Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES -- (House of Representatives - June 30, 2005)

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Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, I echo the sentiments of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards), who has been a tireless advocate of veterans benefits. I am a veteran and a son of a veteran who has a son who just became a veteran, so I echo the gentleman's sentiments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our veterans, our troops, and H.R. 3130. Since I was elected, we have buried five soldiers in the Third Congressional District. As we drape our Nation's flag over their coffins, are we supposed to tell their families that our budget prevents them from getting promised benefits? As we celebrate July 4 and march in parades alongside the heroes of World War II, Vietnam, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, are we supposed to tell these veterans that last week's accounting error will prevent them from being seen by a doctor? And that not only will they have to travel 5 hours to see a doctor, but once they get there, they will be turned away?

They did not turn away when we called upon them to serve our country.

They did not turn away from putting their lives on the line for our freedoms. We cannot turn away from them now.

It should not take an emergency or bad press coverage for this administration to care about the health of our Nation's veterans. In a time of war, bringing our troops home safely and taking care of our veterans is our number one priority.

This administration has let our Nation's heroes suffer because of a mismanaged budget. This is absolutely shameful and unacceptable. No one should ever let the troops and veterans be an afterthought. We need to provide this money now. We need to guarantee all future funding for the Veterans Administration so our Nation's heroes never have to suffer from a mismanaged budget again.

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