By Tom Miller
VHA Funding For FY 2005
Legislative activity on Capitol Hill slowed to a crawl during
the summer months. Congress traditionally takes a summer recess
during the month of August. This year the recess began a little
earlier to accommodate the Democratic National Convention. The
Republicans held their convention in early September.
As usual, Congress has failed to take action on the appropriations
bills to fund all federal departments and agencies for the coming
fiscal year, which begins October 1. Observers on the Hill believe
that, upon their return, both houses of Congress will combine
all of the remaining appropriations bills into one large Omnibus
Appropriations Bill and adopt a continuing resolution that will
keep the federal government operating at the Fiscal Year 2004
funding level.
Should the above scenario become a reality, it will be very damaging
to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA). The House has already passed an appropriation
bill for VA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development,
and Independent Agencies. The level contained in this bill for
veterans health care is $1.2 billion above that requested by President
Bush in his proposed FY 2005 Budget.
Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) and the House Committee
on Veterans Affairs believe that VA needs at least $2.5 billion
above the President’s request. The Senate has taken no action
on the VA appropriation bill, and it is unlikely that senators
will pass any related measures before returning home to campaign
for re-election. Nine major VSOs, including BVA, continued to
press Congress to shift the funding for VA health care from discretionary
to mandatory funding.
BVA Achieves Legislative Goal
A landmark BVA legislative objective was achieved in June as
the House of Representatives finally passed House Concurrent Resolution
56. The resolution "expresses the sense of Congress that
States should require candidates for driver’s licenses to
demonstrate an ability to exercise greatly increased caution when
driving in the proximity of a potentially visually impaired individual."
Representative Lane Evans (D-IL-17), ranking minority member
of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, introduced the resolution
in the early autumn of 2001. Although the resolution was held
up in the House Transportation Committee for nearly three years,
it was released on June 22 for a vote on the House floor, where
it passed unanimously. The resolution now awaits action in the
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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