Washington, Jul 30, 2003 - Late last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2861, the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2004. Pearce said he supported the measure because it provides substantial funding for Veteran¡¦s medical care and it includes the economic development incentives for New Mexico that he requested.

¡§Veteran¡¦s Medical Care has received generous funding increases over the last several years, an average of $1.6 billion per year over the past five years. The FY04 VA-HUD bill provides a $1.4 billion increase over the previous year, making a total of $27.2 billion in total budgetary resources available for the Veteran¡¦s Health Administration. While there remain funding needs for veteran¡¦s health care, this bill is a positive step forward and the amount the Commander-in-Chief has indicated is sufficient for the Veteran¡¦s Health Administration,¡¨ Pearce said.

The bill increases other Veteran¡¦s benefits including disability and pension payments on the mandatory side by $1 billion over last year. It also triples funding over last year to repair and replace aging VA medical facilities and fully funds the VA¡¦s request to expedite claims processing at the Veterans Benefits Administration bringing total funding to $1 billion for this important initiative to reduce the backlog of claims for veteran¡¦s benefits.

Congressman Pearce secured an Economic Development Initiatives grant of $100,000 for the Hubbard Museum of the American West located in Ruidoso for facilities expansion.
Pearce also helped secure funding under the State Tribal Assistance Grants program for the following projects:

„« $125,000 to the Dona Ana Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association for wastewater management and treatment infrastructure improvements in northern Dona Ana County;

„« $300,000 to the City of Elephant Butte for wastewater infrastructure improvements in North Sierra County;

Finally, Pearce was pleased to see that $50,000,000 was provided for the EPA¡¦s U.S./Mexico Border Initiative which will provide needed funds for border community infrastructure improvements.

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