Bill Nelson: “we have arrived at the moment of truth on veterans. Veterans have been all over this Capitol today pleading their case…”

“we have arrived at the moment of truth on veterans. Veterans have been all over this Capitol today pleading their case regarding their health care. There is not one Member from any one of our 50 states who has not heard from veterans the tales of woe, the tales of inefficiency, the tales of long waits, waits as much as 6 months to get an appointment with a VA doctor to get a prescription. The way I approached this amendment was to go to the deliberations of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and to find and be guided by their bipartisan analysis of the Veterans' Administration budget, concluding we must add $1.8 billion in order to adequately fund the health care requirements of veterans. Listen to the words of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs when he testified last month to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Secretary Principi said: I asked for $1.2 billion more than I received. In other words, even the Secretary of the VA is calling for more money. The President's budget makes up the difference for these cuts in trying to rely on copayments from veterans on enrollment fees. To pay, the administration has tried to impose this tax--and it is a tax--on the hard-earned benefits of veterans in the past, but the Congress has not and is not going to allow it. We simply cannot accept a budget that includes access fees and higher prescription drug copayments.”