Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I want to talk about the Veterans' Administration issue that we dealt with this week in the Senate. I want to bring us…”

“I want to talk about the Veterans' Administration issue that we dealt with this week in the Senate. I want to bring us up to date, where we are, to try to fix some of the problems that Secretary Jim Nicholson has brought to our attention. We were hoping that the Veterans' Administration would not have financial difficulties this year. But I have to say that Jim Nicholson stepped right up to the plate when he saw that, in fact, we would have a shortfall this year, and we would need to borrow from capital funds and maintenance funds in order to make ends meet by the end of this fiscal year, September 30. He came straight to Congress. He didn't try to hide it. He didn't go and try to Band-Aid the Veterans' Administration. He came absolutely public, to the Congress, and said: We have a problem. Even though he did not anticipate it, even as late as a month ago. But, in fact, models that have been used for 20 years in the Veterans' Administration have had to change because we do have veterans now coming out of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are more injuries and fewer deaths in this kind of conflict, and I think we are proud there are fewer deaths and we are proud these soldiers who are injured are going to be taken care of. The Senate voted unanimously this week to amend the appropriations bill that was on the floor with an emergency supplemental of $1.5 billion.…”