Reed lauds passage of bill to boost aid to military, veterans

2007-09-08

Source: The Providence Journal

Legislation that would increase money allocated to U.S. military projects and the federal Veterans Administration by $4 billion more than President Bush requested was approved by the U.S. Senate yesterday by a 92-to-1 vote.

The measure was championed by Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed, who said in an interview that the increased spending is designed to help combat troops from missions in Iraq and Afghanistan better recover from injuries and help the Veterans Administration clear a significant backlog in processing benefit claims from veterans.

"This bill demonstrates the Senate's commitment to meeting the needs of our veterans," said Reed. "It goes beyond the president's proposals for the VA, and instead provides the funds recommended by our nation's veterans organizations."

Reed has been serving as acting chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Affairs and Veterans Affairs, in the absence of the chairman, South Dakota Tim Johnson, who has been recovering from a brain hemorrhage he suffered in December 2006.

President Bush has threatened to veto spending measures that exceed his initial requests, but Reed said in an interview yesterday that the nearly unanimous Senate vote would probably lead the president to change course. Of Mr. Bush's veto threat, Reed said, "I think that's a threat that has been taken over by reality."

The extra money, Reed said, is needed for such projects as ensuring that veterans' medical facilities are safe and to prevent recurrences of the problems that plagued the Walter Reed Medical Center's veterans rehabilitation facilities, such as unsanitary and vermin-filled wards in which injured veterans were housed.

"We want to avoid what happened at the Walter Reed," said Reed, who is a U.S. Army veteran.

Read More...

---