A BUDGET WORTHY OF OUR
NATION'S VETERANS

Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a travesty that happened in the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs just a few hours ago. As we all know, this committee has had a long-standing tradition of bipartisanship, of working together, of advocacy for our nation's veterans.

That all changed today. Unbelievably, on the eve of the bipartisan retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Members of the majority on this committee decided not to allow a discussion or a vote on an alternative budget that was derived from the Independent Budget for Fiscal Year 2000, a comprehensive policy document created by veterans for veterans and endorsed by over 50 veterans' service organizations.

As we are well aware, the Administration's fiscal year 2000 budget for veterans is completely unacceptable. Under this budget, the VA health care system is drastically underfunded and in danger of actual collapse. This budget for the GI Bill is far short of realistic needs and failing as a readjustment benefit and as a recruitment incentive. Desperately needed staffing increases included in this budget appear to be phony--little more than transparent shell games. The National Cemetery System has been underfunded for years, and the money needed for the most basic repairs and upkeep is unavailable. These are drastic problems and they demand serious, substantial solutions! Veterans have been wronged by this budget, and it is the responsibility of Congress to right that wrong.

For many, many years, America's veterans have been good soldiers. They have done their duty and been conscientious, responsible citizens. Every time the Veteran's Affairs Committee was handed a reconciliation target, it met that target. Billions of veterans' dollars have been handed over in order to balance the budget and eliminate the deficit. Time and time again, America's veterans answered their nation's call. The country needed their support, and America's veterans gave all that they could give.

Well, the budget deficit has been eliminated. That battle has been won. I believe that this year, it is time for America's veterans to come first. We, as a nation, owe them that.

I listened closely to the testimony of the many veterans' service organizations as they have come to Washington to appear before the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees over the past few weeks. I carefully studied the Independent Budget for Fiscal Year 2000, which I mentioned earlier. I hear a strong sense of urgency and frustration and even anger that I've never heard before. America's veterans are telling us that they have done more than their fair share--and now they expect us to be their advocates.

As I read the Independent Budget, I was struck by this powerful statement that I would like to share with you. The signers of the Independent Budget said, "As the Administration and Congress develop budgets and policies for the new millennium, we urge them to look up from their balance sheets and into the faces of the men and women who risked their lives to defend our country. We ask them to consider the human consequences of inadequate budgets and benefit denials for those who answered the call to military service."

I took this to heart! Because, as I said earlier, the Administration budget of $43.6 billion is completely unacceptable, we Democrats on the Veterans' Affairs Committee developed a proposal, based on this Independent Budget, that would add $3.19 billion to the Administration proposal.

We came to the meeting today, hoping for a full discussion of the chairman's proposal which added $1.9 billion to the Administration's request, the Democratic alternative which added $3.19 billion--and a vote on which one to send to the Budget Committee. For I believe that it is our duty, as members of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, to send to the Budget Committee the very best `views and estimates' on the VA budget that we can.

In a democratic society, it is our right to be able to express ourselves, to debate and discuss various alternatives, and to vote!

The chairman's recommendation could have gained more votes than the Democratic alternative proposal, but we will never know. Because a vote was not permitted. Not to allow a full discussion of the needs of veterans and the best way to meet those needs--this is simply outrageous. These are the needs of our veterans that we are talking about! Let us hope that the travesty that occurred this afternoon in the Veterans' Affairs Committee will not be repeated for a very long time.

As the Independent Budget asks of us, I ask my colleagues to remember the faces of the men and women who sacrified so much as we develop a budget worthy of our nation's veterans.

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Rep. Bob Filner's Floor Statements