Smith's Drive For More Vets' Spending Angers Some In

[travisab1]

I thought I'd relate this to you;



From: ColonelDan ColonelDan@worldnet.att.net
Subject: [VeteranIssues] Smith's Drive For More Vets' Spending Angers Some In
GOP

Congress Daily:
Smith's Drive For More Vets' Spending Angers Some In GOP
by Peter Cohn, February 13, 2004

Tensions between House Veterans Affairs Chairman Smith and Republican
leaders appear to be coming to a head once again, as Smith pushes for
increased veterans' healthcare spending in the face of renewed Republican
attempts to rein in spending.

Smith and Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., an Army reservist and member of the
Veterans Affairs panel, even engaged in a testy exchange at the House
Republican Conference's closed-door budget meeting Wednesday over a Bush
administration plan to impose a $250 enrollment fee for
non-service-connected veterans to buy cheaper drugs under the VA health
plan.

According to aides present at the meeting, Buyer decried a 1996 law
expanding VA healthcare benefits to all veterans, not just the severely
disabled, arguing that some wealthier veterans have taken advantage of the
program and caused costs to soar.

Smith challenged Buyer's assertion, arguing that mostly low-income and
impoverished veterans were obtaining cheaper drugs. But then, "Buyer got up
and said, 'You've just got it wrong,'" one aide said. Buyer could not be
reached for comment by press time.

A similar enrollment fee proposal died last year, but veterans' healthcare
programs received a $1.3 billion boost in the FY04 omnibus spending bill to
recoup some of the costs. Smith, who could not be reached for comment by
press time, is advocating increased funding again this year, to the
consternation of many Republicans.

"There is a general frustration with Smith that stretches beyond
leadership," a GOP aide said. "We spend and we spend and we spend, and it's
never enough. Instead of defending our policies, he undercuts us on every
occasion."

Aides said there have been renewed rumblings about a potential push to oust
Smith as chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, but GOP leaders are
unlikely to take that step, as it would make him a "martyr" in the eyes of
veterans' groups, as one aide put it. The aide added that Smith's continued
insistence on increased veterans' funding gives the Democrats ammunition to
paint the GOP as insensitive to veterans' needs.

Aides said Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky., who faces another tough re-election
fight in her predominantly Democratic district, was among those vocally
critical of Smith at the meeting, but she declined to comment. "Rep. Northup
does not comment on items discussed in confidential GOP Conference
meetings," a spokeswoman said.

Republican critics cite Smith's lobbying last summer against the House
version of the FY04 VA-HUD spending bill, which contained $1.8 billion less
for veterans' health care than the FY04 budget resolution, as evidence that
his loyalty cannot be counted upon. Smith and 58 other Republicans voted
against the measure.

But Smith has also taken pains to demonstrate party loyalty. At the time of
the House vote, Smith cited it as evidence Democrats cannot paint
Republicans as anti-veteran, arguing 50 Democrats voted for the VA-HUD bill.
And he abstained from voting against the rule, which sources chalked up to a
threat against his chairmanship.

Smith's office released a document Thursday that claims legislative
accomplishments by the Republican Congress, such as a $2.4 billion increase
in FY04 for veterans' health care; the "historic breakthrough" establishing
"concurrent receipt" of disability compensation and retirement benefits at a
$57 billion cost over 20 years; authorization of new VA facilities and
cemeteries, and others.

"It is evident that this Congress and this administration have embraced the
cause of veterans," Smith told Veterans Affairs Secretary Principi at a
budget hearing Feb. 4. But he went on to say, "This budget doesn't cover the
cost of all the health care which veterans are seeking," and "Congress will
have to add funds in the budget process" as in recent years. Republicans are
leaving no programs -- with the likely exceptions of Social Security and
Medicare -- off the table as they search for cuts to help curb projected
deficits. But sensitive to the demands of the powerful veterans' lobby,
Republicans are touting recent achievements, including establishment of the
"concurrent receipt" benefit.



Hope this explains a few things.



Travis