Chet Edwards For Congress

American Legion: House passes VA funding bill

American Legion | August 02, 2008

The House of Representatives passed its fiscal year 2009 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill on Aug. 1 in a strong bipartisan vote of 409 to 4. The 2009 legislation (H.R. 6599) builds on historic increases for veterans and troops passed into law last year, which saw the largest funding increase in VA's 77-year history.

"This bipartisan bill builds on the historic increases in the fiscal year 2008 bill and sends a clear message to America's troops, veterans and their families that we honor and respect their service and sacrifice," said Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.

"This is about the moral responsibility of keeping our promises to those who have kept their promise to serve. The humility of this bill is our knowing that we can never fully repay the debt of gratitude we owe (to) all who have served in uniform to protect the American family."

Overall, the bill totals $118.7 billion and provides $72.7 billion in discretionary spending, $47.7 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, $24.8 billion for military construction, family housing and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), and $241 million for related agencies. It is $3.4 billion more than the president's request, and $8.8 billion more than the historic fiscal year 2008 bill.

In his first year as chairman in 2007, Edwards authored historic increases of $11.8 billion in veterans health care and benefits.

H.R. 6599 must now be passed by the Senate. Following is a more specific breakdown of the appropriations:

VA: It's getting $47.7 billion - $4.6 billion above 2008 and $2.9 billion over the president's request - for veterans medical care, claims processors and facility improvements. The Veterans Health Administration estimates it will treat more than 5.8 million patients in 2009, including more than 333,275 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan (40,000 more than in 2008). Some notable provisions include:

Mental Health Care: Dedicate a minimum of $3.8 billion, $900 million more than 2008, to specialty mental-health services for veterans with mental illness and PTSD, and for suicide prevention.

Priority 8 Veterans: $568 million to increase enrollment of Priority 8 (low- to middle-income) veterans by 10 percent.

Mileage Reimbursement: Increased funding to raise the gas mileage reimbursement rate from 28.5 cents to 41.5 cents per mile for veterans traveling distances for care, and a freeze on the associated deductible.

Claims Processors: Increased funding to hire 2,100 additional claims processors to alleviate the backlog of 390,000 benefits claims, and to reduce the six-month wait to process new claims.

Rural Veterans: $200 million more to provide increased access to local health-care providers for veterans, Guardsmen and reservists living far away from VA facilities in rural areas.

Maintenance: $300 million more to address the backlog in maintenance at VA medical facilities to prevent another Walter Reed Annex 18 tragedy.

Prosthetics: $116 million more to increase availability of new-generation prosthetics.

Research: $58 million more for medical research in trauma, traumatic brain injury, mental health and other critical areas in finding the best treatments for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Homeless Veterans: $130 million to provide additional case workers and medical services.

Oversight: Additional $11 million for the Office of the Inspector General to provide additional personnel to inspect the community-based outpatient clinics and Vet Centers, to avoid a Walter Reed scandal in the VA system.

Construction: Increases VA construction by $1 billion above the president's request, which will provide needed funding for six additional major construction projects, and another 145 minor construction projects at VA facilities for fiscal year 2009.

Military Construction: $24.8 billion, $400 million above the president's request and $4.2 billion above 2008. The large increase is mostly due to the costs of implementing BRAC, and plans to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps.

Some notable provisions include:

2005 BRAC and Re-stationing: $9.1 billion, ($1.8 billion above 2008 and meeting the president's request) to implement base closures and realignments, and support the re-stationing of 70,000 troops and their families from overseas to the United States.

Quality of Life Initiative: $336 million, not requested by the president, to continue a quality of life initiative for troops and their families started in the 2008 supplemental, including nearly $200 million for five new trainee and recruit housing facilities for the Army and Marine Corps, and $136 million for medical military construction.

Growing the Force: $5.6 billion in military construction and family housing, to increase the size of the Army by 65,000, the Marine Corps by 27,000, and the Guard and reserve branches by 9,200 personnel.

Military Housing: $3.2 billion, $300 million above 2008, to further eliminate inadequate military housing.