the $82 
billion Iraqi supplemental. And last September, Democrats sought to 
provide a $2.5 billion increase over the Bush budget for veterans' 
health care. Over the last month, House Republicans have voted four 
times to block consideration of amendments offered by Democrats to add 
the needed funds for VA health care. It is time that we as a body unite 
to defend those brave Americans who risked their lives to defend our 
great nation. I urge all Members to support the Motion to Instruct.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the gentleman 
from Wisconsin's (Mr. Obey's) Motion to Instruct Conferees on Veterans 
Health Care on H.R. 2361, the Interior Appropriations Bill. Our 
servicemen and women are making daily sacrifices for our Nation in far 
off lands. Many will return home scarred by combat wounds, many others 
scarred by the face of war. Having completed their service to our 
Nation overseas, these

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servicemen and women have earned more then a debt of gratitude from 
their Nation but a debt of care. In order to do this, we must properly 
fund the organization dedicated to their care, the Veterans 
Administration.
  I am pleased that the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Obey, has offered 
a motion to highlight the inadequacy of the House passed appropriations 
measures for our Veterans. This motion instructs conferees to accept 
the Senate position on Veterans' medical care by adding a desperately 
needed $1.5 billion to the Veterans Administration budget.
  Guam recently welcomed home a company of the Guam Army National Guard 
following the unit's combat tour in Djibouti, Africa. Many other sons 
and daughters of Guam have served on active duty in units across the 
Armed Services. I have an obligation to do everything possible for 
these heroes in ensuring that Congress has made a commitment to their 
care equivalent to the commitment they made to the care of our Nation.
  It is time for the rhetoric of supporting our Soldiers and our 
Veterans to be met by our actions. I urge my colleagues to support the 
motion to instruct.
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished 
Chairman of this Subcommittee as well as Chairman Lewis of the full 
Committee for their hard work and dedication to our Nation's service 
members and veterans. Working with the House Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, the conference report accompanying H.R. 2361, the fiscal year 
2006 appropriations act for the Department of Interior, addresses the 
urgent need in VA with an additional $1.5 billion allocated to the 
Veterans Health Administration. These funds are especially critical for 
VA to treat new veterans, those returning from Operation Enduring 
Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans.
  Year after year, the annual budget for the Veterans Health 
Administration is the subject of great debate. On February 16, 2005, VA 
Secretary Nicholson and other VA officials stood before the VA 
Committee and justified the Administration's budget request. 
Subsequently, we learned that all the hard work and tough choices 
Congress has made to increase VA health care funding--by no less than 
42 percent in just the last four years--has now been overshadowed by a 
``discovery'' of inadequate funding. Since then, the VA Committee has 
held three separate hearings over the past month and a half to 
understand and examine VA's methodologies for forecasting health care 
costs and utilization projections, to identify the breakdown in the 
budget process, and to bring to light the serious flaws in VA's usage 
assumptions.
  Equally important, the conference report demands new levels of 
accountability inside VA, in fact, the VA Committee is seeking to 
institutionalize accountability in the budget process at VA to ensure 
that similar circumstances can be averted in the future. There is but 
one constant we can all agree upon: the VA must ensure a continuity of 
care for our severely disabled veterans.
  While $1.5 billion seems to be the right figure at this point in 
time, there are only two months left in the fiscal year. This means 
that the Department of Veterans Affairs has the ability to roll over 
into fiscal year 2006 whatever sums remain unspent in fiscal year 2005. 
I expect department officials to spend wisely. With this particular 
provision, we are not only seeking to meet the urgent needs for the 
remainder of this year, but are providing a significant down payment on 
the shortfall we anticipate in fiscal year 2006.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I applaud the work of Chairman Lewis and Chairman 
Taylor of the Appropriations Committee, as well as the leadership of 
the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Linder). Without objection, the previous 
question is ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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