Statement of Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Veterans Day 2004

Statement of Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Veterans Day 2004

Congressman Bernie Sanders issued the following statement in honor of Veterans Day 2004. Sanders will be speaking tomorrow in Brandon , VT at the dedication of a new Veterans War Memorial for which he helped secure funding.

Sanders said; "Veterans Day is a time to remember and honor those men and women who made the supreme sacrifice in defense of their country. Vermonters have been painfully reminded about the nature of that sacrifice, having recently buried 14 of their own who were killed in Iraq , the highest per capita loss of any state in the nation.

"While our hearts and prayers go out to all families who have suffered the loss of loved ones, we know that words are not enough. Veterans and their families are also looking for deeds. When an American puts on the uniform of his or her country they are signing a contract that could result in the loss of their life or in some terrible injury. Justifiably, they want the United States government to keep its end of that contract which, tragically, is not currently the case.

"Today, our VA hospitals and health care facilities are grossly under-funded and the situation will likely get worse as veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan return home. Hundreds of thousands of veterans, in Vermont and throughout the country, are now on waiting lists to receive the health care from the VA that they were promised, and last year 160,000 veterans were thrown off of VA health care eligibility. The President's totally inadequate new budget for the VA will make a very bad situation worse. It will likely result in more veterans losing VA eligibility, and will raise health care costs for veterans through new enrollment fees and increases in prescription drug-co-payments. That is unacceptable.

"Given the crisis in veterans' health care, Congress must substantially increase the funding that the President's budget has proposed. Promises have been made to veterans and their families, and Congress must make certain that those promises are kept."