FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 14, 2007
CONTACT: Geoff Embler or Matt Mackowiak
Senate Committee Approves 2008 Veterans Spending Bill
Bill funds health care, research and facilities for Fiscal Year 2008
WASHINGTON -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), ranking member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, today announced that the full Appropriations Committee has approved the Fiscal Year 2008 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The legislation appropriates funds for Fiscal Year 2008 for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“Our veterans demonstrated their commitment by serving our country and we must show our commitment to them by providing them with the quality health care they deserve,” Sen. Hutchison said. “This funding supports much-needed medical services and cutting-edge research to improve medical care.
“In order to protect future veterans’ budgets, we must set key priorities. South Texas, for example, needs additional veterans’ health care facilities, and I requested that the VA conduct a study to find the best approach to meet their health care needs. We must make sure that we are spending every dollar for veterans’ care wisely so we can meet our priorities.”
Sen. Hutchison supported a provision to increase funding for the VA’s Blind Rehabilitative Service by $10 million. “Services like this should be expanded to meet the increasing needs of blind veterans and provide more locally-accessible outpatient care,” Sen. Hutchison said.
The legislation will provide more than $87.5 billion to fund the VA. This includes $44.4 billion for mandatory veterans’ benefits and $43 billion in discretionary spending. $29 billion is allocated for medical services, $3.6 billion for medical administration, $4.1 billion for medical facilities and $500 million for medical and prosthetic research.
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