OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Veterans Health Programs Improvement Act of 2004

Date: Nov. 17, 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Veterans Health and Health Care


VETERANS HEALTH PROGRAMS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2004 -- (House of Representatives - November 17, 2004)

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: The gentleman from New Jersey (Chairman Smith); the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), subcommittee chairman; the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), our ranking member; and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez), ranking member of the subcommittee. They have done a fabulous job in putting together this legislation.

And this is a good day for veterans. It is a good day for veterans because, again, we are beginning to address some of the issues that we should have addressed a long time ago. Let me just say the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) has done a very wonderful job. I am very proud of the work he has done, and I really do commend him to the care and attention that he has given.

And to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), I served with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) when I first came to the House, and I had the opportunity even to vote for him to be Chair. Sonny Montgomery has never forgiven me. But he is the best advocate the veterans have ever had, and I appreciate him each and every day.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is important for a number of reasons. Someone mentioned earlier that homelessness among the veterans of this country is a disgrace, and it really is. I was at the U.S. Vets again on Veterans Day, and that program fed over 600 or 700 veterans off the street who were homeless. Some of them were fortunate enough to be in the program; others just off the street who were fed that day. But any place that one goes in America and particularly in our cities, when they go to the areas where the homeless congregate, whether they are in the downtowns or wherever they are, disproportionately those will be veterans. So this bill increases the overall authorization for the Grant and Per Diem Homeless Veterans Assistance Program from $75 million to $99 million in funding year 2005, and I hope that each year it will continue to go up.

It is a good bill. It has a lot of good things that are covered in the bill. And so I am pleased that I am here to support it, and I would ask my colleagues to do so.

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