Jim Nussle: “The Washington Post has something to say about all of this discussion on veterans, and let me just read this to my…”

“The Washington Post has something to say about all of this discussion on veterans, and let me just read this to my colleagues because The Washington Post, I do not think anybody would accuse The Washington Post of being somehow shilling for the Republican Party. It says here, in fact, in an article on March 24, just yesterday, ``Veterans Funding Dispute not a Simple Matter,'' is the headline. And it says, in fact, Bush has never cut the agency's budget: ``The President has proposed increasing its discretionary budget, funding for programs not required by law, in each of his annual budget proposals.'' In fact, it goes on to say: ``The bulk of that money would go to the agency's health care programs. Over the course of his administration, Bush, along with Congress, has increased that portion of the agency's budget by $7 billion.'' Now, again, there has been CBO discussion, there has been OMB discussion, there has been veterans discussion. This bill, that bill. Listen to The Washington Post. They even say our budget is not cutting funding for veterans.”