[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 27]
[House]
[Pages 36271-36272]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1730
            DON'T PLAY POLITICAL GAMES WITH VETERANS FUNDING

  (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, today we completed work on an omnibus 
spending bill
  Hopefully, by Friday, a full 82 days into the fiscal year, our 
Nation's veterans will finally have access to the $6.7 billion in 
increased spending, and the new and expanded programs included in the 
original veterans bill, a

[[Page 36272]]

bill that passed the House and Senate this summer.
  For all of these days, our veterans have done without these 
additional resources.
  So why the delay? Why were our veterans made to wait when a nearly 
identical bill could have been passed and signed by the President prior 
to October 1?
  I believe our veterans deserve an explanation and an apology. Playing 
political games with veterans funding not only hurts our veterans but 
the credibility of this Congress and the American people. Our Nation 
and its heroes deserve better.

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