DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS
807 Maine Ave., SW · Washington, D.C.
20024 · Phone (202)
554-3501 ·
Fax (202) 863-0233
News
Release
Contact: David E. Autry FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(202) 314-5219 April
14, 2005
Veterans Health Care Supplemental
Defeat a ‘Bitter Disappointment’
WASHINGTON—Disabled American Veterans
National Commander James E. Sursely today expressed the organization’s bitter
disappointment that the United States Senate blocked an amendment to the $80
billion supplemental appropriation bill to provide $2 billion to cover a
critical shortfall in funding for veterans medical care.
“Less than half way through the current
fiscal year, Veterans Affairs medical facilities across the country have
already run out of money and face huge deficits, an emergency situation if
there ever was one,” Sursely said.
The amendment failed to win approval in
two procedural votes that saw just one Republican, Pennsylvania’s Arlen
Specter, along with every Democrat and the Senate’s lone Independent voting in
favor.
The amendment, offered by Senators Patty
Murray (D-Wash.) and Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), would increase funding for the
Department of Veterans Affairs by $1.98 billion for the current fiscal year and
designate it as emergency spending. Some $840 million of that money would be
used to provide each veterans regional health network with an additional $40
million. The amendment designated $610 million to address the needs of
servicemembers returning from
“That money is urgently needed to stem
the flow of red ink that threatens health care for today’s veterans and
thousands of men and women injured and disabled during the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan,” said Commander Sursely. “Sick
and disabled veterans are bitterly disappointed that some in Congress refuse to
act before this emergency becomes an even worse crisis.”
“VA facilities in every region of the
country have exhausted reserve funds to meet critical needs. Many have stopped
hiring doctors and nurses because of shortfalls, while still others have cut
back or even eliminated medical services. Health care for millions of today’s
and tomorrow’s veterans is in limbo because Congress and the Administration
have continually failed to adequately fund the VA,” Sursely said.
The 1.2 million-member Disabled American
Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S.
Congress in 1932, represents this nation’s wartime disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building
better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the
organization’s Web site www.dav.org.
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