1-1 By: Solis of Bexar (Senate Sponsor - Truan) H.C.R. No. 141 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999; 1-3 May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran 1-4 Affairs and Military Installations; May 13, 1999, reported 1-5 favorably by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 13, 1999, 1-6 sent to printer.) 1-7 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-8 WHEREAS, Military veterans who have served their country 1-9 honorably and who were promised and earned health care and 1-10 compensation and pension benefits from the federal government 1-11 through the Department of Veterans Affairs are now in need of these 1-12 benefits due to advancing age; and 1-13 WHEREAS, The proposed budget for the Department of Veterans 1-14 Affairs Veterans Health Administration has for the fourth 1-15 consecutive year proposed a straight-line budget for veterans 1-16 health care that falls short of the needed funds to counter soaring 1-17 medical care inflation and other costs associated with the aging 1-18 veterans population; and 1-19 WHEREAS, The proposed budget calls for the elimination of 1-20 nearly 8,000 full-time employees from veterans health care, which 1-21 further threatens veterans health care service by placing a greater 1-22 strain on patient services and further endangers the quality of 1-23 care for the sick and disabled veterans of this nation; and 1-24 WHEREAS, The processing of claims for service-connected 1-25 compensation and pension benefits by the Department of Veterans 1-26 Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration has also suffered from 1-27 inadequate budgets resulting in backlogs in claims processing 1-28 ranging in the hundreds of thousands; and 1-29 WHEREAS, The substantial backlog of service-connected 1-30 compensation and pension claims by the Veterans Benefits 1-31 Administration has been a serious and persistent problem resulting 1-32 in extended waits for veterans and their families to receive 1-33 decisions concerning application for needed benefits; and 1-34 WHEREAS, It is necessary to enact legislation to provide 1-35 funding necessary to properly deliver earned health care and 1-36 compensation and pension benefits to the aging veterans population 1-37 of our nation; now, therefore, be it 1-38 RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas 1-39 hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 1-40 maintain its commitment to the veterans of America and their 1-41 families by providing sufficient funding to the Department of 1-42 Veterans Affairs to address the above concerns; and, be it further 1-43 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 1-44 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, 1-45 the president of the senate and speaker of the house of 1-46 representatives of the United States Congress, and all members of 1-47 the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 1-48 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 1-49 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. 1-50 * * * * *