Frank Pallone: “despite the Bush administration finally admitting that veterans' health care is underfunded by $1 billion, yesterday we…”

“despite the Bush administration finally admitting that veterans' health care is underfunded by $1 billion, yesterday we learned that the VA's main priority has absolutely nothing to do with veterans. Instead, the number one priority surrounds a picture of VA Secretary Jim Nicholson. On May 27, an under secretary at the VA sent a memo out to all veterans' facilities around the Nation voicing concern that a large number of them did not have the most current picture of Secretary Nicholson hanging in their facilities. In the memo, the under secretary writes, ``We are asking that you give this your highest priority. We will continue to ask for daily updates on the status of the picture until we are assured that all of our facilities have a current picture displayed.'' Are they kidding, Mr. Speaker? At a time when the Department of Veterans Affairs is forcing drastic veterans' cuts, do they really want their officials out at their facilities concentrating on the best place to display a picture of the VA Secretary? Here is the response from an official at one of the VA's facilities, and again I am quoting: ``And here we're trying to figure out where our next patient meal is coming from and what furniture to sell to buy drugs next year.'' Mr. Speaker, while Washington Republicans are willing to support our troops while they are at war, they are unwilling to properly support them when they return from the battlefield as veterans.…”