Veterans Affairs Appropriation Sails Through House on Flag Day

By a 411-5 vote, the House yesterday voted to provide $72.5 billion for programs that benefit military personnel, veterans and their families.

LV Congressman Charlie Dent, who supports the appropriation, called it "the type of legislation the American people expect Congress to produce.” In a news release, Dent added that, "As a nation, we have a responsibility to provide the highest quality housing, training and medical facilities for our service members and guarantee our veterans receive the benefits and care they’ve earned. I voted for H.R. 2055 because it saves tax dollars without compromising the needs of our military personnel and veterans.”

This appropriation includes $378 million for 48 new family housing projects, as ell as the replacement of 80 dwellings and improvement of over 200 existing units. In addition, there's $1.1 billion for military medical facilities around the globe. For veterans, there's $127.8 billion to fully fund VA compensation and benefits, education benefits, vocational rehabilitation, and housing loan programs. Finally, $45.8 million is set aside for the Arlington National Cemetery (an increase of $700,000 from FY11 levels) to address years of mismanagement that led to hundreds of cases of misidentified or misplaced remains.

Maybe now, those vets will stop shooting me.

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa: Congressman Dent's office has emailed me with two corrections. One of them is a typo in Dent's statement, which has been corrected. The other notes that the $72 billion figure reflects discretionary funding, while the $120+ billion for vets benefits is mandatory spending. I apologize for not getting it right.