Hilda L. Solis: “today I rise concerning the budget cuts President Bush has proposed on the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is nothing…”

“today I rise concerning the budget cuts President Bush has proposed on the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is nothing more than a smoke screen to make the overall budget numbers look better while veterans are going to have to shoulder most of those costs. The budget makes veterans pay $250 to enroll in health services and doubles their copayments for prescription drugs, changes which will affect more than 2 million veterans. It makes veterans wait longer for claims to be processed, delaying very vital medical services. It provides a dismal 1.7 percent increase in funding, far from the 14 percent the Veterans Affairs Department really needs to sustain its current services. President Bush's budget also forgets about the new veterans serving abroad. Over 1,400 have been killed, 11,000 injured, and 10 in my district alone have been killed. These military families are struggling right now. They lack mental health care and other needed services such as bilingual services. They also lack burial funds. Let us keep our commitment and not cut back the budget.”