Through Bipartisanship Steve Buyer Secures Funding for Veterans

Press Release

Through Bipartisanship Steve Buyer Secures Funding for Veterans

Congressman Steve Buyer, in his efforts to improve the lives and the rehabilitation of disabled veterans, was denied the ability to offer two amendments on the floor of the House of Representatives. Congressman Buyer, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, offered two amendments to the Committee on Rules for the fiscal year 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act (MILCON VA). Even though the amendments were denied to be heard on the House floor for consideration by that committee, through bipartisan efforts Ranking Member Buyer was still able to secure full funding for the National Veterans' Sports Program and Special Events.

Congressman Buyer's amendments would amend the MILCON VA Appropriations bill to provide advance appropriations for FY 2011 for the Medical and Prosthetic Research and Information Technology Systems accounts and would transfer $3,500,000 from the VA's Medical Support and Compliance account to the General Operating Expenses account to increase the funding for the VA-US Paralympic Sports Program.

"I am very disappointed that these amendments were blocked from consideration--and one was blocked solely for the reason it was offered by a Republican," Buyer said. "They were based on the advice and testimony of the Congressional Research Service and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who pointed out that VA's information technology account is intertwined with medical care accounts, and that funding them separately could create complications. My amendment also ensured medical and prosthetic research accounts were included, so that all VA health care accounts would be funded in the same manner."

Congressman Buyer's long-time advocacy of sports therapy brought the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Olympic Committee together to allow disabled veterans to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Without Congressman Buyer's efforts, the 13 veterans that competed in Beijing in September would not have had that opportunity. Curiously, a Democrat colleague's amendment which had technical errors in it was scrubbed in favor of Congressman Buyer's language word for word, comma by comma, and period by period during Rules Committee consideration of the bill. The only difference was that a Democrat's name was placed as the author instead of the Republican's and then accepted by voice vote on the House floor.

"I am pleased that I was successful in securing the full amount that was authorized for the National Veterans' Sports Programs and Special Events. This funding will significantly impact the lives of disabled veterans by using sports as a platform for healing," commented Buyer.

Congressman Buyer voted for the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act of 2010, which passed the House by a vote of 415 to 3.

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