"Has Congress no shame? Is there no honor left in the hallowed halls of our government that you choose to dishonor the sacrifices of our nation’s heroes and rob our programs – health care and disability compensation – to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy?" – Disabled Veterans of America

On March 21, 2003 the House of Representatives approved the President’s budget for fiscal year 2004. It will drastically reduce funding for veterans health care and benefits programs by more than $24 billion. Over the next ten years, almost $9 billion in veterans health care and $15 billion in other benefits, including cash payment to disabled veterans, will be cut from current levels.

The budget adopted by the House will mean across the board reductions in funding for veterans benefits and services, including the following:

• Cuts in veterans health care services;
  
• Increases in co-payments and enrollment fees;
  
• Elimination of additional funds to implement the Homeless Comprehensive Act, which seeks to eradicate chronic veteran homelessness in a decade;
  
• Cuts in cash payments to service-disabled veterans, low-income wartime veterans, and their survivors;
  
• Decreases in mandatory spending programs, including Montgomery G.I. Bill education benefits, subsidies for VA home loans, and funds to provide headstones, markers and flags for deceased veterans;
  
• Little or no new money for desperately needed VA construction projects.
  

The President’s budget for veterans also makes no provision for additional service-connected disability benefits resulting from the present war in Iraq. This is particularly disturbing in light of the fact that the House of Representatives recently approved a $77 billion dollar supplemental spending bill, most of which will be used to finance the war in Iraq.

As our nation wages a war that has already resulted in several deaths and injuries of American troops, it is unacceptable that our government would forget the contributions and sacrifices of our veterans in order to make good on tax cuts that will benefit only the wealthiest Americans, many of whom have never served in the military.

I pledge to continue to vigorously oppose the President’s unjust and unfair cuts in veterans programs, and will fight to see that funding for our veterans programs is restored in full.

 

 

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