Fallin Urges Action On Veteran's Bill

Congresswoman Mary Fallin urged Congress today to finish work on a bill that provides funding for health care and housing initiatives for veterans. Her statement came after a meeting at the White House, where the Republican Conference met with President Bush to discuss the legislative impasse as well as other issues.

The 2008 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act passed the House of Representatives with an overwhelming bipartisan majority (409-2) on June 15. Democrat leadership has since refused to send the bill to President Bush to be signed into law. As the Capitol Hill Publication Roll Call has reported, House Democrats are refusing to move forward with the measure, choosing instead to combine it with other funding legislation in an attempt to add billions in unrelated spending to the veteran’s appropriations bill.

Fallin issued the following statement:

“Several months ago, Congress passed a bill that gives unprecedented levels of funding for improvements in VA housing and hospitals. Our veterans need and deserve that kind of support. Today, I join other Members of Congress in calling on House leadership to immediately place that bill on the president’s desk.

“There are over 350,000 veterans in Oklahoma, and they want to know why Congress refuses to move forward with legislation that provides funds for their healthcare, housing and other critical services. They want to know why it’s been 137 days since the House passed that bill, and yet it has still not been signed into law.

“The sad truth is that Democrat leaders are holding that funding hostage until they can combine it with billions of dollars in unrelated spending and pork barrel projects.

“Regardless of their motives, this continued delay is unacceptable to our nation’s veterans, and it is unacceptable to those of us who put their welfare above pork barrel projects and political gain.”

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