Jay Rockefeller: “I am delighted that the budget conferees have reversed the proposed cut in funding for the Department of Veterans…”

“I am delighted that the budget conferees have reversed the proposed cut in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs' research and prosthetics account and have restored funding to $252 million--the fiscal year 1994 level. Because the connection between research and good clinical care is so important in the VA health care system, Senator Murkowski and I wrote a letter to the budget conferees urging that this funding be restored. We believe that the investment in research has a high return in benefits that improve medical treatment for veterans and all Americans, and the budget conferees have agreed. In just the past few months, VA research has yielded important new information about serious medical problems such as prostate cancer, skin cancer, AIDS, schizophrenia, and lupus, just to name a few. The VA research program is also an enormously important tool to recruit and retain high-quality physicians and other professionals, and to maintain VA affiliations with medical schools. Finally, as one VA researcher noted, "Research is more than laboratories, microscopes, and published papers in academic journals." Indeed, 75 percent of VA research programs are led by M.D. investigators who, as members of the VA hospital staff, are also responsible for direct care provided to the veteran patient. By reversing the cut, we have sent a message to VA researchers that we value their work and depend on their discoveries to improve health care for all Americans.”