Department Of Interior, Environment, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (Senate - June 29, 2005)
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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have said throughout this debate--as I spoke on the supplemental, as I have been out here on the floor many times and in our committee--veterans are not a Republican issue; they are not a Democratic issue; they are an American issue.
I think what you see happening on the floor this afternoon is exactly to that point. I congratulate the Senator from Pennsylvania, as well as the Senator from Idaho, LARRY CRAIG, and the Senator from Texas, Mrs. Hutchison, who have been working diligently with us in a nonpartisan way to address a real need, and that is to take care of the men and women who have served us so nobly in previous wars and in the current conflicts in which we are engaged.
From my side, I thank Senator Byrd, who stood with me valiantly as we have worked to provide the funds for the men and women who are serving us overseas. I thank him for his leadership on this issue. I thank Senator Akaka, ranking member on the Veterans Committee, who has worked with us to make sure that on our side we are provided with accurate statistics and are moving forward.
At the end of the day who win are the men and women who serve us. It is a real tribute to this Senate that we are now standing here today with the amendment offered by the Senator from Pennsylvania to add $80 million to our amendment, to now be providing $1.5 billion for veterans services. We are here because we know when we ask men and women to serve us overseas, we tell them we will be there for them when they come home. What you see on the floor this afternoon is Republicans and Democrats standing together shoulder to shoulder to say in this body, we will be there for our men and women who serve us overseas.
There is going to be a lot of blame to go around. I have been asked: How did you know 2 months ago when no one else did? I started working with our veterans who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan late last year, beginning in January, and hearing the same stories that Senator Santorum just talked about of how our VA facilities were turning vets away, how there wasn't enough care, particularly for post-traumatic stress syndrome.
I think we all know that in the conflict that is before us today in Iraq, it being a 360-degree war where there is no front line to return back from, we are going to see a number of our service men and women increasingly needing that kind of care. We are also seeing that facilities that have not been maintained well were counting on the appropriations that we had this year. We are talking about veterans from previous wars who are now turning 60 and needing more health care being turned away. I think I began to look realistically at the numbers from the VA and became concerned that their projections were not based on the reality of what was occurring, which is why I offered my amendment to the supplemental.
I especially pay tribute to Senator LARRY CRAIG from Idaho. When Senator Akaka and I offered the emergency supplemental bill, he was given a letter from the VA that said: We don't need any money. This is not a crisis. Our projections say that we are just fine.
So Senator Craig and others from the other side opposed us on that amendment at that time. But Senator Craig said to me on the floor, if I am proved wrong, I will stand with you to make sure we provide the dollars for our veterans that are required. Since he was told by the Veterans' Administration last Thursday that there is, indeed, a shortfall of $1.5 billion or more--I hope it is not more, but at least that much--he said that he would work with me, and he has kept to his word. This is a real tribute to this country that we can come together on an issue such as this, recognize that errors have been made, but it is time to move on, time to provide the dollars.
I see Senator Hutchison from Texas who has been working with us as well. I want my colleagues to know we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder to meet this debt in front of us. I want to work with all of you so we have the right projections for next year as Senator Hutchison puts her 2006 appropriations bill together so we are not sitting here 6 months from now, a year from now, 2 years from now saying we were wrong again. This has given us a tremendous opportunity to get it right. I can't think of anybody it is more important to get it right for than those who serve our country.
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[AMENDMENT NO. 1071 TO AMENDMENT NO. 1052]
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we have a number of colleagues who wanted to come and say a few words about this amendment and about service for veterans. I urge them to come to the floor, because it is clear we are ready to move at any time. If anybody has additional comments, please come.
I have been out on the floor several times over the last several days and I have expressed my anger at the Veterans' Administration for not being up front and honest about the numbers in the projections, even though it was clear to those of us looking at the numbers that we were facing a very severe crisis in the VA. That was the reason I offered an amendment for the Veterans' Administration on the emergency supplemental. It is why I have repeatedly raised this issue throughout the budget process, appropriations process, and throughout the last several months.
I think it is very clear that those of us who have been out on the ground talking to our veterans know this is a crisis. Yesterday, the VA came before the Veterans' Committee. Senator Craig had a hearing and had the Secretary before us. He was continuing to say we could fix this problem today by taking money from construction and maintenance projects that we had appropriated and allocated money for for 2005. I think it is very clear that the Senate now shortly will be on record saying we believe those maintenance projects need to go forward, that those construction projects need to go forward, and the medical equipment promised to our VA services needs to be in place. That is so important.
I was in Iraq a couple months ago, and our service men and women from Washington State met with me there. The very first question they asked me was: Is my country going to be there for me when I get home? Will I have health care?
I feel it is important that when we look our soldiers in the eye, we answer them honestly. Today, with the Senate going on record with an emergency supplemental to deal with this, we are going to be able to say we are doing the best we can to make sure the services are there. I urge the Veterans' Administration to do the same. I think it is disheartening and disconcerting to all of us when we rely on the Secretary and his agency to make sure they are honest about what the numbers are and they are incorrect. We need that so we can do our job in providing for our service men and women.
We are doing that with this amendment today. We all know there is work to come, and with the 2006 budget and appropriations bill, we need to have an honest assessment. We cannot continue to project a 2-percent increase for veterans when we already know the number of men and women coming back is much higher than that. We already know that the service men and women, particularly from the Vietnam war, who are reaching the age of 60, are increasingly accessing our veterans facilities. We already know that the maintenance projects out there are critical. We have to do the right thing. We have to make sure the funding is there.
Again, I commend Members on both sides of the aisle. I see the Senator from Idaho, Senator Craig, is here. I take this opportunity to thank him. He has been most generous in working with us, as we have moved this issue forward because information given to him that was erroneous at the time. He did give me his word that should things change, he would be there to work with us. He has kept his word in an admirable way, bringing the Secretary before the committee, working on this amendment on the floor, and he is here to speak as well. I tell him how much I appreciate his forthrightness and his willingness to work with us to solve this dilemma.
We will be voting on the Santorum amendment, which adds $80 million to our amendment that has $1.42 billion, making sure we have a total of $1.5 billion to provide for our veterans services for the 2005 budget and make sure we don't have to go into funds for other projects and put them in a waiting line, which would be a disservice.
I urge our Democratic colleagues who want to speak to this amendment to come to the floor as soon as they can. I thank my colleagues for working with us, the House, and the White House to hopefully have a supplemental in place before the July 4 recess.
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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, as we wind up the debate, it would be easy for me to stand here on the floor of the Senate--after months of saying we need to address this issue, we need an emergency supplemental and we are finally here--to say I told you so. But that is not how I feel right now.
What I am thinking about at this point is my own father, who was a veteran of World War II, one of the first soldiers into Okinawa, who was injured, sent to Hawaii, was in the hospital there for 3 months, and he went back to serve in Okinawa again and then was in a wheelchair for most of my life before he passed away.
I am thinking of the men and women in the veterans' hospital in Seattle WA, back in 1972 when I was a senior in college and I volunteered at the veterans' hospital there during the Vietnam war, working on the psychiatric ward with young men and women my age who were returning from Vietnam and understanding what they were going through, and then going back onto the street and the public not aware of the sacrifice of these soldiers.
I am thinking of the young men and women I recently met in Iraq serving us today, who were asking us: Will my country be there for me?
I can assure you none of those soldiers were saying: Will the Republicans be there for me? Will the Democrats be there for me? They were asking: Will we, as Americans, be there for them? With Democrats and Republicans alike just about to vote for this amendment--that will make the underlying amendment $1.5 billion with the amendment of the Senator from Pennsylvania--what we can say is that this Senate stands in full support of our soldiers, from previous conflicts as well as the ones who are serving us today. I think that is a powerful message and one of which I am very proud.
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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we are about to vote on the Murray amendment, as amended. I remind all of our colleagues, this has been a long road in coming to get to the point today where we stand as a united body to make sure we provide the funds for our veterans that are needed in this coming fiscal year.
As I said when we ended this debate, this is not a Republican issue; this is not a Democratic issue; this is an American issue. It is the right thing to do as we head into the Fourth of July recess to know that we are providing the funds in an emergency supplemental to make sure none of our members in the service from prior conflicts or the wars today who are coming home will be denied the services they have been promised.
This is a proud moment for the Senate. I want to work with my colleagues now to make sure the House and the White House work with us to expeditiously get these funds in place for our veterans.
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