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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Military veterans who have served their country |
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honorably and who were promised and have earned health care and |
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benefits from the federal government through the Department of |
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Veterans Affairs are now in need of these benefits; and |
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WHEREAS, Federal discretionary funding is controlled by the |
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executive branch and the United States Congress through the budget |
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and appropriations process; and |
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WHEREAS, Direct funding provides the Department of Veterans |
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Affairs with a reliable, predictable, and consistent source of |
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funding to provide timely, efficient, and high-quality health care |
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for our veterans; and |
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WHEREAS, Currently almost 90 percent of federal health care |
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spending is direct rather than discretionary, and only the funding |
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for health care for active duty military, Native Americans, and |
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veterans is subject to the discretion of the United States |
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Congress; and |
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WHEREAS, Discretionary funding for health care lags behind |
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both medical inflation and the increased demand for services; for |
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example, the enrollment for veterans' health care increased 134 |
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percent between fiscal years 1996 and 2004 yet funding increased |
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only 34 percent during the same period when adjusted to 1996 |
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dollars; and |
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WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs is the largest |
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integrated health care system in the United States and has four |
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critical health care missions: to provide health care to veterans, |
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to educate and train health care personnel, to conduct medical |
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research, and to serve as a backup to the United States Department |
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of Defense and support communities in times of crisis; and |
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WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs operates 157 |
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hospitals, with at least one in each of the contiguous states, |
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Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; and |
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WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs operates more |
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than 850 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, |
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132 nursing homes, 42 residential rehabilitation treatment |
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programs, and 88 home care programs; and |
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WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs provides a wide |
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range of specialized services to meet the unique needs of veterans, |
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including spinal cord injury and dysfunction care and |
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rehabilitation, blind rehabilitation, traumatic brain injury care, |
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post-traumatic stress disorder treatment, amputee care and |
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prosthetics programs, mental health and substance abuse programs, |
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and long-term care programs; and |
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WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs health care |
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system is severely underfunded, and had funding for the |
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department's medical programs been allowed to grow proportionately |
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as the system sought to admit newly eligible veterans following the |
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eligibility reform legislation in 1996, the current veterans' |
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health care budget would be approximately $10 billion more; and |
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WHEREAS, In a spirit of bipartisan accommodation, members of |
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the United States Congress should collectively resolve the problem |
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of discretionary funding and jointly fashion an acceptable formula |
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for funding the medical programs of the Department of Veterans |
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Affairs; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby express its profound gratitude for the sacrifices made by |
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veterans, including those who suffer from medical or mental health |
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problems resulting from injuries that occurred while serving in the |
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United States Armed Forces at home or abroad; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the legislature hereby respectfully urge the |
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Congress of the United States to support legislation for veterans' |
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health care budget reform to allow assured funding; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the secretary of veterans affairs, to |
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the president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of |
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representatives and the president of the senate of the United |
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States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to |
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the congress with the request that this resolution be officially |
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entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of |
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the United States of America. |