Angie Craig: “Senator Akaka is en route to the floor to make some final comments on his amendment prior to the vote. With that in…”

“Senator Akaka is en route to the floor to make some final comments on his amendment prior to the vote. With that in mind, and that vote occurring at 3:10, I will take 5 minutes or less to debate in opposition to the Akaka amendment. I do this with great difficulty because the Senator is proposing additional funding in an area that we have already concentrated on, both in the appropriating subcommittee and in the authorizing committee. He is asking for an additional $10 million in the budget for the Veterans Readjustment Counseling Service. This would represent a $14 million increase for the service just this year and that is an increase of almost 15 percent in its budget. I agree the Veterans Readjustment Counseling Service does great work. They have taken on some additional roles, including the Global War on Terrorism Outreach Program, but this bill already provides a generous $4 million increase for this function and more broadly provides over $3 billion for veterans health care programs. I understand the Senator from Hawaii would like to focus some attention on this program with his amendment, but I would say to my colleagues that I believe the administration and the Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee, which I chair, has already focused the necessary needed additional attention on mental health and the counseling needed for our returning service members.…”