[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 25562-25563]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HONORING VETERANS

  (Mrs. KELLY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mrs. KELLY. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to honor the 
sacrifices of their local veterans by cosponsoring H.R. 1951, which 
would mint a coin for America's disabled veterans. The proceeds would 
be used for a Disabled Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. The 
Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Disabled American Veterans, and the 
Military Order of the Purple Heart all support our bill for a first-of-
its-kind tribute to America's disabled veterans.
  This Congress needs to remember the sacrifices of veterans not only 
on Veterans Day, but throughout the year. For that purpose, we also 
must pass the SAVE U.S. VETS Act to restore the equitable VA funding to 
veterans health care facilities in the Northeast.

[[Page 25563]]

The VERA formula is unfair and ineffective. A GAO study found that 
through 2002, VERA misallocated nearly $1 billion in funds that should 
have gone to the Northeast veterans hospitals like Montrose and Castle 
Point in New York's Hudson Valley.
  New York veterans served our country in areas throughout the world. 
They should not be punished now for living in the northeast area of our 
country that is being neglected by bad funding through the VERA 
formula. VA funds must reach these areas where veterans' needs are the 
greatest. The health care needs of all northeast veterans must be met, 
as they count on us to protect them with the same loyalty with which 
they protected our country.

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