Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007

Floor Speech

VETERANS' BENEFITS ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - April 24, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I appreciate Senator Burr's leadership on this issue. I, too, express my appreciation, and I have to say our two Senators from Hawaii are beloved by all Members of this Senate and people whom we respect enormously, as well as the Senator from Alaska.

My father was a veteran of World War II, and the service each of these veterans has provided for our country and for our freedom and security is something we can never thank them for enough.

I agree with Senator Burr that this bill is largely a very good bill, and I am proud to have contributed some provisions that helped enhance veterans' benefits, primarily by cutting redtape that would allow disabled Active-Duty Military personnel to get housing benefits before they officially retire from Active Duty; making family members eligible for housing grants if they are caring for a wounded warrior--and I especially want to recognize the good work of Rosie Babin, the mother of Alan Babin, of Round Rock, TX, who brought this to my attention, and so now we have this provision--and ensuring that burn victims are eligible for housing grants--and this is an area where I want to recognize the work of Christy Patten, the wife of Everett Patten, from Kentucky, who was hospitalized at the Brooke Army Medical Center with burns he received from an IED, and I thank them for the help they provided me in working with the Veterans' Affairs Committee to make sure they were provided for here.

I appreciate the good work our Filipino allies contributed to our effort in the Far East, but I have to say that the problem I have with this bill, and the reason why I agree with Senator Burr, is that the U.S. Treasury is not bottomless, and the funding that is being provided to create this new pension for these Filipino allies, which were of course fighting not only with us but for themselves and for the freedom of their country, is that it would literally be at the expense of U.S. veterans.

The $221 million that is addressed by Senator Burr's amendment would actually go back in to supplement benefits for United States veterans. And while we appreciate and honor and do nothing but show our respect to all of our allies who fought alongside of us in World War II, certainly that doesn't mean we are going to grant pension benefits to all of our allies, starting with the Filipino veterans, or the British, or the Australians, and all the other allies that fought with us in defeating Hitler and the threat in Japan.

Frankly, I can't see our priorities are correct if we do this at the expense of American veterans. That is why I support the amendment by Senator Burr, and I hope our colleagues will vote for it, because certainly our American veterans should be our priority.

I yield the floor.

Source