María Elvira Salazar: “I rise to discuss two amendments to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. My first…”

“I rise to discuss two amendments to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. My first amendment No. 1867, is an attempt to avoid the budget fiasco we faced earlier this year. We are working on an appropriations bill for a Department of Veterans Affairs that is under a cloud. The VA is under a cloud because earlier this year, it announced a $1.27 billion budget deficit. This news came as a surprise to millions of veterans across the country and was completely unexpected by Members of Congress. In fact, the news of this gigantic shortfall came, not from an official announcement, but by accident, during a routine budget meeting with congressional staffers. This was a billion-dollar blindside that never should have happened, and that should never happen again. I commend Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and Diane Feinstein as well as Senators Craig and Akaka for their leadership in speeding additional funding to fill the gap this year. I also commend them for their great work in this appropriations bill and in their subcommittee report to make sure that this kind of budget fiasco does not happen again. Specifically the requirement in this bill that VA make quarterly budget reports to Congress makes good sense.…”