By Solis of Bexar H.C.R. No. 141 76R9983 SMZ-F HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Military veterans who have served their country 1-2 honorably and who were promised and earned health care and 1-3 compensation and pension benefits from the federal government 1-4 through the Department of Veterans Affairs are now in need of these 1-5 benefits due to advancing age; and 1-6 WHEREAS, The proposed budget for the Department of Veterans 1-7 Affairs Veterans Health Administration has for the fourth 1-8 consecutive year proposed a straight-line budget for veterans 1-9 health care that falls short of the needed funds to counter soaring 1-10 medical care inflation and other costs associated with the aging 1-11 veterans population; and 1-12 WHEREAS, The proposed budget calls for the elimination of 1-13 nearly 8,000 full-time employees from veterans health care, which 1-14 further threatens veterans health care service by placing a greater 1-15 strain on patient services and further endangers the quality of 1-16 care for the sick and disabled veterans of this nation; and 1-17 WHEREAS, The processing of claims for service-connected 1-18 compensation and pension benefits by the Department of Veterans 1-19 Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration has also suffered from 1-20 inadequate budgets resulting in backlogs in claims processing 1-21 ranging in the hundreds of thousands; and 1-22 WHEREAS, The substantial backlog of service-connected 1-23 compensation and pension claims by the Veterans Benefits 1-24 Administration has been a serious and persistent problem resulting 2-1 in extended waits for veterans and their families to receive 2-2 decisions concerning application for needed benefits; and 2-3 WHEREAS, It is necessary to enact legislation to provide 2-4 funding necessary to properly deliver earned health care and 2-5 compensation and pension benefits to the aging veterans population 2-6 of our nation; now, therefore, be it 2-7 RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-8 hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 2-9 maintain its commitment to the veterans of America and their 2-10 families by providing sufficient funding to the Department of 2-11 Veterans Affairs to address the above concerns; and, be it further 2-12 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 2-13 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, 2-14 the president of the senate and speaker of the house of 2-15 representatives of the United States Congress, and all members of 2-16 the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 2-17 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 2-18 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.