[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1711]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        VETERANS AFFAIRS BUDGET

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise concerning the budget cuts 
President Bush has proposed on the Department of Veterans Affairs. It 
is nothing more than a smoke screen to make the overall budget numbers 
look better while veterans are going to have to shoulder most of those 
costs. The budget makes veterans pay $250 to enroll in health services 
and doubles their copayments for prescription drugs, changes which will 
affect more than 2 million veterans. It makes veterans wait longer for 
claims to be processed, delaying very vital medical services. It 
provides a dismal 1.7 percent increase in funding, far from the 14 
percent the Veterans Affairs Department really needs to sustain its 
current services.
  President Bush's budget also forgets about the new veterans serving 
abroad. Over 1,400 have been killed, 11,000 injured, and 10 in my 
district alone have been killed. These military families are struggling 
right now. They lack mental health care and other needed services such 
as bilingual services. They also lack burial funds. Let us keep our 
commitment and not cut back the budget.

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