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SEN. ROCKEFELLER CALLS FOR "ESSENTIAL" INCREASE
IN VA'S 2008 BUDGET -- Encourages
Administration to
remember that supporting the troops does not
stop when they return from war.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Jay Rockefeller is the Junior Senator (D)
from West Virginia and a Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans'
Affairs.
Story here...
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/
state/070203-staff-jay.html
Story below:
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Jay Calls for 'Essential' Increase in Veterans
Affairs Appropriations
By HNN Staff, from Rockefeller press release
Washington, DC (HNN) – Concerned about the amount of funding set aside
for the Department of Veterans Affairs health care (VA) in the
President’s fiscal year 2008 Budget, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller D-WV,
encouraged the Administration to remember that supporting the troops
does not stop when they return from war.
“This Administration has consistently failed to meet the financial
requirements of the VA,” said Rockefeller. “When I’m home in West
Virginia, I often meet privately with veterans and hear their needs
first-hand. And we, as a nation, have an obligation to meet those
needs.”
“Both Congress and the President have a duty to make our veterans our
primary concern,” Rockefeller continued. “More and more soldiers are
serving and returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, veterans of past
conflicts are aging and requiring additional care, and health care costs
continue to rise. All of this amounts to a pressing need for more VA
funding.”
In the past few years, the VA has suffered from a number of
miscalculations and roadblocks that have shortchanged VA health care and
caused delays in important services. Two years ago, the VA budget was
over a billion dollars short and required a supplemental grant because
the Bush Administration planned the cost of expenditures without
considering Iraq veterans and miscalculated the costs of long-term care
for older veterans. Once the VA Secretary honestly testified to the real
funding needs, Congress filled the gap swiftly.
VA was again disadvantaged when the last Congress adjourned without
completing the necessary appropriations bill for most domestic programs
including VA. Currently, Congress is proposing a continuing resolution
to fund the rest of the year with a $3.6 billion increase over 2006
spending for VA health care.
“We owe our deepest gratitude to those brave men and women who have
served in our Armed Forces. Yet, our debt to them must go beyond an
appreciation for their acts and include a heartfelt commitment to
provide them with the very best health care available.”
“The President did not give veterans the attention they deserve in his
State of the Union Speech,” Rockefeller added. “Supporting the troops
doesn’t just mean while they are currently deployed. It means keeping
your promise of health care even after they’ve left the battlefield. I
hope that the President treats our vets as a priority and not an
afterthought when he offers his Budget. It will be a great opportunity
for him to finally match his promises with meaningful actions.”
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Larry Scott --
