VFW Calls VA Budget Proposal a Good Start
VFW is appreciative of the fiscal year 2013 budget President Obama proposed
February 13, 2012
WASHINGTON —
The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is
appreciative of the fiscal year 2013 budget President Obama proposed Monday for
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“The VFW appreciates the proposed
increase because it recognizes that the proper care and treatment of wounded,
ill and injured veterans are ongoing costs of war," said Richard L.
DeNoyer, who leads the 2 million-member VFW and its Auxiliaries. “We remain
concerned, however, that the amount is not enough for the VA to maintain much
less improve all the programs and services on their watch, especially knowing
the Defense Department plans to shrink the size of the military, which will
directly increase the number of veterans seeking VA care and services.”
The proposed VA budget for FY 2013 is
$140.3 billion, of which $76.3 billion is for mandatory benefits such as
disability compensation and pension. The remaining $64 billion is in
discretionary funding, primarily for the Veterans Health Administration, which
represents a 4.5-percent increase over FY 2012 funding, but falls more than $4
billion short of the amount recommended by The
Independent Budget, which the VFW co-authors with AMVETS, Disabled American
Veterans and Paralyzed Veterans of America.
The VFW national commander said there
are budget highlights that continue to elevate the importance of healthcare,
mental health programs, women veterans, reducing the VA claims backlog and
ending veterans’ homelessness. But he will still ask both House and Senate
Committees on Veterans Affairs to substantially plus-up the miniscule $1.6 million
increase in medical and prosthetic research, and return major construction
funding to an amount that is forward focused instead of an afterthought.
“A record 240 troops lost one limb or
more in Afghanistan last year,” said DeNoyer, a retired Marine and Vietnam
combat veteran from Middleton, Mass. “They will require a lifetime of care, and
it shouldn’t be in VA medical facilities that average more than 60 years old,”
he said.
“A nation that creates veterans
has a sacred responsibility to care for them when they return home wounded, ill
and injured. The VFW looks forward to working with the Administration and
Congress in the coming days and months to ensure that America keeps that
promise.”
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