OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Veterans Benefits Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 1, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Veterans Government Budget and Spending

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Georgia.

If you want to help our veterans tonight, we should take up the Senate-passed clean CR bill which keeps the government open for our veterans and funds programs that help their children and grandchildren, like education, like scientific research at the National Institutes of Health. And as we heard from the Speaker, if we take that bill up and pass it, it will be on the President's desk tonight, and he can sign it, whereas this bill just goes back to the Senate.

So why aren't we doing that? Well, it was reported in The Washington Post, since the Republicans want to shut down the government, now they're going for the Cruz idea for plan B. ``House GOP will go with Cruz's idea for plan B.'' That's Senator Cruz. So again, Senator Cruz is calling the shots here in the House of Representatives.

But here's what's particularly strange and cynical: our veterans are being used as props here. I don't think the American people understand that if we were to pass the CR tonight for veterans, it is actually a higher level of funding for the veterans by billions of dollars than what is in your bill before us today. So how can you say you want to help veterans by sending the Senate a bill with less money for veterans instead of sending immediately the President a bill with billions of dollars for veterans?

This cuts the amount that this House voted for for veterans in June. It cuts billions of dollars. Every Member of this House who voted in June on that Veterans appropriations bill who votes on this is voting for a cut from what this House provided for veterans earlier this year, and it represents a cut compared to the continuing resolution that we could send tonight to the President's desk and have him sign.

So, yes. If you really want to help veterans, Mr. Speaker, you should take up the Senate bill. Send it to the President. It will be done tonight at a level billions of dollars higher than this Republican bill.

Let's help our veterans, and let's help tonight.

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