Your Economy (No Politics)

[nwsailor]

Republicans Vote Against Increased VA Funding
Posted by General on November 30 1999
Two billion to rescue our ailing VA system as new vets flood the system? Not necessary. apparently.
From the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Washington Post: (with thanks to jmarshall on our comment board)

"Republicans beat back a Democratic attempt to provide almost $2 billion in additional health care funding for veterans. rejecting claims that Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals are in crisis."

VA hospitals are doing just fine. huh? Tell that to Jeremy Lewis or Denver Jones - just two of the thousands of Iraq vets who came home to months of bureaucracy and delayed treatment. But it's not just Iraq vets who think the VA needs some help.

As the VFW Commander-in-Chief Edward S. Banas has commented:

"The DVA [Department of Veterans Affairs] has been chronically under-funded for decades."

Or maybe these Senators could take the word of the White House's Office of Management and Budget.

"more veterans are seeking VA medical care services... This increased demand has put pressure on VA's ability to care for its core-mission veteran population."

Want to know more about the underfunded VA? Click here.

The vote (46/54 against) followed party lines. with the exception of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). How did your senator vote? Check it out here.

VA funding should not be a partisan issue. Providing war vets with the care they need is not about politics. it's about patriotism. civic duty. or -- oh yeah. basic decency. I'm going to email my reps and tell them so. And so can you -- through our site.

By: Vanessa Williamson

http://iava.org/blog/republicans-vote-against-increased-va-funding