Louise Slaughter: “It is now our duty to make sure that we finance the war that presently is waging in Iraq. Many of our young soldiers…”

“It is now our duty to make sure that we finance the war that presently is waging in Iraq. Many of our young soldiers, men and women, they are facing dangers every day. We have to finance the military operations of these men and these women, but our duty to the soldiers extends beyond the duration of the war in Iraq. Our duty requires us to increase funding to the Veterans Administration for there are veterans in the making right this very moment; and for the current veterans, we have let them down. It is a terrible statistic to know that nationwide in the year 2002, almost 300,000 veterans were either placed on waiting lists or forced to wait for over 6 months in order to receive an appointment for necessary care. In New York State, 130,000 veterans could be denied the VA benefits or drop out of the system, including 30,000 veterans in western New York which I represent alone. Now, as we have cut the budget already for the Veterans Administration, as we already have 300,000 veterans a year waiting just to get an appointment, what will happen when the veterans from Iraq come home? What will we say to them? We really appreciate your service. It was wonderful of you to go. I am sorry we have no way to give you medical treatment. Take a number and wait your turn.”