Washington, D.C. - In a recent letter to the editor, VFW Post Commander Verl Ringgenberg calls on Congress to provide the funds necessary to give veterans the health care they deserve. He's absolutely right. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which has the primary responsibility for drafting the legislation that funds the Veterans Administration, I would like to provide additional details about this important issue.
 
The veterans' health care system is in a state of crisis. Hundreds of thousands of enrolled veterans are currently being denied timely access to quality health care. An average of 200,000 veterans are waiting six months or more for appointments at VA hospitals. As a veteran myself, I believe that this restriction of care for the men and women who so proudly served our nation is a disgrace. Our government made a commitment to those who served and I for one believe that we ought to honor it by providing the best possible health care to every veteran who needs it.

 

The decline in the availability and quality of care is the direct result of inadequate funding for veterans' health care by the Administration and Congress. For nearly a decade, the Republican leadership's desire to cut government spending has resulted in too little funding for the VA medical system. Despite the growing demand for care and the increase in enrollment in VA health programs, funding has not even kept up with the rate of inflation.

 

This year is no different. An independent budget authored by AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the VFW recommended a $3.3 billion increase for veterans' medical care in the upcoming budget year just to meet the real needs of veterans. At minimum, the VA health care system needs an increase of at least $2.5 billion to even meet the VA's own definition of current services, which includes serving fewer veterans and further rationing services like nursing home care.

 

Unfortunately, the president's budget falls far short of funding veterans' needs. He requested only a $1.4 billion increase in his budget, which also included a number of legislative initiatives to limit veterans' use of health services by increasing co-payments for medication and outpatient visits, and levying a new enrollment fee.

 

The Republican leaders in Congress promised to do better for veterans, promising a $3.2 billion increase in VA health care in their budget plans this spring. However, they already have backed away from that promise. The VA-HUD Appropriations bill that will fund the Department of Veterans Affairs next year provided the same inadequate amount of funding as President Bush's proposal.

 

This funding bill will not meet veterans' needs. The VA-HUD Appropriations bill, which passed the House at the end of July, does not keep pace with the rising cost of providing health care or the growth in the number of veterans enrolled. Nor does it make any effort to address the long waiting times and reduced services that veterans are already experiencing.

 

In a joint press release, the major veterans' advocacy organizations denounced the inadequate funding, stating that, "This meager increase is simply inadequate to provide health care to sick and disabled veterans, and represents a flagrant disregard for promises made to veterans by this Congress."

 

I wholeheartedly agree. During consideration of this bill by the Appropriations Committee earlier this year, Democrats offered an amendment to increase funding for veterans' medical care by $2.2 billion -- enough to meet the real funding needs of VA medical care -- and paid for the increase with a minor reduction in the tax cuts granted to millionaires. While I voted for this amendment, it failed when every Republican on the committee voted against it.

 

We tried again to provide a meaningful increase in the VA budget when the appropriations bill was considered on the House floor. I supported a bipartisan amendment to the bill, which would have provided the additional $1.8 billion Republicans had promised early in the year, but it was blocked from even being considered by the full House. Although I regret that I had to miss the final vote on the bill, I most certainly would have voted against it because, like previous years' appropriations bills, it failed our nation's veterans.

 

Our wounded troops returning from service in Iraq are overcoming grave injuries such as amputations, traumatic brain injuries and severe wounds. These brave men and women -- many of whom will now rely upon the VA for their health care -- deserve access to the best medical care, rehabilitative services and assistive technologies available and a state of the art health care system uniquely created to respond to these needs. I am working every day, on behalf of today's veterans and future generations, to fulfill our nation's promise of the best quality care for every veteran who needs it.