Daniel Akaka: “I rise today with my friends, Senators Kennedy and Dodd, to offer an amendment to address the costs of providing health…”

“I rise today with my friends, Senators Kennedy and Dodd, to offer an amendment to address the costs of providing health care and improved benefits to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. This amendment we offer today allows VA to provide care for returning troops--without displacing those veterans currently using the system. Let us never forget the budget disaster last year. Early in the year, we knew VA was not making ends meet. The administration, however, took months to come to that realization. And just last week, the President signed a declaration of emergency funding for $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2006. We cannot repeat last year's budget scenario. This amendment provides more cushion for this fiscal year and future years. Early warnings are that this will not be enough to cover expected shortfalls for this fiscal year. And VA will surely not have enough funding to open the system up to all veterans. In 2003, this administration closed the doors to all middle-income veterans who had not enrolled prior to that time. To date, more than 250,000 veterans who have tried to enroll for VA health care have been rejected. In Hawaii alone, 710 veterans were turned away at the door. We have no idea how many middle-income veterans never even try to enroll. This amendment also sends a message that the Senate wishes to ensure that our veterans are appropriately compensated.…”