Smith: Put Vets/Military Funding Before Politics

Press Release

Smith: Put Vets/Military Funding Before Politics

Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) last night voted against a measure (H.R. 3043) combining the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations measure with a separate bill funding the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services as well as the Department of Education.

While the Veterans funding bill has strong, bipartisan support, the more contentious Labor-HHS bill has drawn a veto threat from President Bush because of excessive spending. The President has said he would sign the Veterans/Military Construction funding bill if presented separately. Smith, a co-chairman of the Congressional Rural Veterans Caucus, has called for the two funding bills to be considered separately.

Smith is a co-sponsor of a resolution introduced by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) ensuring the House of Representatives considers the Veterans/Military Construction Act as a standalone measure and not as a vehicle to pass less popular, more expensive funding bills.

"The tactic of linking a must-pass, widely-supported funding bill with legislation containing billions of unrelated spending - days before Veterans Day no less - should upset everyone, especially those who have served and are serving to defend our freedom," Smith said.

The House of Representatives passed the Military and Veterans Appropriations bill on June 15, 2007, by the overwhelming vote of 409-2. The Senate passed its own version on September 6, 2007.

"We ask so much of our military men and women, they deserve our help when they come home. This Congress has the responsibility to do the job we were sent here to do, which is to provide the funding our veterans need for their health care and well-being," Smith said.

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