Appropriations Bills

Appropriations Committee member Chet Edwards began gathering Congressional signatures Tuesday, October 5, 2004 on a "Discharge Petition," which would force the House of Representatives to consider a freestanding bill, HR 4423, that increases funding for veterans’ healthcare by 4.22% above the 2005 VA-HUD Appropriations bill. Two hundred eighteen of the 435 House Members will have to sign the petition to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote.

HR 4423 would provide an additional $1.3 billion for VA healthcare above the amount in the 2005 appropriations bill, bringing the total up to the $32.1 billion recommended by the bipartisan House Committee on Veterans Affairs and supported by the nation's Veterans Service Organizations.

Edwards has offered amendments twice this year to increase veterans’ healthcare funding, but both were voted down on close straight party votes. The first vote occurred on the same day the House of Representatives passed a resolution marking the one-year anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom and expressing gratitude to U.S. troops in Iraq.