[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 28189-28190]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            VETERANS FUNDING

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Good morning, Mr. Speaker.
  My colleagues, the House passed the largest increase in veterans 
funding in the 77-year history of the Veterans Affairs Department. The 
bill provides more than $37 billion for veterans programs. This is a 
$4.4 billion increase over last year. As pointed out earlier, it has 
been over 130 days since the House passed the VA/Military Construction 
funding. Yet they have refused to appoint conferees like the Senate, 
their counterparts, have already done. So at this point the bill can't 
move forward and be signed by the President.
  By the Democrats' failure to move forward on this bill, veterans are 
losing out on $600 million for posttraumatic stress disorder care, 
traumatic brain injury research and care; $4.1 billion to improve VA 
facilities, hospitals and clinics; and, lastly, $480 million for 
prosthetic research to help our wounded veterans retain a positive 
quality of life.
  Mr. Speaker, we urge our Democrat colleagues to move forward on this 
bill and have it to the President so he can sign it on Veterans Day.

[[Page 28190]]



                          ____________________