Bob Filner: “this morning in ``CQ Today'' we see: ``Shortfall in Veterans Funds Widened.'' The chairman of our committee says, well…”

“this morning in ``CQ Today'' we see: ``Shortfall in Veterans Funds Widened.'' The chairman of our committee says, well, we have to find the right number somewhere; we have to find the right number. Well, I tell you, we had a process where we had the right number. The veterans service organizations through this Independent Budget said exactly what was needed and what we should have both for this year and for the coming year. But did we listen to them? No. The Democrats on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Democrats on this floor tried to amend the appropriations bills so we would get the money that veterans need. They were voted down by a strict party-line vote: all the Democrats voting for the veterans, all the Republicans voting against. We are at war, Mr. Speaker. The way that we win a war is to make sure that the troops when they come home have sufficient funding for health care. I have a thousand veterans on the waiting list at my veterans hospital in San Diego. The brave young men and women who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will have a high probability of having post- traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. Will they get the treatment they need? No. Will they have to wait a year for a dental appointment? Yes. Let us support our troops by supporting them when they come home with proper VA health care funding. ____________________”