Cliff Stearns: “Good morning, Mr. Speaker. My colleagues, the House passed the largest increase in veterans funding in the 77-year…”

“Good morning, Mr. Speaker. My colleagues, the House passed the largest increase in veterans funding in the 77-year history of the Veterans Affairs Department. The bill provides more than $37 billion for veterans programs. This is a $4.4 billion increase over last year. As pointed out earlier, it has been over 130 days since the House passed the VA/Military Construction funding. Yet they have refused to appoint conferees like the Senate, their counterparts, have already done. So at this point the bill can't move forward and be signed by the President. By the Democrats' failure to move forward on this bill, veterans are losing out on $600 million for posttraumatic stress disorder care, traumatic brain injury research and care; $4.1 billion to improve VA facilities, hospitals and clinics; and, lastly, $480 million for prosthetic research to help our wounded veterans retain a positive quality of life. Mr. Speaker, we urge our Democrat colleagues to move forward on this bill and have it to the President so he can sign it on Veterans Day.”