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6/29/05 Kanjorski Urges President Bush to Request Adequate Funding for Veterans |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gretchen M. Wintermantel
June 29, 2005 202.225.6511
Kanjorski Urges President Bush to Request Adequate Funding for Veterans
WASHINGTON - Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) today urged President Bush to request $1.3 billion in emergency funding to make up for the shortfall announced last week for veterans' health care. A Bush Administration official revealed Thursday that it had underestimated the Veterans Affairs budget by more than $1 billion and is unable cover the current health care needs of our nation's veterans. Veterans' Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson even told Congress as recently as April that the department did not need supplemental funding.
"In a time when our nation has 86,000 veterans coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan alone, it is unconscionable to think that the Administration would allow this to happen. We cannot allow the men and women who have served our nation to be shortchanged when it comes to their health care," Congressman Kanjorski said.
"This shortfall could have been avoided. Democrats have repeatedly offered alternative budgets and amendments to boost funding so that we can meet our veterans' needs. However, each time, the Republican majority has voted these proposals down and offered inadequate funding. Now the Administration tells us that a shortfall exists not only for fiscal year 2005, but also over the next five years - to the extent of a $14 billion deficit. This is an example of gross negligence on the part of this Administration in caring for our veterans and in assessing the costs of this war."
TEXT OF THE LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH FOLLOWS:
June 29, 2005
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to request that you submit a FY 2005 supplemental funding request adding at least $1.3 billion to address the shortfall in veterans' health care funding that your Administration has identified. This additional funding is urgently needed today to care for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the heroes from former conflicts who rely upon the VA for their health care. In addition, we request that you submit an amended FY 2006 budget to account for the veterans' health care shortfall that is now evident in your Administration's 2006 budget request.
In our estimation, your FY 2005 VA budget request was short $2.5 billion. While Congress added $1.2 billion, your budget remained $1.3 billion short. It appears the VA now agrees with our original estimate.
The 2006 budget request was similarly short. What is even more troubling is that funding for veterans' health care beyond 2007 is cut significantly below the amount needed merely to account for inflation. In the future, we urge you to submit veterans' budgets that more accurately reflect the resource requirements of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the health care needs of current veterans and the many thousands returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. At a time of war, funding for veterans must be made a clear and unmistakable priority.
We await the submission of your FY 2005 supplemental funding request and amended FY 2006 budget.
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