Rep. Corrine Brown: “I am on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and have been on that committee for the entire 10 years I have been…”

“I am on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and have been on that committee for the entire 10 years I have been here in this Congress. Let me tell my colleagues I am very upset over the fact that we have a budget before this Congress that talked a great talk for veterans, but does not walk the walk. I cannot believe that we are going from $2 to $7 for copayments. We in this Congress ought to be ashamed of ourselves. If we want to help the veterans, help them financially and not with this phony talk. Vote down this amendment. I believe that the Bush Administration budget for veterans is an absolute disgrace. Their proposal is particularly disappointing when one considers the fact that the Bush Administration made various public statements describing how they were going to improve and increase the veterans' budget. The Administration claims that this year's budget requests a record-setting $25.5 billion for medical programs, but in reality, they are asking Congress to appropriate $22.75 billion for veterans' medical care--$2.75 billion less than the reported record-setting reported total.”