July 19, 2005

Contact: Jeff Schrade (202) 224-9093

(Washington, DC) U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said today that veterans should be pleased with a $2 billion emergency supplemental approved by the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, of which he is a member.

"This Congress, and this President, have put forth record amounts of money on behalf of our nation's veterans," Craig said. "Since George W. Bush took office, the budget for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will have risen from $48 billion in 2001 to nearly $70 billion this year ? a 46 percent increase in five years."

The overall federal budget has risen roughly 30 percent during the same time frame.

Just three weeks ago the Senate approved a $1.5 billion emergency supplemental for veterans 2005 budget, which is a part of the Interior Appropriations bill.

"As we await for the Interior Appropriations bill to be finalized, we have today made steps to ensure that there is adequate money to ensure that veterans are well taken care of," Craig said. "The $1.5 billion approved earlier and the $2 billion approved today will later be reconciled. But we have assured veterans today that there will be sufficient money to meet the needs of veterans. Clearly, we are going to reach a point where we cannot continue to keep spending at this pace, but the needs of veterans are being met."

In addition to the emergency supplemental of $2 billion, the legislation approved today will provide more than $70.7 billion in direct payments to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2006.

That figure includes $36.6 billion for mandatory veterans' benefits including pensions and compensation.

The subcommittee also included over $34 billion in discretionary spending, more than $1.25 billion above the president's budget request and more than $3.3 billion above FY 2005. That amount includes $23.3 billion for medical services, $2.8 billion for medical administration, $3.2 billion for medical facilities and $412 million for medical and prosthetic research.

The appropriations legislation passed the House of Representatives on May 26th. It will now be sent to the full Senate Appropriations Committee before being considered by the full Senate.

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