Building on his record of unwavering support for West Virginia's veterans and military personnel, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-WV, Friday cast his vote for an historic funding bill that provides the largest single funding increase in the 77-year history of the Department of Veterans Affairs, while also providing for the needs of our servicemen and women.

"For the first time in a long time, we have passed a spending bill that is worthy of the sacrifices made by the courageous men and women of the U.S. military," Rahall said. "This historic commitment to our soldiers will give the VA more of the resources it needs to adequately provide health care services to the veterans of our State, and will ensure that our soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan continue to receive the aid owed to them."

The $64.7 billion bill, crafted by the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, includes $43.2 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is $3.8 billion more than the President's request. This funding will ensure quality health care for 5.8 million patients, including about 263,000 U.S. vets from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, whom the VA estimates it will treat in FY2008. It will also allow the VA to expand its efforts to effectively tackle the enormous and rapidly growing claims backlog.

"Everyone in Washington claims to be a friend of our veterans, but over the last few years, the Bush Administration seems to have forgotten that taking care of our veterans is a continuing cost of war," Rahall said. "Today, the Democratic Majority in Congress took a significant step toward making up for these past shortfalls and building a better future for all of our veterans."

In addition to assisting the VA in addressing its backlog, the funding will provide for improved access to medical services for all veterans, ongoing maintenance and renovations of existing facilities, the establishment of a new initiative for mental health and PTSD, specialty mental health care, and assistance for homeless veterans.

The bill also provides an unprecedented $21.4 billion for the construction of better barracks, housing, and training facilities.

"The monies contained in this bill will go a long way toward giving our men and women in uniform the resources they need as they train and fight for our country but our work is far from over," Rahall said. "I remain vigilant to potential solutions to bring our troops home from Iraq soon. And I will do all that I can to ensure that upon their return, our troops are met with the care to which they are entitled."