Angie Craig: “let me speak briefly on what we have done and why I suggest we do not need to do it. I have the great privilege of being…”

“let me speak briefly on what we have done and why I suggest we do not need to do it. I have the great privilege of being the chairman of the authorizing Veterans Affairs Committee. The Senator from Texas has done the right thing to shape the Akaka amendment that calls for, in an emergency spending bill, an emergency of $430 million in this fiscal year, and yet, did you hear what the Senator from Texas said? Because of what I demanded last year, because of what she demanded, because of what Senator Murray demanded, because of what Senator Akaka demanded, we now have a much more accurate accounting system, a quarterly reporting system of the Veterans' Administration. Right now, based on the money we gave them for the 2006 budget, they are 4.3 percent under their spending levels as projected. What does that mean? It means that over $600 million they thought they would spend they are now not spending. So where is the emergency? It doesn't exist. Why are we doing this? How can you spend more in a program in the last half of the year than the whole program was designed to spend in 12 months? And yet in three of the four programs that the Akaka amendment deals with, it does just that. It doesn't make any sense. Well, any fiscal sense. It may make political sense. But the reality is this is simply wrong. In the 2007 budget, we increased their spending. It is the largest increase in a single department spending than any of our Government. Why?…”