Re: Veteran Issues
Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Mark Begich (D-AK) will offer the amendment to S. 1982, the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Pay Restoration Act of 2014, veterans legislation that DAV strongly supports. Their amendment is similar to their bill, S. 932, the Putting Veterans Funding First Act, which the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs approved in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 1 last November. The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved similar legislation (H.R. 813) unanimously last August.
VA’s medical care programs already receive advance appropriations since Congress passed, and the President signed, Public Law 111-81, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, in October 2009 to provide the budget a year in advance. As a result, during the recent government shutdown while many VA offices and services were closed, VA hospitals and clinics were able to provide uninterrupted health care. By contrast, the shutdown delayed, disrupted and suspended other critical services for veterans.
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