[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9221]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 2055

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 2011

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, today, with passage of the FY 2012 Military 
Construction/Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, we renew our 
commitment to keep our promise to our nation's more than 2 million 
military personnel and their families, reservists, and 23 million 
veterans.
  I have said it before, but I am proud to note again that this 
committee has a strong history of working in a bipartisan way to 
produce a bill that recognizes and supports the needs of our active 
duty service members and our veterans.
  The legislation includes a total of $127.8 billion in both 
discretionary and mandatory funding for the Department of Veterans 
Affairs--an increase of $8.7 billion over last year's level. In this 
bill, discretionary funding alone equals $58.3 billion, which is $1.85 
billion above the FY 2011 enacted level. This bill also provides full 
funding of $69.5 billion for mandatory VA programs.
  Since January 2007, Congress has increased funding for veterans' 
health care and other services by $30 billion (over 70%). While I would 
like to give more resources to Veterans Affairs, even in these tough 
economic times, I am pleased that we are building on the progress made 
by the Democratic Majority in the last two Congresses. Importantly, 
this bill also includes provisions to increase spending oversight at 
the VA--making sure that the VA uses their increase in funding 
responsibly and appropriately is critically important for our nation's 
veterans and their families.
  The bill protects the health and well being of our veterans by 
preserving the advance appropriations for medical care already provided 
for fiscal year 2012 and providing the mandatory funding for 
disability, rehabilitation, education, and housing benefits. This bill 
also includes sufficient resources to fully implement VA homeless 
assistance programs, including the Homeless Providers Grant and Per 
Diem, the Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans, and the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development--Department of Veterans Affairs Supported 
Housing programs.
  I commend the Chairman and Ranking Member for their hard work in 
ensuring that this bill is another significant step in fulfilling the 
promise our country made to leave no veteran behind.
  I urge my colleagues to support final passage of H.R. 2055.

                          ____________________