Rep. Capito Supports Increased Veterans Funding

Press Release

U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) issued the following statement in support of the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2015 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act:

"We as a nation owe our veterans a great debt of gratitude for their service, and this important piece of legislation provides the Veterans Affairs Department with the resources they need to serve veterans, their spouses and their dependents. By providing much-needed funding to reduce the claims backlog and strengthen crucial veterans programs, including pensions, mental health and suicide prevention, we can ensure a more responsive VA and better care for our nation's veterans."

This bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives 416-1, would provide $158 billion for the Veterans Affairs Department, a 7 percent increase from fiscal 2014.

The legislation would also provide the following funding provisions:

Fully fund programs to reduce the claims and appeals backlog, including additional funding for digital scanning of health records, centralized mail and overtime
Fully fund pension payments for 519,000 veterans and their survivors
Fully fund service-connected compensation payments for an estimated 4,569,000 veterans, survivors and dependents
$45 billion for VA medical services, an increase of $1.4 billion more than fiscal year 2014 funding levels. This would provide for the treatment of 6.7 million patients in fiscal year 2015
$7.2 billion for mental health programs
$7.4 billion for homeless veterans support
$229 million for traumatic brain injury
$133 million for suicide prevention

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