Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 15, 2007)

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among veterans who access the VA health care system is markedly higher than that of the general population. Furthermore, barriers within this system contribute to already late diagnoses of HIV among veterans. Early diagnosis is crucial because the sooner an HIV-infected person begins treatment, the more manageable and the more cost effective their treatment will be.

I speak today as a member of the subcommittee with concern about the impact of HIV/AIDS on veterans, not only in Georgia, but throughout the Southeast and every major city around the Nation.

The need for action on this issue, Mr. Chairman, is exemplified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recent Heightened Response to HIV/AIDS in African American Communities initiative. These actions follow the September 2006 release of the CDC's revised HIV testing guidelines, which advise HIV testing become a routine part of medical care.

The VA is the largest integrated health care system in the United States and, therefore, the largest provider of HIV care in the country. However, VA's current HIV testing policy is based on an outdated testing model which is inconsistent with the CDC guidelines.

Compared to the general population, the prevalence of HIV infections is higher among those accessing the VA health care system. A recent study that was conducted by a VA researcher found that at the time of diagnosis 55 percent of HIV-positive veterans had already developed Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, which takes roughly 10 years to develop after it's initially contracted.

Even more disturbing is the fact that most of these veterans had accessed the VA health care system on an average of six times before they were ever diagnosed with this disease. This outdated VA HIV testing policy denies veterans sensible and what is now recommended as standard access to HIV screening in other health care systems.

I applaud the chairman for his leadership in making health care for veterans a priority in the VA appropriations bill. Mr. Chairman, I'm hoping that we can work together to further explore this important issue and address it in an appropriate way as we move forward on the VA Appropriations measure for fiscal 2008.

At this point, I'd like to ask the chairman of the subcommittee if he would be so kind as to yield to Mr. Jackson from Illinois to speak to the issue of HIV prevalence among veterans.

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. I thank the gentleman, our subcommittee chairman, for his tremendous work and bringing our bill to the floor.

Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to rise in full support of our FY 2008 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

As a member of the subcommittee, I am extremely proud of the work that the subcommittee and members on both sides of the aisle have done in crafting a bill which truly supports America's servicemen and -women and their families by boosting military construction funding so that they can have more effective training facilities, better housing, health care and day-care facilities, providing an unprecedented $21.4 billion investment in military construction, family housing and BRAC, or nearly $207 million more than the President's request.

Just as important, I am extremely proud to join my subcommittee colleagues in recommending a historic expansion in support and resources for our Nation's veterans. This bill includes the largest single increase in the 77-year history of the Veterans Administration, increasing the VA budget by $6.7 billion above the 2007 level and $3.8 billion above the President's request.

For the first time in history, funding for VA medical care exceeds the budget of the veterans service organization's independent budget that has been going on now for decades. This will ensure quality health care for 5.8 million patients, including about 263,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, who the VA will treat, expectantly, in FY 2008.

This bill will provide veterans with health care and benefits that we have promised them, resulting in the hiring of more qualified doctors and nurses to improve medical services to our veterans and to reduce the waiting times for doctor appointments and to provide more help to veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury, PTSD, mental health care issues and lost limbs to rebuild their lives. This is truly an accomplishment that all of us, as Members of this august body, should be very proud of.

Of note, our bill also provides funding that gives much-needed nonrecurring maintenance of the VA health care facilities, $500 million above the President's request to prevent a Walter Reed-type situation from occurring in the VA medical system. It will significantly reduce the 400,000 claims backlog of veterans that are waiting for disability and other benefit determinations.

It will provide for better barracks, housing, training facilities for our troops when they return from combat through an unprecedented $24.4 billion investment in military construction, family housing and BRAC, $207 million more than the President's request.

It provides funds to grow our military forces to begin the process of supporting an additional 65,000 Army, 27,000 Marine and 9,000 National Guard troops that will increase our ultimate end strength.

I have the privilege and the honor of representing Fort Benning and Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, and the men and women who work, live and train at this great military facility, who are defending and serving our great Nation with dignity, honor and distinction.

As such, I was very pleased that our subcommittee saw fit to include full funding for the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Account, which is also known as BRAC, at the level of $8.2 billion. This level of funding will be critically important to military facilities, such as Fort Benning, which are expected to see and experience significant new personnel as a result of BRAC and the global repositioning of our forces around the world.

While we in the Columbus area continue to have some concerns with respect to what impact the BRAC process may have on our local school systems in terms of potential dramatic increases in school enrollment, we continue to be encouraged by the interest and support shown by our colleagues on the subcommittee, particularly Mr. Edwards, our chairman.

Finally, I would like to recognize and thank the staff of the subcommittee, Carol Murphy, Mary Arnold, Walter Hearne, Tim Bishop and Donna Shabaz, majority staff; Liz Dawson, Deana Baron and Jamie Swafford, minority staff; and, of course, Michael Reed on my staff for their hard work.

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