Rep. Stephanie Herseth
Statement into the official record
February 9, 2005

Mr. Speaker:

As a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee – and on behalf of thousands of veterans in South Dakota - I rise this evening with serious concerns about what the President’s budget means for our nation’s veterans. 

As Congressman Strickland and other of my colleagues have expressed, fulfilling the government’s obligations to our veterans is a moral issue that reflects our national character.  At a time in our nation’s history when we are asking young men and women for tremendous service and sacrifice, we must send a clear message to them and their families that veterans’ health care is considered an ongoing cost of national security during times of both war and peace.  That consideration should be reflected in the President’s budget, but it is not.  With a new generation of veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, now is the time we should be proving that a promise made is a promise kept.  At a time of tight budgets, it all comes down to priorities, and the needs of our country’s veterans should be at the top of the priority list, not at the bottom.   

I am concerned about what the President’s budget means for the men and women who have fought to protect our individual and collective freedoms and what the budget means for the dedicated doctors, nurses and other personnel in VA medical centers and clinics across the country who strive to provide quality health care to our veterans.  The plans to assess annual enrollment fees for certain veterans who desire to access care from the VA and to increase co-pays for veterans’ prescription medications are unacceptable. 

Our veterans deserve better than this budget, and that is why I am proud to be an original cosponsor of Ranking Member Lane Evans’ Assured Funding bill.  We should take veterans’ health care funding out of annual budget fights as a top priority for our nation. 

This weekend, as I return to South Dakota, it will be my honor to take part in a homecoming ceremony for the 147^th Artillery unit from the northeast part of the state.  As I meet these brave men and women, I will thank them for their service and exchange handshakes and hugs with them and their family members.  Every member of Congress should be able to tell the troops when they return, with certainty, that our government will live up to its obligations in recognition of their service to the country.  It is the right thing to do.  And we will continue to fight for those who have served.