FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2007
CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison: “Congress is Delaying Critical Funding for Veterans and Active Duty Military Personnel”
Meets with VA Secretary Nominee, Will Raise Rule 28 Point of Order Wednesday
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Ranking Member of the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriation Subcommittee, today renewed her call to split the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Military Construction Veterans Affairs (Milcon-VA) and Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-H) Appropriation bills.
“The president has said from the day it was on the Senate floor that he would sign the Milcon-VA bill,” said Sen. Hutchison. “It is incomprehensible to me that the Democrats would delay funding for our Veterans and our military personnel by combining the bills which is certain to be vetoed.”
Sen. Hutchison will raise a Point of Order against the Labor-H bill, citing a violation of Senate Rule XXVIII (28). The rule prohibits new material from being introduced into a conference report if it was not part of either the House or Senate-passed versions of a bill. A motion to waive that point of order would require 3/5 majority of the Senate (60 votes) in order for the two bills to remain joined.
“This bill could be signed by the President on Veterans Day,” said Sen. Hutchison. “What better message could we send than for the president to be able to do that?”
On October 31, Sen. Hutchison and 43 other Senators signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging them to split the bills (letter attached).
Tuesday afternoon Sen. Hutchison met with Lt. Gen. James Peake, the former Army Surgeon General and one-time commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, to discuss his nomination to head the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Lt. Gen. Peake was nominated on October 30 and will soon be considered by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, of which Sen. Hutchison is a member.
“I strongly support Lt. Gen. Peake’s nomination and look forward to working with him to deliver the funding and services that our Veterans deserve,” said Sen. Hutchison.
Lt. Gen. Peake previously served as Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and was a member of the Special Medical Advisory Group (SMAG) at the VA. SMAG is a Congressionally mandated group exists to provide advice to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Under Secretary for Health on matters relating to the care and treatment of veterans and other matters pertinent to the operations of the Veterans Health Administration (i.e., research, education and training of health manpower, and VA/DOD contingency planning).
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