-
About Rick Santorum
-
About Pennsylvania
-
Constituent Services
-
Issues & Legislation
-
Press Office
-
Upcoming Events
-
Youth & Student Corner
-
Contact Information
-
Keystone Connection
-
Employment Opportunities
|
Online Newsletter
Signup for our Email Newsletter!
|
|
Senator Santorum Calls for Increased Funding for Veterans
June 29, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Robert Traynham (202) 224-0610
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today sponsored an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill appropriating additional funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I am pleased that my colleagues have come together in a bipartisan effort to give our veterans the funding they deserve,” said Senator Santorum. “I am disappointed, however, that the Department of Veterans Affairs gave us erroneous information that prevented us from providing the necessary funds in the first place.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had previously indicated that it had sufficient funds to meet the needs of veterans in Fiscal Year 2005; however, recent testimony provided to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee contradicted this assertion and noted that the Department has had to shift as much as $1 billion from other accounts to meet its mission for Fiscal Year 2005. The shortfall in funding is related to the high number of reservists returning from overseas who have enrolled and enrolling in the VA health care system, along with unanticipated and unexpectedly high costs.
Senator Santorum spoke on the Senate floor today to discuss the proposed amendment, “At a recent VFW state convention in Harrisburg, I was asked some pretty pointed questions about veterans health care and was told that there were real problems in our state… As a result of the input I was getting from veterans and the hearing, I sent a letter to Secretary Nicholson last week expressing my deep concern about the shortfall of funding and the lack of candor on the part of the Administration in telling us what was going on with the funding of our veterans facilities.”
Senate cosponsors of the amendment include Senators Hutchison (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Frist (R-TN), McConnell (R-KY), Talent (R-MO), Thune (R-SD), Collins (R-ME), Byrd (D-WV), Murray (D-WA), and Snowe (R-ME).
###
|
|
