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Department of Veterans Affairs FY 2005 Budget

February 4, 2004

     This committee has always taken a serious approach to its responsibility to recommend necessary funding levels for veterans benefits and services.  However, controversy over matters having nothing to do with veterans funding resulted in unfortunate delays in the normal funding process.  Fiscal year 2004 began more than four months ago, but the Department of Veterans Affairs is only now able to move forward and provide the services which we provided funding for last October.

     In January, the President signed into law an appropriation measure that increased funding for veterans medical care by $2.5 billion over the previous year, a 10 percent increase.  A year earlier, he also signed a measure which belatedly increased funding by $2.6 billion for fiscal year 2003.  While all of us regret the delay in providing these funds, the bottom line is that more veterans will have access to vital health care services.

     An estimated 74 percent of living veterans have used one or more of the programs which a grateful Nation has provided for them.  Some think that it’s time to reign in spending on veterans programs, that we’re already doing enough for veterans.  I disagree with them, because I understand how much these programs have done to make our country what it is today.  Let’s look at what this country might be like if some current veterans programs had not been authorized and adequately funded.

     The coffers of this country would be substantially leaner because veterans would not have achieved the level of income that the GI Bill enabled them to earn.  The middle class in America would be much smaller, and the number of persons enrolled in colleges and universities would be less than half of what it is today.  The housing stock in this country would be older, and several million houses would not exist.  Many veterans would have died prematurely or would be experiencing debilitating illness.   Our medical profession would be less skilled, and life-saving inventions and medicines would not be available.  The cost of Medicare and other government-sponsored health programs would be tens of billions of dollars higher than they are today.

     This nation has a long history of taking care of veterans when they return from serving their country.  Laws providing benefits for veterans were some of the first laws enacted by the 1st Congress.  We continue that tradition today not only because veterans deserve the gratitude of the nation they served, but because it makes our Nation stronger and safer.

     It is evident that this Congress and this Administration have embraced the cause of veterans.  Just look at the legislation signed into law in the last three years:

 ·           We’ve increased the GI Bill education program by 46 percent.

 ·           We’ve authorized more generous health care and pension benefits for the surviving spouses of those who die of a service-related cause.

 ·           We’ve enacted a comprehensive array of authorities designed to end chronic homelessness among veterans.

 ·           We’ve authorized concurrent receipt of VA disability compensation and military retirement for almost 250,000 veterans.

 ·           We’ve set in motion the largest National Cemetery expansion since this program was established during the Civil War.

 ·           Thanks to the 30 percent funding increase signed into law during the past three years, over one million more veterans are using the VA health care system.

     In addition to these major legislative initiatives, which could not have been accomplished unless we worked in a bipartisan manner, we’ve seen services to veterans become more accessible and timely.  This is a good record to build on. 

     Mr. Secretary, I have heard you quote the late Oliver Wendell Holmes, so let me refer you to one of his best-known quotations.  The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving.

     The budget for veterans benefits and services unveiled on Monday is moving in the right direction.  This budget requests almost $64.9 billion in appropriations for veterans benefits and services.  And while it certainly doesn’t contain all of the funding that advocates will seek, it does request about 96 or 97 percent of what’s needed. 

     In addition, there are several laudable proposals to reduce the financial burden of VA health care for former prisoners of war, terminally ill and low-income veterans.  We welcome these proposals and the request for funds to pay for them.  As in past years, this budget doesn’t cover the cost of all the health care which veterans are seeking from VA nor account for any growth in that demand.  Thus, Congress will have to add funds in the budget process, something we have done in four of the past five years.  Our work begins today.  In addition to the Secretary, we have the Veterans Independent Budget to help guide us, and as in past years, it sets an ambitious goal for the Congress.  I look forward to hearing from the Secretary and all of our witnesses.