[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 31685]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          FUNDING OUR VETERANS

  (Mrs. DRAKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Speaker, this is day 46; that is, 46 days so far that 
our veterans have not had the use of the increased funding for their 
benefits and health care. That is $18.5 million a day not able to be 
used.
  This bill has been done for months and the President has already 
agreed to sign it. Now, Veterans Day has come and gone and the 
Democratic leadership continues to delay this bill.
  I am calling on the Speaker not to adjourn for Thanksgiving until 
this bill has been sent to the President. And I call on all Americans 
to contact their Representatives to tell the Democratic leadership to 
send a clean veterans appropriations bill to the President. How can we 
celebrate a holiday with our families knowing that there are benefits 
that our veterans don't have access to simply because of a leadership 
decision to hold our veterans funding hostage?

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