NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

EVANS PRAISES ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR VETERANS;

VICE PRESIDENT GORE REQUESTS $1 BILLION MORE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois, the senior Democratic Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, praised the announcement by Vice President Gore today that the Administration is requesting a $1 billion increase in funding next year for the Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans health care.

"For the last six months," Evans said, "increasing funding for VA and particularly providing more funding for veterans health care next year has been a top priority for me. Today’s announcement by Vice-President Gore that the Administration is requesting $1 billion in additional funding for VA next year should be very welcome news by our nation’s veterans."

Evans sent letters last week to President Clinton and Vice-President Gore calling for additional funding for veterans programs next year. He called the Administration request for $1 billion "a bold action" to bolster veterans programs and honor our Nation’s commitment, stated by President Abraham Lincoln, "to care for him who has borne the battle, his wife and his orphan."

After years of flat-line funding, veterans programs lack the resources required to do the job, Evans said. "An increase of $1 billion for veterans programs, and particularly health care, is the kind of leadership needed to begin to restore vital programs for veterans." Evans said the request "effectively smashes" a temporary ceiling on resources for veterans programs which had been in effect for the past three years.

While resources for veterans programs, particularly health care, have essentially been frozen in place for several years, the costs of providing medical care have continued to increase. At the same time, more veterans have received health care from the VA. As a result, the resources Congress provided to VA have simply become inadequate to furnish high-quality and timely care to veterans. Today VA health care is being rationed, delayed and denied because of inadequate resources. The Administration’s request of $1 billion in added funding for VA next year will help VA begin to restore high-quality health care delivered in a timely manner to our Nation’s veterans.

The key to the funding increase announced by Gore, Evans says, is that the Administration has found a source for the money. Congress pledged an additional $1.7 billion in its April 14 budget resolution. Evans noted that House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Bob Stump (R-AZ) insisted today that the additional $700 million is still vitally needed, and called upon Republican leaders to find the additional $.7 billion they promised. "Actually," says Evans, "I am still disappointed that Chairman Stump and other Republican leaders refused to consider our case, supported strongly by the Nation’s veterans service organizations, that a careful review shows the need for a $3 billion increase in VA funding."

Evans sees the $1 billion announced by Vice President Gore as a solid platform for restoring VA funding. "This is genuine, identified funding," Evans says. "It’s up to the Republican majority in Congress to now follow the leadership of the Vice-President in providing more funding for VA. I hope the Republican leaders in Congress are willing to make a contribution of their own – to really look for money for veterans, perhaps among their massive tax breaks -- then we will have a great opportunity to put things right."