Providing for our Veterans
One of the top priorities of the 110th Congress last session was ensuring that our veterans and their families are well cared for. Unfortunately, many pressing needs of our veterans had gone unaddressed for far too long.
First and foremost, the Democratic Congress provided the largest increase in veterans' health care and services in the history of the VA last year, totaling over $16 billion. The health care funding puts a new focus on those veterans returning with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
 We have also passed numerous other pieces of legislation to meet various unmet needs such as addressing the inadequacies of the disability system brought to light by the Walter Reed scandal, prohibiting TRICARE fee increases, and providing long overdue pay raises to our soldiers, among other measures to answer the call from our nation's veterans. Most importantly, with my full support Democrats passed and had signed into law landmark legislation establishing a new GI Bill for the 21st Century. This legislation restores a full, four-year college education for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have served three years on active duty, just as our returning soldiers received after WWII.
We have continued our commitment in the first few months of the 111th Congress. The 2010 budget conference report provides a $5.6 billion (11.7 percent) increase for veterans' health care and services, and increases funding by more than $27 billion over five years. It also ends the Bush Administration's ban on enrolling modest-income veterans for VA health care. Most importantly, the budget allows Congress to fund VA medical care a year in advance. The House has also passed bills providing for a cost-of-living adjustment for veterans, combating veteran homelessness, and expanding emergency care eligibility. In addition, President Obama has proposed allowing for the concurrent receipt of VA disability benefits and military retirement benefits for highly disabled veterans who are medically retired from service, which I fully support.
We continue to owe a debt of gratitude to our brave servicemen and women for their sacrifices to support and defend our great nation. I will continue working tirelessly to ensure our veterans are afforded the honorable treatment and benefits that they deserve.
Click here to see the 2010 Budget Conference Report [S.Con.Res.13]
|
