Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 24, 2005)

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Mr. OBEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, all through last year on this side of the aisle, we continually insisted that we needed more money for veterans health care and were consistently told by the administration and the other side that we did not. As recently as April 5, Mr. Nicholson, the head of the VA, told the Senate in an effort to defeat a Democratic amendment, "I can assure you that the VA does not need emergency supplemental funding in fiscal 2005 to continue to provide timely, quality service that is always our goal." We were again told this year when we tried to add money to the VA for veterans health care that it was not needed, that we were simply pandering to veterans.

Well, now the facts are out. Today's Washington Post: "Funds for Health Care of Veterans Short $1 Billion." What we find out is that now the Bush administration is belatedly admitting to the Congress what we have been trying to tell people for months, namely, that the VA budget is inadequate and their accountants indicate that they are going to need more than $1 billion.

The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) is going to shortly be asking unanimous consent to consider an amendment which would, on an emergency basis, add the $1 billion which the administration is saying is necessary to pay the bills at the VA. I would hope that the Congress could find a way to accomplish this. At a time when we are having trouble with recruiting, it makes no sense to be sending messages to our veterans that, Okay, you can go over and fight in Iraq, but we are not so sure about what services you are going to get when you get home.

Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards).

Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Chairman, the fact that there is a funding crisis in VA hospitals this year to the tune of $1 billion should be a surprise to no one. On March 23, 2004, the legislative directors of the Disabled American Veterans, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars said that passage of the budget resolution as presented would be a disservice to those men and women who serve this country and who are currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world in the fight against terrorism.

The bottom line is, this House on a partisan basis, through the budget resolution, has underfunded VA medical care. Veterans groups knew it, Democrats in this body knew it, Democrats in the other body knew it. In fact, I made a specific effort in the emergency appropriation bill for Iraq to get additional funding for VA hospitals this year, but was rebuffed by the House leadership that said that money was not necessary.

As the gentleman from Wisconsin has pointed out, that money is necessary. We have a crisis. It is inexcusable for the leadership of the Veterans Administration to testify just a few months ago, 2 months ago, that they did not need any extra money to provide adequate health care for veterans. Now, just 60 days later, they admit there is a $1 billion crisis in funding. We need to find out why the VA misled the Congress; and, most importantly, we need to address this problem. I would welcome a bipartisan effort in trying to address the funding needs for veterans.

Mr. WALSH. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. OBEY. I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. WALSH. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank both the gentlemen for raising this issue.

Mr. Chairman, this is a serious problem. There is a great deal of alarm about the uncovering of this information. It is a great disappointment. I thank the two gentlemen for bringing this up, even though it is not germane to this bill. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) and I have discussed this. We will be holding an oversight hearing on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at which time members of the Veterans Administration, I believe we will also have people from defense health and possibly the Office of Management and Budget, will come up and give us the straight scoop on what actually happened and who knew what and when.

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