[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25705]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         IRAQ AND VETERANS DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, the irony could not be thicker or, for 
that matter, sweeter. Today, the day before Veterans Day, the 
Republican leadership failed to gather the necessary votes to pass a 
shameful budget reconciliation bill that will, among other things, 
decrease funding for veterans. Somewhere Mr. DeLay should be left to 
wonder how the callously efficient arm-twisting regime that he 
installed in the House has crumbled so quickly.
  The sheer audacity of trying to pass a budget reconciliation bill 
that provides more tax breaks to the wealthy at the expense of 
important social-net programs for the poor is unbelievable. The 
programs slated to be cut include health care for veterans, Medicaid, 
student loans, and child support enforcement.
  The idea that America's Republican leaders would slash funding for 
veterans the day before they should be honoring them would be even more 
appalling than it already is if it were not so commonplace. In fact, 
this pattern has repeated itself throughout President Bush's tenure in 
office.
  The U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003 coincided with the sharp 
decrease in veterans health care and other benefits for those who have 
bravely served in our Nation's military. The backlog at veterans 
hospitals had never been greater than when the United States went to 
war in Iraq. Now, with more than half a million soldiers having served 
in Iraq, the burden on the VA will only increase.
  And while the U.S. has spent over $200 billion for military 
operations and reconstruction in Iraq over the past 2 years, during 
this same time period the Bush administration and the Republican 
Congress have repeatedly refused to provide veterans with the benefits 
they have earned and the benefits they deserve.
  Our Nation's so-called leaders have continually refused to fix the 
system called ``concurrent receipt,'' whereby veterans health benefits 
are deducted from their retirement benefits. This veterans tax is 
wrong, and it needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, the Republicans in 
Congress are too busy trying to pass bills that would make the rich 
even richer, instead of fixing real inequities in our system.
  Mr. Speaker, veterans deserve our respect not only on November 11, 
Veterans Day, but all throughout the year. They deserve our respect, 
they deserve our support, and they deserve all of the benefits our 
government has promised them without scrimping, without exception, 
without escape clauses. They certainly did not offer any excuses when 
they enlisted in our military.
  Six weeks ago, I traveled to Iraq with a small congressional 
delegation to learn more about the mission and the heroic Americans 
carrying it out. Nothing I saw changed my mind about the wrongness of 
our Iraq policy. But one thing did move me: I came away from the trip 
absolutely awed by our soldiers. They were even more committed, more 
dedicated, and more courageous than I had ever imagined.
  Having met and talked with them, it pains me to the core that their 
fate rests in the hands of leaders who have failed them time and time 
again. The men and women who wear the uniform deserve so much more. 
They deserve civilian leaders who will put their safety before their 
own political interests. They deserve leaders who would not send them 
to Iraq on false pretenses on a poorly defined mission without all the 
tools they need and without a plan to get them out of there; and they 
deserve leaders who will give them adequate medical and financial 
support when they come home.
  For all the reasons I have mentioned today, it is time to bring our 
troops home from Iraq. We need to focus on healing the wounds incurred 
over the last 2\1/2\ years of war and administering to America's 
domestic priorities. If we want to truly honor our veterans on Veterans 
Day, the best thing we can do is prevent more veterans from being 
created. We could do this tomorrow, if we wanted to, by ending the war 
in Iraq and bringing our troops home. That would be the best gift of 
all.

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