Crowley Votes to Strengthen and Improve Services for Veterans
Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-Queens & the Bronx) followed up on his longtime call to provide adequate health care and benefits for America's heroes by voting to provide an historic level of new resources for US veterans. The Fiscal Year 2008 Military Construction & Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill was approved on Friday afternoon by an overwhelming bipartisan majority on a vote of 409 - 2 and includes record-funding for veterans' health care, support for military facilities, and new requirements to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs will reduce the backlog that has left hundreds of thousands of claims by veterans unfulfilled.
"Our veterans have served our nation, protected our freedom and put their lives on the line for all of us," Crowley said. "For these reasons, the Democratic-led Congress has promised to support our veterans not only with words, but with concrete actions. The proposal passed by the House of Representatives today reflects this commitment - taking historic steps toward fixing our nation's ailing military health care system and providing the medical treatment and attention our veterans deserve."
The 2008 Military Construction & Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill includes the largest single funding increase in the 77 year history of the Veterans Administration. It will increase the VA budget by $6.7 billion above last year's level and $3.8 billion above the President's request. To account for the steep rise in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in need of medical care and attention, the budget for VA medical care would for the first time exceed the budget of the veterans' service organizations by $294 million. If enacted, this bill would ensure quality health care for 5.8 million patients, including about 263,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, which the VA will treat in FY 2008.
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