"When my 2005 budget is approved by Congress, we will have increased overall funding for our nation's veterans by almost $20 billion, or 40 percent, since 2001. (Applause.) We have increased funding for our veterans more in four years than the previous administration did in eight years. (Applause.) To provide health care to veterans, we've increased VA medical care funding by 41 percent over the past four years. We are bringing care to more veterans more quickly. Since 2001, we've enrolled 2.5 million more veterans in health care services. We've increased out-patient visits from 44 million to 54 million. We've increased the number of prescriptions filled from 98 million to 116 million. We're getting the job done. (Applause.) We've reduced the large backlog of disability claims by about a third; we will reduce it even further. We've cut the average time it takes to process disability claims by 70 days. We have focused resources on the veterans who need it most, those with service-related disabilities and low incomes and special needs. We've established a new scheduling system to make certain that veterans seeking care for a service-connected condition are first in line. For more than a century, federal law prohibited disabled veterans from receiving both their military retired pay and their VA disability compensation. Combat-injured and severely disabled veterans deserve better. I was proud to be the first President in over 100 years to sign concurrent receipt legislation. (Applause.) We're getting the job done in Washington, D.C."
The TRUTH hurts, RATS...so much fer the argument that Dubyuh's short-changing the Vets!!
Thanks, Gramma...MUD