Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “it is our duty to fulfill our promises to our nation's veterans, the men and women who have put themselves in harm's way…”

“it is our duty to fulfill our promises to our nation's veterans, the men and women who have put themselves in harm's way in service to their country. It is our duty to care for our veterans, and if we pass this legislation, we will fail miserably. We are faced today with a bill that fails to deliver to our veterans the funding they so desperately need. If we pass this bill, we will only be perpetuating the failure of the President's severely lacking budget. Even though this bill would provide $1.7 billion more than the President's request, it is still not nearly enough. Two wrongs do not make a right, and if we pass this legislation our veterans will be wronged yet again, by Congress as well as the Administration. The Republican leadership would have you believe that the Independent Budget submitted by the veterans themselves is bloated and overstates the funding needs for veterans programs. I reject this assertion completely and am horrified that the Republicans are alleging double-counting and padding of budget estimates by respected veterans' groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS, and Paralyzed Veterans of America. As if these allegations were not enough, the Republican leadership is now touting this anemic bill as a cause for celebration and criticizing veterans for 'complaining' when they fail to celebrate over a bill that is lacking over one billion in critically needed funds.”