NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

GOP Tax Cut Plan Loots the VA, Says Evans

Washington, DC – Lane Evans of Illinois, Democratic Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, denounced the $864 billion GOP tax cut bill approved yesterday by House Republicans in the Ways and Means Committee as a blueprint for not only tax cuts, but cutbacks in veterans programs as well. "The Republican tax cut threatens to undercut both veterans health care and the veterans educational benefits that have been recognized for decades as not only the long-standing obligation of the Nation to its veterans, but also as the best recruiting incentives we can offer to keep our armed forces strong and sharp. They are looting the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] to help pay for this greedy gift to their own interest groups."

House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich (R-OH) wrote Ways and Means Committee Chairman William Archer (R-TX) in a July 13 letter that, based on the budget resolution and the new CBO projections, "I believe your bill should cut taxes by $5 billion in fiscal year 2000, $200 billion over five years and $864 billion over 10 years," according to the National Journal Congress Daily AM. Ways and Means approved the $864 billion figure, more than four-fifths of a projected $1 trillion in surplus revenues.

On the other hand, the budget resolution adopted in April provided $1.7 billion more than the Administration proposed for VA discretionary spending, the source of VA health care funding, for the next fiscal year. This increase, however, was only for that one year – fiscal year 2000. Despite this budget blueprint for VA discretionary spending in FY 2000, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies has been allocated eight percent (8%) less discretionary spending for FY 2000 than Congress enacted for this year.

"We are enjoying a balanced budget for the first time in a generation," Evans says. "This is a prudent time to make repairs that will salvage the VA. Why would the Republicans threaten this opportunity just to give massive tax cuts to the wealthy? The $864 billion Republican tax cut is a destructive plan that will eat the surplus alive and suck the VA dry. They are trading veterans for votes and it is shameful."

Rationing health care and lay-offs at VA

What concerns Evans most is the prospect of cutting funding for VA health care while slashing revenues, to give out tax cuts nobody is calling for. "A Harris poll I’ve seen says only 12 percent of the electorate names taxes as one of the most important issues facing the nation," Evans says. "Voters put tax cuts dead last, behind education, Social Security, health care, Medicare and poverty. Here the Republicans are handing out $864 billion for tax relief when $3 billion would provide the things veterans need most next year by way of health care, and $5 billion over the next decade would straighten out veterans education and military recruiting."

Evans has been sending fellow House members daily letters since late June, quoting reports from all around the nation of rationing and reducing health care -- localized cuts in health care staff and services for veterans, ranging from surgery units to mental health care, and of veterans holding protest rallies. The head of the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Kenneth Kizer, announced his resignation during a furor over his reconfirmation that began with the release of a memo warning of severe staffing cuts.

"You cannot keep doing this to veterans," says Evans. "These men and women risked everything they had, frequently at great sacrifice, to keep this country safe and sound. Now Vietnam veterans, along with World War II and Korean War veterans, are facing the increased health problems that go with aging. The cost of veterans health care goes up as they grow older, yet Congress is cutting the VA budget and handing out fistfuls of money to its friends."

Pointing to disquiet even among his Republican colleagues, Evans quotes Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), a deficit hawk, from the morning news: "We're dealing with the politics of plenty, so this probably isn't the right moment for big tax cuts." Iowa Republican Greg Ganske suggested July 13 a "hefty tax cut" of only one-third of the projected $1 trillion in surplus revenues rather than $864 billion. The Washington Post reports that a single provision to enable American multinational corporations to increase foreign tax credits "would cost the Treasury an estimated $25 billion in lost revenue over 10 years." Less than a third of that figure would put VA right, Evans says.

"We’re talking about a national health care provider," Evans notes, "that has trained over half the doctors practicing in America today. VA research pioneered the CAT scan, the pacemaker, high-resolution MRIs and breakthrough prosthetic devices for amputees. It is the largest federal health care system, the safety net for 27 million veterans. Why would they monkey with it?"

GOP refuses to upgrade Montgomery GI Bill

Evans says the Republican tax cuts will also sacrifice progress in national security. House leaders have refused to fund an upgrade in the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) seen by recruiters and the commanders of the Armed Services’ Recruiting Commands as the most important recruiting incentive for the Armed Services.

When it was enacted in 1984, the Montgomery GI Bill provided 90 percent of the cost of a college education. But education costs have nearly doubled since 1980 and GI Bill benefits have not kept pace. Now MGIB provides less than half of that cost. High ability, college-bound young Americans are choosing not to serve in the Armed Forces. Today, potential recruits view the Montgomery GI Bill as an inadequate educational benefits package for the commitment it seeks.

As a result, the military has become increasingly unable to compete with colleges for the caliber of high school graduates it needs to operate today’s complex weapon systems and equipment. The Army missed its recruitment goal during the first quarter of 1999 by more than 2,300. The Armed Forces are accepting lower-ability recruits in an effort to meet recruiting goals. The services will probably not succeed in recruiting the number of high quality young men and women they need in FY 1999.