[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7891]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          PROVIDING FOR VETERANS--AND STILL TRIMMING SPENDING

  (Mr. HULTGREN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 2013 
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill.
  Most of the time, when budgets are cut and cuts are made, someone 
somewhere is upset about them. But as a wise Governor once said: you'll 
be amazed how much government you'll never miss.
  In the case of this bill, efficiencies were found within programs to 
trim billions in spending, while still providing for our warfighters 
and veterans in the most effective and efficient ways. The fact that 
funding for so many vital programs for our veterans were actually 
increased is a testament to the significant savings made in other areas 
of the bill. For example, it will provide disability compensation for 
almost 4 million veterans and their survivors, and it will provide 
post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits for more than 600,000 veterans.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of this important 
bill later this week.

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