NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Washington, DC – In a stunning reversal, the House has handed Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois, Democratic Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and several colleagues a major victory. By a voice vote late Tuesday, members overturned a close vote taken on Monday to prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from partially funding a federal lawsuit against tobacco companies. The veterans agency expects to recover the costs of caring for veterans with tobacco-related illnesses, estimated to cost between $1and $4 billion a year out of VA’s strained health care budget.

"This is an important victory," said Evans. "The tobacco lobby may have deep pockets, but it embarrassed the House on Monday by its brazenness, and members did the right thing upon reflection."

In the earlier decision, the House defeated, by a narrow margin of 197-207, an effort by Evans and Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) to repeal a Republican-sponsored rider to the FY 2001 VA-HUD Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4635) to "defund" the pending federal tobacco lawsuit and shelter the tobacco companies from federal liability. Arguments on behalf of the Republican rider were originally written on a Philip Morris letterhead, Waxman revealed Monday at a joint press conference. Advocates for the nation’s veterans backed Evans in the contest.

The defeated rider expressly stated that no money budgeted for litigation support could be used "for the purposes of supporting litigation against tobacco companies." This provision was one of several inserted into appropriations bills by House leadership, apparently aimed at gutting federal efforts to recover the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses.

"I joined my colleagues in offering an amendment to remove language which would kill any possible recovery of damages to pay for veterans health care," said Evans. "Most of the major veterans organizations supported us. It has been estimated that it costs between $1 and $4 billion a year – as much as one dollar out of every five appropriated for veterans health care – to care for veterans with tobacco-related illnesses.

Under the Medical Care Recovery Act, recovery by the Justice Department of these costs would be returned to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The effect of the rider would have been to block the VA from potentially obtaining tens of billions of dollars -- money badly needed to address significant shortfalls in health care resources. "Considering the struggles veterans and their supporters in Congress have had in achieving the current levels of funding for VA medical care," Evans said, "it would have been unconscionable for the House to have let this tobacco industry special interest legislative gimmick stand."

The VA strongly supports this suit and has worked closely with the Justice Department as it moves forward. Leading veterans service organizations -- AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars -- also support the litigation. These organizations have written to Members of Congress, urging them "to oppose efforts to stymie attempts by the Department of Justice to advance a lawsuit seeking to recover health care costs associated with tobacco-related diseases."

Evans pointed to parallel Republican efforts to hobble the federal suit to recover taxpayer costs. "The same riders to prohibit funding the lawsuit are included in the appropriations bills for the Departments of Defense [DoD] and Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]," he said. These bills are still pending.

"I hope our victory in the VA bill will encourage my House colleagues to reject the lure of tobacco lobby pressure," Evans said, "and allow these agencies to recover what American taxpayers lose because of tobacco-related illnesses among military retirees and Medicare recipients. I’m certain our veterans organizations will stand with us on the DoD and HHS appropriations bills.

During prolonged debate on VA-HUD Appropriations for FY 2001, Evans also worked to engineer a compromise adding $30 million to VA medical research, and another $30 million to the state veterans homes programs. There was widespread agreement on the need for additional funding in these areas. Evans’ leadership efforts were strongly supported by many veterans’ organizations, including Paralyzed Veterans of America, The American Legion, Blinded Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America.

The additional funding, adopted by unanimous consent, will be offset by a reduction in the $5.5 billion appropriation provided by the Committee for the Human Space Flight account, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). "While Congress may choose to continue providing support for NASA’s efforts to reach for the stars," Evans said, "let’s first make certain our obligations here at home have been fully honored. As we continue to benefit from the prosperity, peace, and democracy hard won and protected, we are honor-bound to fulfill our special obligations to America’s veterans."

As the vote approached, Evans called upon House members to honor veterans by supporting his amendment. "As a nation," he said, "we have a special obligation to America’s veterans. They have earned the benefits they receive from a grateful nation. The service and sacrifice, blood, sweat and tears of the men and women who have honorably served in our Armed Forces has allowed for the historic prosperity our nation now enjoys."