John Bel Edwards: “Mr. Chairman, I can think of no group that deserves Congress' support more than America's veterans, and this amendment…”

“Mr. Chairman, I can think of no group that deserves Congress' support more than America's veterans, and this amendment is about supporting and keeping our commitment to those veterans. According to the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the $535 million in increased VA medical care and research funding in this amendment is needed and I quote, ``to fill the funding gap so the needs of our Nation's veterans can be properly met.'' Dennis Cullinan, director of the National Legislative Service for the Veterans of Foreign Wars sent me a letter 2 days ago saying the VFW, and I quote, ``would like to take this opportunity to extend our support to your amendment.'' Mr. Chairman, why is this amendment needed? The answer is very simple, to keep our commitment to our Nation's veterans, just as those veterans have kept their commitment to us. As the DAV, VFW, AMVETS and Paralyzed Veterans of America have said, ``over the past decade, spending for veterans' health care has fallen dramatically short of keeping pace with medical inflation and associated cost increases.'' How do we pay for my amendment? We do it by simply delaying the recently passed estate tax reduction for estates only over $20 million. That would save us $1 billion over 2 years, the exact same amount it would take to improve health care for America's 25 million veterans.”