January 18, 2008
The Blinded Veterans Association along with other veteran service organizations two weeks ago sent a letter over to President Bush asking that the additional "emergency funding" for the VA health care budget for this year be approved by his office. Back in December, when the final large appropriations bill passed after much fighting between Office Management and Budget OMB, over the increases for domestic discretionary programs, congress had increased the VA's budget by nearly $3.6 billion, but had to send it over to avoid a veto as emergency funding as needed. Remember also that back in November when the Defense Appropriations bill passed it included $2.9 billion for FY 2008 to cover what the administration had requested for total increase in VHA funding. Now however, with this additional designation, the VA will have the largest funding increase, almost $6.5 billion in one year in history.
The question now is how to watch and make sure VHA starts to spend the money on actual health care providers, new clinics, new services or expanded services, and improved disability claims benefits process, and not waste it on administrative over head. Under the Full Continuum of Care for Blind and Low Vision Outpatient Services, VHA has plans for 11 new Blind Outpatient Rehabilitative Specialists, eleven new VIST full time positions, and several new Advanced and Intermediate rehabilitative programs in various medical centers. All of those will increase local blind services to our veterans!
For Immediate Release January 17, 2008
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 17, 2008
Dear Madam Speaker:
My Administration is committed to providing the resources needed to ensure that veterans, including those returning from current combat operations, receive the quality care and services they deserve.
In the FY 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Public Law 110-161, $3,691,391,000 was designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement contingent upon a formal budget request by me that includes designation of the entire amount as an emergency requirement. While I believe that these funds should have been considered as regular appropriations, the men and women who have sacrificed for our country should not be held hostage to budgetary wrangling in Washington. Therefore, to provide these funds in a timely manner I hereby request and designate as an emergency requirement the $3,691,391,000, consistent with Public Law 110-161.
Additional information on this action is set forth in the enclosed letter from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Sincerely,
GEORGE W. BUSH
Below is letter VSO's sent over to President Bush requesting this funding.
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the national veterans service organizations signed below, we respectfully ask you to invoke the emergency designation outlined in section 235 of Title II of Division I of the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act, to provide a critically needed increase of $3.7 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As enacted, this legislation requires you to make this emergency designation not later than January 18, 2008 in order for VA to receive any of the $3.7 billion increase approved by Congress.
For most of the past decade, the VA health care system has been operating in a highly challenging financial environment. In 2003, faced with growing waiting lists that resulted from chronic underfunding, then-VA Secretary Principi utilized his enrollment authority and cutoff access to VA health care for hundreds of thousands of veterans in Priority Group 8. In 2005, as the funding situation again reached crisis proportions, you requested, and Congress provided, significant emergency supplemental appropriations for veterans medical services. In 2006, similar conditions developed resulting in Congress once again providing VA with supplemental appropriations. In that same year, you submitted two budget amendments requesting further increases in VA health care funding, and Congress eventually provided those funds as well. This year Congress provided VA with yet another supplemental appropriation to cover health care, research and infrastructure needs for our deserving veterans.
Veterans benefits programs also have financial issues, particularly related to the backlog of over 600,000 unresolved disability compensation claims. We believe VA's inability to effectively resolve this backlog relates at least in part to chronic shortages of financial resources provided to the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). Part of the emergency funding increase contained in section 235 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act would go directly toward this critical need.
Mr. President, we believe it is imperative that VA Secretary Peake be provided sufficient resources now to effectively deal with VA's many challenges rather than allowing another funding crisis to develop. The VA health care system in particular requires additional funding to meet the needs of an aging generation of veterans, many of whom are disabled war veterans relying on VA health care because they have no alternative. In addition, VA must be fully prepared to meet the lifelong needs of a large and growing population of veterans disabled in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On behalf of the more than seven million veterans who hold membership in our organizations, we respectfully ask you to stand up for veterans by invoking the emergency designation procedure required to provide VA with an increase of $3.7 billion for fiscal year 2008. Thank you for your consideration and support of this request.
Sincerely,
Signatures of VSOs
The Blinded Veterans Association is now working on the FY 2009 appropriations recommendations and will keep you all updated in two weeks when the President releases his budget for FY 2009. We anticipate that because of the very large increases this year, that OMB will decrease over all budget for next year and must anticipate that in planning our budgets.
Tom Zampieri
Director Government Relations
Blinded Veterans Association
Washington, DC
End of Document