With American troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq defending our freedom and making us more secure, there is bipartisan agreement that money spent taking care of our veterans is money well-spent.

The U.S. House today voted unanimously to increase funding for veterans medical services by $575 million over the 2006 budget request.

The Military Quality of Life Appropriations Bill allocates $22.5 billion for veteran's medical services which is a $1.7 billion increase over 2005 levels. "Over the last two years, Congress has increased funding for veterans by 18 percent," said Wamp, the only Tennessean on the Appropriations Committee.

And for the first time ever the Military Quality of Life bill includes $2.2 billion specifically for specialty mental health care. It also doubles the funding for veterans' mental health research with a detailed focus on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"There is no greater investment this country can make than in medical services, housing and quality of life for the men and women who volunteer to serve and defend it in some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable," Wamp said. "Though we must tighten our fiscal belt in many areas and get a handle on federal spending, services to our veterans have to remain a top priority."

The legislation passed by the House Friday also includes:

$50 million for various force protection measures for soldiers stationed in Iraq.

$5.1 billion for active duty military construction and $1.1 billion for reserve components.

$4.0 billion for family housing construction and operations to continue the goal of providing adequate housing for our service members and their families. 

"Whether we are asking the brave men and women of every branch of our armed services to fan out across the globe to hunt down terrorists, or whether they volunteer to pull people to safety from natural disasters here at home, they must have confidence that we at home have their back," Wamp said. "The legislation passed today does just that."