Here's what the PVA has to say about these latest "shenanigens" being proposed by the Republican leadership in Congress.
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PVA?s Fox Denounces House Budget Committee?s
Funding Cuts in Veterans? Benefits and Services
March 17, 2003, WASHINGTON, DC?Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) National President Joseph L. Fox, Sr. condemned more than $1 trillion in cuts approved by the House Budget Committee last week. This proposal would significantly harm veterans, whose health-care and benefits programs would lose nearly $25 billion.
?It is a dark day when Congress takes the budget knife to the hard-earned benefits and health-care services earned by the veterans of this Nation to support an ill-conceived tax cut,? said Fox. ?I find it unconscionable that a majority of the members of the House Budget Committee think it appropriate to strip benefits and health care earned on the field of battle and in defense of freedom to promote their tax cut proposal, particularly at a time when we are in the process of sending more young men and women into harm?s way.?
Fox, referring to the recent long-term budget plan passed by the House Budget Committee that would cut over $25 billion from veterans? benefits and health care, added, ?The funding cuts supported by the House Budget Committee are an ?in-your-face? insult to the veterans of this country. More importantly, however, they are evidence that many members of Congress are willing to degrade the quality of life of tens of thousands of veterans who honorably served and sacrificed.?
PVA objects to the House Budget Committee?s proposal to cut $15 billion over 10 years--$463 million in FY 2004 alone?in VA mandatory spending, as justified under efforts to eliminate ?fraud, waste and abuse.? PVA strongly asserts that this funding, which are payments made to war-disabled veterans, pensions for the poorest disabled veterans and G.I. Bill benefits for soldiers returning from Afghanistan, do not constitute ?fraud, waste and abuse.? In fact, 90 percent of the spending for VA entitlements is contained in monthly payments to veterans and survivors. The House Budget Committee plan, if approved, would force cuts in each of these programs.
The resolution calls for major decreases in veterans? health care funding denying care to hundreds of thousands of veterans. A cut of this size could lead to the loss of 9,000 VA physicians equating to a loss of nearly 900,000 days of hospital care.
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Founded in 1946, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), is the only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated solely for the benefit and representation of individuals with spinal cord injury or disease. PVA is a dynamic, broad-based organization with more than 20,000 members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. To learn more about PVA, visit its web site at
www.pva.org.
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This budget proposal is going to be voted on by the full House on march 20, 2003. That only gives us less than two (2) days to send e-mails, letters and make phone calls to our Congresspersons to let them know how pissed-off we are for them to even consider such nonsense as this!
Hey Paco----I kinda been outa commission for a while. Had some physical and emotional (PTSD) stuff that needed some attention. All this "war sh-t" ain't helpin much either. Anyway, hopefully I can spend a little more time on the discussion boards and help get out the message about our (disabled veterans) difficulties with the current leadership in Washington without upsetting to many of the "compassionate conservatives", if you know what I mean. Anyway---thanks for your letter to that rascally scalawag, Dennis H.---What a jerk he's become!
Keep up the pressure folks!
