Conference Report on H.R. 2528, Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2006

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2528, MILITARY QUALITY OF LIFE AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - November 18, 2005)

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Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, at long last we are supporting America's veterans with our deeds and not just with our words, and in that process, I want to salute the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), my colleague, friend and chairman of the Veterans' Affairs, Military Quality of Life Subcommittee in that effort.

This is a good bill that takes positive steps to redress the wrongs done to veterans over the last several years when, in fact, we were cutting veterans services during a time of war, something that many of us on the floor of this House time and again said was immoral.

This bill increases VA medical services by $2.5 billion over the President's original request. I salute this committee and the House and its leadership for doing that. I also would point out that that itself suggests that the administration has woefully underfunded veterans health care needs during a time of war. Never again should our country send young Americans into war and then scrimp on supporting those who have sacrificed the most to their service during that war.

This bill specifically sets aside $2.2 billion for VA mental health care medical services, and on that particular point, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) deserves special recognition for taking the initiative to see that the VA does put more resources into helping those young Americans, men and women alike, who have paid a serious mental health care price for their love of country and service to country. The fact is that we have and the VA has been underfunding mental health care services to our veterans.

Third, this bill restores funding of $85 million for State nursing home construction. We have an aging of the veterans population. I guess I had a great difference with the administration in its original proposal to cut by as much as two-thirds the number of veterans that we provide for in long-term nursing home care. This bill corrects that mistake of the administration.

I salute the bipartisan effort in this bill to reject the administration's proposal to have a $250 enrollment fee for every veteran wanting to sign up for VA health care services. Many of us have long felt that our veterans have paid their enrollment fee when they put on our country's uniform and went into harm's way in protection of all of us. I am glad this committee rejected the administration proposal to double prescription copays for veterans, veterans who are struggling every month to make ends meet.

I think a very important part of this bill that was put together somewhat at my urging, but truly on a bipartisan basis, and that is, that no longer are we going to be just completely dependent upon the VA Secretary or OMB to tell us whether we are cutting veterans services during a time of war. This bill has some very stringent reporting requirements to be done on a quarterly basis, where the VA must provide this Congress with information about whether we are reducing staff, cutting services, underfunding health care for veterans, especially during a time of war. I think this Congress has a moral responsibility to make its own independent judgment about whether we are adequately supporting our veterans and not have to be completely dependent upon what the Director of OMB or the Secretary of the VA have said.

Having said all of that about the very positive things in this bill for veterans, I must just for a brief moment add to what the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) said about this process.

I hope this step forward for America's veterans in a tangible way ends what I think has been a sad chapter over the last 2 years. How ironic it is that the funding for veterans health care in this bill is equivalent to the funding called for over 2 years ago by Republican Congressman CHRIS SMITH of New Jersey who chaired the Veterans' Affairs Committee. How did the House Republican leadership, not this committee, how did the House Republican leadership respond to the gentleman from New Jersey's call to adequately support veterans health care? Did they thank him? Did they salute him? Did they award him? No. They fired him. They took away his chairmanship of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and even took him off the committee itself. That was a sad moment in the history of this House in our service to veterans, and I hope never again will a chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee be fired for standing up for veterans and putting his commitment to veterans above his commitment to partisan loyalty.

I salute this bill and the chairman of this subcommittee for the step forward in military construction. It provides about $2 billion more than we spent on military construction last year. These are training ranges. These are houses and barracks and much-needed quality-of-life improvements for our service men and women.

I am proud of what this committee has done under the leadership of the chairman and on a bipartisan basis for military construction commitments and improving the quality of life for Americans who are sacrificing so very much every day for our Nation.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would just express two concerns, not about this committee's work, but about the future for veterans and our military. One is the VA is still grossly underestimating the net number of new veterans coming into the VA health care system. The latest numbers I saw said they projected 84,000 net new veterans this year in the VA medical system. That is in total contrast to a net increase of about 250,000 each year for the last 2, 3, or 4 years. I think it is going to be important for our subcommittee and for the full Appropriations Committee in this House to monitor every month in the months ahead whether the increase in the number of veterans into the VA medical care system makes even this substantially improved medical budget inadequate. I look forward to carrying out that responsibility on a bipartisan basis.

Finally, in terms of military construction, I am not sure we yet have from the administration or the Department of Defense a full cost accounting for the cost of construction, military construction, as a result of the base closing and realignment process and the redeployment of our troops from Germany and South Korea. My own prediction is that the administration has grossly underestimated the actual cost of military construction. So while this bill does have a very significant increase in MILCON projects, and, again, I enthusiastically support that increase, I think it is going to be important for this House to monitor what the true cost of military construction will be so that over the next 12 to 24 months, we are not cutting corners for better housing for our service men and women and their families even as they sacrifice for all of us during time of war.

This is a good bill, Mr. Speaker. I salute the chairman of the committee, Mr. Walsh; the leadership of the full Committee on Appropriations, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Obey, for asking the question of what is right for America's veterans. I think this bill is a great step in the right direction, and I urge my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I will conclude with several comments. First, I could not agree more with Mr. Lewis, the chairman of the full Appropriations Committee, that it would be a positive step for all of us to work in carrying out our responsibility for congressional oversight over VA health care programs, and I would add to that, over military construction programs. I know that is something the chairman of the subcommittee has worked on and actually started the process on, and I look forward to continuing that effort. It is important that we not only adequately fund veterans health care and other veterans programs, the quality-of-life programs for military servicemen and women and their families, we need to be sure those dollars are being spent in the way that Congress intended them to be spent.

I want to thank several groups. First, I want to thank our veterans service organizations, made up of millions of men and women who have served our country proudly in uniform during time of war and peace. And yet like so many veterans, when they take that uniform off, their love of country does not wane, and their continuing commitment to service is an inspiration to all of us.

Without the strong leadership over the last 2 years of the veterans service organizations who have never let up in saying it would be wrong, and it is wrong, to cut veterans health care services during a time of war, I am not sure we would be at this funding level today. So I salute them.

I also want to salute the incredibly able staff of this subcommittee. On the Democratic side: Tom Forhan and Bob Bonner. On the Republican side, hard-working, dedicated employees as well: Carol Murphy, the staff director of this committee; Tim Peterson; Sarah Young; Walter Hearne; and Mary Arnold. What a privilege it is for the chairman and me to be able to work with a staff that at every step of the way is simply asking one question: What is the right thing to do for our servicemen and women and their families and what is the right thing to do for our veterans?

Like so many of our veterans that are not honored with memorials in this Nation's Capitol, this subcommittee staff is working every day behind the scenes to make a positive difference for very, very deserving people, and I want to thank them for all they do, day in and day out, without any expectation of public acclaim.

My final note is left to honor a veteran. As we approach Thanksgiving and in a few minutes pass this bill, I cannot help but think, Mr. Speaker, about a young veteran, 20 years old, that I met at Walter Reed Army Hospital on Thanksgiving morning 2 years ago. He had come back from Iraq with an amputated leg, sitting in his room alone with the exception of being there with his mother. When I walked in and saw his condition, the first thing he said to me was, ``Sir, I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. I'm proud to have served my country, and I would be proud to serve it again.''

I hope we will always remember that is what this bill is all about, standing up for those who have stood up for our Nation and the American family.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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