[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15670]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 HISTORIC INCREASES IN VETERANS FUNDING

  (Mrs. McCARTHY of New York asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, for far too long our veterans 
have been left behind. In fact, last year the Republican Congress and 
the Bush administration proposed cutting funding for the operation and 
maintenance of veterans' medical facilities by $464 million. Earlier 
this year, we saw the effects of these budget cuts manifested in the 
conditions of Walter Reed Hospital and other VA hospitals across the 
country.
  Fortunately, this new Democratic Congress has a different set of 
priorities. We allocate the largest increase in funding for veterans 
health care in history, and we do it in a fiscally responsible way that 
does not produce budget deficits down the line.
  The 2008 MILCON and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill includes $70 
million more than the President requested for veterans substance abuse 
programs, $69 million more than he requested for medical and prosthetic 
research, and $127 million more to address the 400,000-deep backlog of 
veterans benefits claims.
  Mr. Speaker, we are finally keeping our promise to our veterans, not 
only to the veterans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today, but all 
veterans.

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