SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Military veterans who have served their country honorably and who were promised and have earned health care and benefits from the federal government through the Department of Veterans Affairs are now in need of these benefits; and

WHEREAS, Federal discretionary funding is controlled by the executive branch and the United States Congress through the budget and appropriations process; and

WHEREAS, Direct funding provides the Department of Veterans Affairs with a reliable, predictable, and consistent source of funding to provide timely, efficient, and high-quality health care for our veterans; and

WHEREAS, Currently almost 90 percent of federal health care spending is direct rather than discretionary, and only the funding for health care for active duty military, Native Americans, and veterans is subject to the discretion of the United States Congress; and

WHEREAS, Discretionary funding for health care lags behind both medical inflation and the increased demand for services; for example, the enrollment for veterans' health care increased 134 percent between fiscal years 1996 and 2004 yet funding increased only 34 percent during the same period when adjusted to 1996 dollars; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs is the largest integrated health care system in the United States and has four critical health care missions: to provide health care to veterans, to educate and train health care personnel, to conduct medical research, and to serve as a backup to the United States Department of Defense and support communities in times of crisis; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs operates 157 hospitals, with at least one in each of the contiguous states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs operates more than 850 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 132 nursing homes, 42 residential rehabilitation treatment programs, and 88 home care programs; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs provides a wide range of specialized services to meet the unique needs of veterans, including spinal cord injury and dysfunction care and rehabilitation, blind rehabilitation, traumatic brain injury care, post-traumatic stress disorder treatment, amputee care and prosthetics programs, mental health and substance abuse programs, and long-term care programs; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs health care system is severely underfunded, and had funding for the department's medical programs been allowed to grow proportionately as the system sought to admit newly eligible veterans following the eligibility reform legislation in 1996, the current veterans' health care budget would be approximately $10 billion more; and

WHEREAS, In a spirit of bipartisan accommodation, members of the United States Congress should collectively resolve the problem of discretionary funding and jointly fashion an acceptable formula for funding the medical programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 80th Legislature, hereby express its profound gratitude for the sacrifices made by veterans, including those who suffer from medical or mental health problems resulting from injuries that occurred while serving in the United States Armed Forces at home or abroad; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Senate hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to support legislation for veterans' health care budget reform to allow assured funding; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the Senate forward official copies of this Resolution to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to the President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to the Congress with the request that this Resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.

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President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by the Senate on March 28, 2007.

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Secretary of the Senate