Thomas Foley: “on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we will celebrate America's heroes and those are our veterans. Since…”

“on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we will celebrate America's heroes and those are our veterans. Since President Bush and Secretary Principi have taken office, one as President, one as the head of the VA, we have opened 194 new community clinics for a total of 676 clinics; 87 percent of the veterans now live within 30 minutes of a VA medical facility. We have increased enrollment, increased outpatient visits. We have reduced waiting times for our veterans. We have increased prescription drugs coverage for our veterans. We lead for all veterans health clinic quality indicators throughout the entire scope of these facilities. We have increased homeless veterans outreach with a $35 million collaborative program with HUD and HHS. We have reduced the inventory of related claims from over 432,000 to 253,000. We have reduced waiting times for claims answers. We have increased national cemeteries, now six new cemeteries: Atlanta, Detroit, South Florida, Fort Sill, Pittsburg, and Sacramento. We remain on course to complete our national shrine commitment to improve the appearance of our national cemeteries. Veterans have received great response from this administration. We are proud of our record.”