Jerry Lewis: “Mr. Chairman, we have learned over time that when we present an amendment or a bill on the floor that involves funding…”

“Mr. Chairman, we have learned over time that when we present an amendment or a bill on the floor that involves funding for veterans medical care, the House is going to pass that amendment regardless of what the amendment does. As we have gone through this process over the last year-and-a-half, every one of the accounts in this bill have been asked to reduce their rates of growth. But every time we have had a discussion relative to restraining areas of growth in the veterans accounts, to say the least, the House has indicated that, these programs are a sacred cow to Members on both sides of the aisle. This Member has spent a great deal of time since assuming this chairmanship attempting to evaluate the past history of veterans programs, what the veterans authorizing committee has done for veterans, and the responses of the Committee on Appropriations. The one thing that I would like to suggest to the membership as well as to others who are listening, it is most disconcerting to me that we seem to be very proud of the funding levels provided to veteran programs.”