Veterans Health Care Act of 2005

Mr. President, it is my pleasure today to bring the fiscal year 2006 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and related agencies bill to the Senate for consideration.

First, I would like to say that as a result of Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd's leadership, we received an increase in our allocation from the very beginning of this process of over $1.2 billion above the President's request to assist the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was only through this increase that Senator Feinstein and I were able to take care of our Nation's veterans.

This bill stays within our 302(b) allocation. It provides $12,116,611,000 for military construction and $70,710,881,000 for the Department of Veterans Affairs and $157,126,000 for related agencies.

This bill bridges two significant funding gaps in fiscal year 2006 for the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is a total of $3.2 billion.

First, the President's budget request included two legislative proposals for the VA's health system that would have increased the copayments for prescription drugs and instituted new enrollment fees, both of which were to be paid for by veterans. Revenue estimates for these proposals were approximately $1.2 billion. The administration reduced the VA's budget request by this amount. This bill does not include either of those two legislative proposals, and instead the subcommittee used all of its increased allocation to cover the $1.2 billion difference for VA health care.

The second gap in the VA's 2006 budget was a shortfall in VA's health care budget identified by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs this summer. The bill contains $1.977 billion requested by the administration in a budget amendment. While Senator Feinstein and I have included the full amount requested, the bill designates this funding as an emergency appropriation.

I would like to especially thank the subcommittee's ranking member, Senator Feinstein, for her efforts and cooperation over the summer regarding that particular critical issue. In addition, I thank Senator Larry Craig, and Senator Patty Murray, as well as Senator Akaka for their help in solving that problem that was looming as an emergency. And we all came to an agreement on a bipartisan basis that is certainly worthy of our colleagues' support. We had part of it as an emergency, and we will finish what we need in the 2006 budget.

The bill recommends $23.3 billion for the VA's medical services account. This funding level is $1.3 billion above the President's request. Again, this was only possible with the extra allocation provided by the full committee chairman and ranking member.

This bill recommends $412 million for medical and prosthetic research. The budget request for this account was $9 million below the fiscal year 2005 level. The funding level in the bill increases this account above the fiscal year 2005 level by $19 million.

We have specifically included funds directed solely to research for gulf war illness syndrome. This is an area that I feel very strongly committed to because so many of our veterans came back from the first gulf war--one in seven veterans who returned from that war--with symptoms they had not ever had in their lives. I believe we were slow to recognize that, but we are now putting greater emphasis on that--not only to treat those veterans but also to see what the cause is and prevent future members of our armed services from being susceptible to that kind of chemical warfare. This bill provides full funding as requested for the VA's medical facilities account at $3.3 billion, as well as new construction and renovation of existing facilities at $607 million and $209 million, respectively.

The bill creates an account for the VA information technology. This is a very important effort that will help achieve efficiencies in delivering care to our veterans. We do not have the technology we need in our veterans system to do what needs to be done on an efficient basis. This will reorganize the entire technology portfolio and give Congress more oversight, as well.

For our Nation's veterans compensation, pensions, and other benefit programs, we fully funded the administration's request of $36.8 billion. The bill

also provides sorely needed funds for military construction with the impending return of troops. As a result of the current overseas rebasing effort, BRAC, Army modularity, and the global war on terror, our service men and women are in a time of great transformation. It is important they have facilities in place to enable the transformation.

The bill, including the first phase of funding for the BRAC 2005 round, should it be approved by Congress, adds $1.5 billion. We have also included a provision that facilitates congressional oversight by requiring the Secretary of Defense to provide a spending plan before obligating any funds from this account.

The bill also continues funding for many important quality-of-life initiatives, including 11 family housing privatization projects, and it increases Guard and Reserve funding more than $295 million over the President's request.

For the related agencies under our jurisdiction, we include $51.5 million for the American Battle Monument Commission, which is $1 million above its request, and $28.5 million for Arlington National Cemetery, which is $500,000 above their request.

Our subcommittee has worked hard to bring a fair and balanced bill. It warrants the support of our colleagues. We could not have done this without the total cooperation of Senator Feinstein and her staff. We have always worked together on a bipartisan basis. We always will on this subcommittee.

I yield the floor to my ranking member, Senator Feinstein.

Mr. President, let me say thank you for those kind words. I appreciate them. I know the Senator from California has lived through some very tough earthquakes.

We appreciate the response Congress is giving to the many needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and possibly those who will be in a similar situation from Rita.

Thank you very much.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Feinstein. It is clear we worked very well to address the needs of veterans in our country and the military construction needs of all the services in our country. I, too, thank her staff and my staff, Tammy Cameron, Dennis Balkam, and Sean Knowles, for working together to make sure we do the very best job possible and that we work together.

I also add that I appreciate what Senator Feinstein said about amendments to the bill. We are going to shortly propose a unanimous consent that gives a deadline for Members who may want to do an amendment, but I hope no one will try for amendments related to Katrina or Rita because we will have another supplemental for those purposes and we would like to keep this bill in our 302(b) allocation.

Speaking of Katrina and Rita, I commend the Department, especially, for the way they have handled the emergencies that have faced them. When Katrina was threatening the New Orleans and Mississippi areas, they moved the patients out of harm's way before they were threatened. Before anyone said they had to, they were calling the families of patients, explaining the options and telling the families where the patients were being moved. Records were moved to safe locations. Emergency stockpiles of prescription drugs were routed to the areas where the patients were going. It was truly a phenomenal success. Not one veteran who was in the care of the Veterans' Administration was in any way harmed because of this evacuation and this service. Every single veteran had medication dispensed on time. Special arrangements were made to deliver benefit payments to those who did not have an address or a bank where they were.

Victims who were not veterans were also helped. No one was denied medical treatment. VA doctors were there to help everyone, and they did. This is due to the professionalism of the Department and the detailed prior planning.

I can tell you the Department of Veterans Affairs is now doing the exact same thing in the areas that are thought to be in the path of Hurricane Rita. They are beginning to evacuate the veterans who might be in harm's way. They will continue to be ready to assure that all of our veterans on medications will have those medications. I commend Secretary Nicholson and all of the professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs for stepping up to the plate and taking care of our veterans who are in these emergency situations on the gulf coast today.

There is no question that all of us--I happen to have been born in Galveston. I have lived through hurricanes, and I know how devastating it can be to an area to be struck by a hurricane. I was going to college when Hurricane Carla struck, which was the largest hurricane we had ever had since the 1900 storms in Galveston. It was a level 4.

Now we are looking at possibly a level 5. So I have a lot of friends and family who are in the area who are just waiting to see what is going to happen. And it takes something out of you, there is no question.

But our veterans are going to be taken care of. The people of America who are in trouble are going to be taken care of by our Federal, State, and local communities that are all working together to make sure that when Americans are in need, Americans will be there to do our part to ease this pain.

So thank you, Mr. President. I thank my distinguished ranking member, Senator Feinstein, for her concern. I commend our Secretary of Veterans Affairs for working with us through many of the travails we have had to assure that our veterans get the care they need and that our Active- Duty military also have the military construction for their quality of life.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Feinstein for bringing that up because there are so many stories.

I talked to the FEMA Director yesterday, and he has already gone to the Department of Defense to get a mobile hospital pre-positioned in the area where Rita might come so we would have a MASH unit ready to help people who might be injured. He has asked for helicopters, which he is going to get, for evacuation and rescue missions.

I do think the military has really stepped up to the plate in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. They are ready to go and will be going to help the people of Texas where we think the brunt of this storm will hit.

The other unsung heroes and heroines of this plight are the men and women of the Coast Guard. The person in charge from the Federal Government for the effort in Texas is going to be the admiral from the Coast Guard because they have done an incredible job. Admiral Allen over in Louisiana is doing a wonderful job. And now we will have other Coast Guard personnel helping with the operation in Texas.

So I have been working in the last 24 hours with our State and local officials and our Federal officials to assure that the resources are there. I am convinced everything that can be done is being done and that if you can be prepared, we are prepared. But we all know hurricanes are unpredictable in many ways, and we are in for probably a tough time. We are up to it. We will make sure whatever can be done to ease the pain of people who are in harm's way will be done.

I thank the Senator so much for her statement and the concern of all of my colleagues. Just as we have stated our concern to our colleagues from Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama, people now realize we have another State to add to the emergency needs of our country. I have no doubt everyone will be there doing everything possible for my constituents in Texas.

Mr. President, we are going to shortly propose a unanimous consent request. I ask any of my colleagues who might have amendments to get down to the floor immediately because we know of no amendments other than a couple we have in the mix. Senator Coburn has one, and we have one from Senator Feinstein for Senator Carper and Senator Biden. Those are the only ones we have been informed would be here, and we are going to dispatch those.

So I will ask for a quorum call so we can come back shortly for a unanimous consent request. But if anyone is thinking of an amendment, I would ask my colleagues to address it immediately.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, we do have a couple of other amendments. Senator DeWine has put an amendment in. But I am going to say that if we do not hear from anyone by 12:30, we are going to prepare to go to third reading and set a timetable for the vote. So I am just giving our colleagues fair warning that at 12:30, we will lock in the third reading and the vote on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and related agencies appropriations bill.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, we have a series of amendments that have been cleared on both sides, and I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments be temporarily set aside so that I could send these amendments

individually to the desk for their consideration.

On behalf of Senator Coburn, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I urge adoption of the amendment.

I move to reconsider the vote.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Carper and ask for its immediate consideration.

I urge its adoption.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Boxer and ask for its immediate consideration.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Isakson and Senator Chambliss and ask for its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Feinstein and ask for its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Feingold and ask for its immediate consideration.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Durbin and ask for its consideration.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Durbin and Senator Murray and ask for its immediate consideration.

I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Jeffords and ask for its consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Salazar be added as the original cosponsor of the Feingold amendment that was just passed by consent.

Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator Salazar and ask for its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I certainly appreciate the comments of my ranking member, Senator Feinstein, with whom I have worked very closely on this bill. We have tried to accommodate every Member to the best of our ability with the priorities that many Members are concerned about--certain areas of the Veterans' Administration particularly. I think we have addressed those concerns in a responsible way.

I think it is very important to pass this bill because we have stayed within our budget allocation. We will be coming in later, I am sure, with some supplemental health for veterans facilities that have been in the hurricane-affected areas of our country, but I hope we will be able to defeat the Akaka amendment, which would skew the cap on the bill, and then go to final passage. I think it is a bill everyone can support. It certainly goes further in terms of meeting our veterans' needs than any veterans bill has ever done, including the supplemental $3.2 billion, because the Secretary of Veterans Affairs came to us and said our models are wrong, we need more money, and we have supplied that money on a bipartisan basis.

I recommend this to my colleagues.

I am happy to yield.

Mr. President, which amendment is pending?

Vote on Amendment No. 1852

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I have sought recognition in these waning hours of the 109th Congress to provide a summary of the good work accomplished over the last 2 years on behalf of America's veterans, and to comment on comprehensive legislation that is now pending in the Senate. I provide this summary in my capacity as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, a title I will soon pass on to my friend, Senator Danny Akaka of Hawaii.

Before the 109th Congress convened, I made a decision to serve as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

for two fundamental reasons. The first and most important was that our country was at war and continues to be at war, and a nation at war, with hundreds of thousands of young men and women having spent extensive tours overseas in hostile lands, fighting for our country, deserves the full attention of the Senate. Many have died during the course of combat operations. Others have been seriously wounded. Thousands more will transition out of the military service in the coming years and will attempt to reenter the workforce or go to school under the Montgomery GI bill. There simply was no greater calling than for me to assume the leadership role to ensure our Government was effectively assisting the current generation of America's veterans and their families.

Second, I have always been nonplused, I guess, at the characterization that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs was a ``B'' committee. This characterization exists despite these facts. Mr. President, 24 million Americans have served in the military and are potentially eligible for VA-administered benefits. In addition, VA will soon have a budget over $80 billion, which is one of the largest and fastest growing budgets within Government. And finally, VA has the second largest Federal workforce of any Government agency.

Therefore, it was my goal to elevate the committee's profile and the importance of the veterans' benefits and services by embarking on a course of vigorous oversight and legislative effort and, I believe, accomplishment.

It is my humble opinion that I share the credit with 13 other members of the committee. One of them is here on the floor with me, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who also served not only on the authorizing committee with me but chairs VA MilCon and has played a critical role in veterans issues. We have been diligent and active participants of the committee, and the business of this committee, in my opinion, has been extremely productive in the last 2 years.

The committee held 52 hearings during the 109th Congress. From the start, our focus was on the combat wounded, the combat deceased, and their families. We held a hearing on the difficulty that surviving spouses have in getting timely and effective, consistent information regarding their benefits following the active-duty death of their loved one.

We held several hearings on whether returned combat veterans are provided with a seamless transition--many of us have heard those words used--from active duty to civilian life. We are still working with DOD on that, to make sure it is truly seamless.

We focused on medical and vocational needs of our severely wounded. We examined the research being done within the VA to advance our understanding of various diseases and disabilities confronting veterans in the hope that advances in medical science and technology could one day improve their lives. And there is clear evidence today that that very thing is happening.

The committee was particularly active in examining VA's budget needs, and no one can argue about the high priority this Congress placed on funding the VA system.

The total VA budget will have increased from approximately $63 billion at the end of fiscal year 2004 to over $80 billion upon enactment of a fiscal year 2007 appropriations bill, an increase of 27 percent.

In addition to resources provided, this Congress has put in place a system of accountability to ensure that the appropriations provided to VA are being used to meet the needs of those who rely on the vital health care provided by VA facilities around the Nation.

By law, VA now submits quarterly reports to the Congress on its budget that contain a comparison between VA's planned expenditures and actual expenditures.

More importantly, VA is required to include quality indicators in this report, such as the percentage of primary care appointments scheduled within 30 days of a patient's desired date.

I am confident that the Congress has the mechanisms in place to know, on short order, if VA's budget needs are outpacing its resources, and is therefore equipped to take swift remedial action if necessary.

On the legislative front, the Senate has continued to do the work expected of it by the men and women we serve and represent. Let me give a quick accounting of the legislative provisions that were enacted into law during this Congress:

First S. 1234 and S. 2562. In both the first and second sessions of the Congress, cost-of-living-adjustment legislation was enacted to increase the rates of disability compensation and survivors' compensation. Benefit rates were increased by 4.1 percent for 2006 and will be increased by 3.3 percent for 2007.

Second, Traumatic Injury Protection under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, T-SGLI. In many instances the wives, parents, and other family members of servicemembers who are traumatically injured incur substantial financial obligations in order to spend time with their loved ones during recovery periods at military hospitals.

Under the provisions of Public Law 109-13, those traumatically wounded since the start of OIF and OEF as a result of combat wounds are eligible for financial payments which range from $25,000 to $100,000 for qualifying injuries, depending on severity. To date, more than 2.500 wounded servicemembers have received payments as a direct result of this legislation.

As of December 1, 2005, all servicemembers and Reservists insured under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance program are also covered under the T-SGLI benefit. The coverage extends to all qualifying injuries regardless of whether injuries are incurred as a result of combat.

Under the provisions of H.R. 3200, the maximum coverage for members of the Armed Forces and veterans of the Service Members Group Life Insurance and the Veterans Group Life Insurance benefit was increased from $250,000 to $400,000.

The bill, as enacted, also requires that spouses be notified when members insured under T-SGLI elect less than maximum coverage or designate a beneficiary other than the spouse or the children or the child.

In fiscal year 2006, the National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 1815, under provisions of H.R. 1815 and as a result of veterans committees oversights, the Department of Defense was directed to provide customized integrated information to survivors of those killed on active duty about their future Federal benefits through an Internet Web site.

I was amazed when we started these hearings that we were still dealing with a hodgepodge of approaches of how we dealt with the surviving spouse of a lost one.

DOD was also directed to develop a uniform policy on providing casualty assistance to survivors. I would like to especially thank Senators Warner and Levin for their cooperation on that bill.

Also under H.R. 1815, a provision was adopted to prohibit military funeral honors and burial in VA national cemeteries and in Arlington National Cemetery to any person who is convicted of a Federal or State capital murder for which a sentence of death or life in prison may be imposed

We had an example of a fellow from Maryland who had killed two elderly people and was sentenced to death, died in prison, and was buried at Arlington. This provision was adopted following our committee's oversight and hearing of that double murder that I just expressed. I will speak more to my colleagues about the status of the double murder incident in a moment.

In June of 2006 President Bush signed into law S. 1235, a bill to help severely injured servicemembers in their transition from the military to their civilian lives. It authorizes VA to make grants available--ranging from $2,000 to $14,000--to assist with housing adaptations on a family member's home in which a severely disabled veteran is living.

It allows servicemembers, who have been legally determined 100 percent disabled when they separated from the military, up to 2 years from that date to apply for premium-free Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance coverage. Finally, it enables them to convert their coverage to Veterans' Group Life Insurance, or an individual plan or policy, during the same 2-year period.

As to H.R. 5037, undoubtedly most of my colleagues are aware of the fringe

group which has used its protected free speech rights to deliberately disrupt funerals of our military heroes. That is why the Senate voted unanimously to put reasonable restrictions on demonstrations at VA cemeteries and Arlington National Cemetery.

An amendment was put forward on the floor of the Senate balancing the rights of grieving families to a dignified funeral ceremony; the rights of private property owners who live near cemeteries to be free from overly intrusive Federal laws; and the rights of demonstrators to have their message heard. The amendment was accepted, the bill was passed, and it is now Federal law.

In addition to the bills already enacted into law, the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs have agreed on a comprehensive substitute amendment to S. 3421, which has cleared the House and awaits Senate action. I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

S. 3421, the ``Veterans Benefits. Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006,'' contains provisions that would: enhance veterans' health, education, memorial affairs, and other benefit programs; improve VA's information technology infrastructure; authorize the construction of needed VA medical facilities; improve services for homeless veterans; remove the remains of a convicted double murderer from Arlington National Cemetery; and, I am proud to say, repeal an outdated and paternalistic law that limits the ability of veterans to hire an attorney to represent them during the VA claims process.

While a fuller accounting of the provisions of S. 3421 can be found in the Joint Explanatory Statement language accompanying the amendment text in the Congressional Record--and I ask unanimous consent that the Joint Explanatory Statement be printed in the Record along with the text of the substitute amendment to S. 3421,--I will make a few remarks about three provisions of note that I have championed.

Mr. President, currently, veterans and other claimants seeking veterans' benefits may not hire an attorney until the VA administrative proceedings have been completed--a process that often takes several years.

That law flows from a Civil War era policy intended to protect veterans from unscrupulous attorneys. That policy arose at a time-- unlike today--when attending law school was not required to become a lawyer and there was no effective professional oversight of lawyers.

In recent months, it has become abundantly clear that many veterans and their survivors want the option of hiring an attorney to help them navigate the increasingly complex VA system. In fact, the prohibition against veterans hiring attorneys is considered to be unfair and outdated by a broad spectrum of individuals and organizations, including veterans' organizations, veterans' advocates, judges, law professors, and bar associations.

For these reasons, I am very pleased that a compromise version of legislation I authored was accepted that would allow veterans to hire attorneys after a veteran files a Notice of Disagreement with VA's initial decision on their claim.

A provision of S. 3421 will enable the spouses of seriously wounded veterans to obtain educational assistance benefits sooner than they have ever been able to before.

The need for the educational assistance provision was brought to my attention by U.S. Army SFC Jeff Mittman, a young man who was blinded after an attack in Iraq and is being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Sergeant First Class Mittman's wife would like to begin receiving educational assistance benefits from the VA while her husband undergoes treatment in order to improve her job opportunities once he is officially discharged from service, but is now prevented from doing so by law. If enacted, S. 3421 would remove that barrier.

Finally, S. 3421 would remove the cremated remains of a convicted double murderer from Arlington National Cemetery.

In the summer of 2005, we learned that the remains of a brutal murderer--Russell Wayne Wagner--were placed in the Nation's preeminent military cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery.

I was appalled to discover that the law enacted in 1997 to deny capital offenders from burial in national cemeteries did not apply to Wagner.

This was also quickly brought to my attention by the Senator from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski. We joined together in that effort. The answer was it couldn't happen, it couldn't be removed because of the law.

While we moved swiftly to close the loophole that permitted Wagner's burial in the first place, the question remained: Should his remains continue to be included among the scores of honored dead in Arlington? For me and Senator Mikulski, who joined me in this effort, the answer was ``no.''

That is why I am so pleased that S. 3421 would direct the Secretary of the Army to remove Wagner's remains from Arlington.

As I stated last summer, we must not dishonor the sacrifices made by those memorialized at our Nation's military cemeteries by including among them individuals who, through their own heinous acts, have grievously dishonored themselves because at another time in their life they were veterans.

S. 3421 is an impressive assortment of legislation. It contains the collective work of more than 44 Senators. I want to take some time to single out a few of them.

Senators Burr and Obama for their work on the homeless assistance provisions of the bill; Senators Hutchison, Feinstein, Graham, Landrieu, and Murray for their work on the construction provisions; Senators Thune, Salazar, and Burr for their work on the rural health components of the bill.

And lastly, the committee's ranking member, and a true friend of veterans, Senator Akaka.

I ask my colleagues for their vote. And I thank every Senator on the committee and in the Senate for their support in seeing this, and all of the other veterans' bills, through the Senate.

I also want to thank my House colleagues, in particular Chairman Buyer, Ranking Member Evans, and Acting Ranking Member Filner. We were able to come together in the spirit of compromise in the final hour on some key provisions, and it is a fitting way to end this Congress.

As we head into a new Congress, I want to extend my best wishes to my friend, and soon-to-be chairman, Senator Akaka. It has been a pleasure working with a Senator of his quality, and I pledge that as ranking member I will strive to emulate the kindness, cooperation, and ``aloha'' that he showed me during my time as chairman of this great committee.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask I be allowed to proceed as in morning business.

Mr. President, I rise to express my heartfelt sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been impacted and displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Many people will feel the effects of a natural disaster of this magnitude for years. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with them all.

There have been an awful lot of negative publicity and stories surrounding this natural disaster. But there also have been a number of positive activities that have taken place leading up to Katrina's arrival, during the storm itself, as well as in the aftermath. I would like to share some of those stories.

Since Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, public and private agencies have worked closely together to survey the damage to Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. The hurricane affected the Port of New Orleans and the

ports along the gulf coast and grain facilities along the Mississippi River. Reports estimate that the total damage to the Port of New Orleans is approximately $1.6 billion, including damage to two bridges and a lock.

The Port of New Orleans is an economic asset to the City of New Orleans, contributing approximately $88 million to the city's economy and $1.6 billion to the statewide economy of Louisiana in the year 2001 alone. According to the New Orleans Customs District, for the period October 2004 through June 2005, an 8-month period, the dollar value of exports for bulk agricultural products is almost $1 billion going through New Orleans. This is almost half of the bulk product, by value, exported from the United States every year. In 2004, bulk amount was $25.6 billion.

As many of my colleagues are aware, transportation on the Mississippi River is very important to our Nation's farmers and is critical to keeping U.S. agriculture positioned and able to serve U.S. markets for grain, oilseeds, and grain products shipped from New Orleans. The Mississippi gulf typically is responsible for about 71 percent of corn, 65 percent of soybeans, and 22 percent of wheat exports. This system is one of the most important elements in keeping U.S. grains and oilseeds, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as several other U.S. agriculture products, competitive in the world markets. Of the 50.2 million metric tons exported from U.S. ports thus far in 2005, 29.7 million metric tons or 59 percent was exported from the Mississippi gulf.

Export elevators in the Mississippi gulf region range in storage capacities from 2 million to more than 7 million bushels each. These facilities have a rated vessel loading capacity generally ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 bushels per hour.

As chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, my staff has been in touch with all of the major U.S. grain exporters following Katrina's aftermath moving north. The grain export industry and the industry's supporting transportation infrastructure affected by this disaster committed early on to resume operations as soon as possible. Through continued perseverance, the National Grain and Feed Association, NGFA, and the North American Export Grain Association, NAEGA, which represents those business that handle 70 percent of the U.S. grain and oilseed crop, have prioritized the recovery operations of the grain export infrastructure in this region.

Due to the accomplishments of the private sector, as of today, the grain export elevators are operating at a storage capacity in excess of 84 percent in New Orleans. Moreover, the Federal agencies, especially the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard, have made this possible because of the cooperation between the private sector and the lessees of the port facilities, such as Cargill and ADM and other grain brokerage companies.

Grain exporters, allied industries, and multiple U.S., State and local government entities continue to work around the clock under very challenging conditions to restore operations on the Mississippi River and the affected region. While normal operating conditions at these facilities are not fully restored, many of the obstacles are being addressed successfully to have them operate at full capacity.

A common challenge for every company is making sure enough workers can reach their facilities and have a warm bed and a hot meal. Elevator workers, port workers, and USDA grain inspectors were displaced by the hurricane's extensive damage or complete destruction to their homes-- and they also obeyed evacuation instructions. All of these people need housing and the appropriate infrastructure in order to be able to return to work.

As the companies secure adequate housing and living quarters for the employees and their families, the employees of the industry, the Port of New Orleans and other gulf coast ports can more quickly get back to work to ensure U.S. agriculture continues feeding the world.

This is at a point in time during the harvest of grains in the Midwest where we are at our peak, and it is such a critical factor, not just for the city of New Orleans but for all of our grain producers in the Midwest that put their grain on barges, ship them down the Mississippi River to the Port of New Orleans and other gulf coast facilities.

The private sector, the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Coast Guard are diligently working to restore the gulf coast ports to full capacity in a timely manner. Congress will continue to provide these agencies the resources and the private sector the ability they need to do so.

I am confident that the United States will continue to be a reliable supplier to the international community of grain. I commend the tireless efforts of the U.S. Government agencies, NAEGA, NGFA, and the companies involved in resuming operations of the Port of New Orleans, the ports along the gulf coast and grain facilities along the Mississippi River.

There continue to be many great stories of other individuals and companies contributing and sacrificing time, money, and even their safety to help the victims of Katrina. In my home State of Georgia, many folks are volunteering in evacuee shelters, contributing food, clothes, and money. Some are even housing evacuees. Companies and their employees are joining the effort as well.

The marquee company of my home State is Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola, its bottlers, and their employees are doing their part to assist the victims of Katrina. Coca-Cola had its incident management team in place prior to the storm making land to coordinate its response to Hurricane Katrina. With a number of facilities damaged or without electricity in the affected area, Coca-Cola and its bottlers immediately began producing water and an assortment of beverages from other plants for donation to FEMA and other relief agencies, even as they attempted to reach employees in the affected areas.

Running short of bottles and cans to deliver water and juice for children, Coca-Cola employees modified 2.5-gallon containers, which are normally used for syrup in restaurant fountain dispensers, and converted them to hold various beverages for shipment to emergency shelters at the Astrodome and other places in and around the affected area.

To date, Coca-Cola and its bottling partners have shipped more than 30 million containers of filtered water, juice, sport drinks, and other beverages to relief organizations, including the American Red Cross, Department of Defense, FEMA and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and food service partners such as Aramark.

The Coca-Cola company and the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association committed $5 million to Hurricane Katrina relief. A major portion of the donations went to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, with $2 million being set aside to aid displaced Coca-Cola employees.

Because of Georgia's experience in disasters and because of the expertise in mobile medical centers, Ben Hinson, the owner of Mid Georgia Ambulance Company was asked by the State of Louisiana to coordinate all ambulance and paramedic services coming into the State.

Within 2 days of Hurricane Katrina making landfall, Ben was on the ground delivering medical services and coordinating response teams from all over the country. His company along with other Georgia ambulance services would eventually send 20 ambulances and 50 paramedic crews to help in the relief efforts.

Ben and his son, Shay, now manage over 600 paramedics and nearly 400 ambulances, a number that is growing every day as more States and localities continue to mobilize. Mid Georgia Ambulance is also working side by side with Navy medical teams in St. Barnard Parish providing triage and primary medical care to survivors.

Home Depot is another company which is passionate about helping its neighbors and communities during times of need. Home Depot responded with unwavering support to help Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida residents recover from this catastrophe.

One of Home Depot's policies during such emergencies is to freeze prices on all hurricane commodities to assure that no price gouging can take place. Home Depot also established a 24-7 hurricane command center to support efforts to restore operations in the field. Home Depot relocated 950 associates to work in affected stores while

impacted associates focus on the needs of their families and homes. They raised credit limits on its consumer credit cards and extended special offers to customers in the affected areas. They dispatched Loss Prevention personnel and uniformed guards to ensure the safety of customers and associates in affected and surrounding stores and temporary support centers.

The Home Depot understands that its employees are the most important company asset and many were disaster victims themselves. To create a support network for short-term financial assistance to help ensure the safety of each associate and their families, Home Depot provided more than $1.2 million through 1,350 grants to workers impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

They also set up a toll-free disaster assistance line for affected associates. The hotline helps associates find temporary housing, provides transfers to other store locations and contacts mortgage and credit card companies to temporarily suspend payments, among other services.

The Home Depot has donated $1.5 million to support immediate relief and recovery efforts by relief organizations including $400,000 to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army, and $600,000 to support long- term rebuilding and volunteerism efforts.

The Home Depot Foundation donated $500,000 to community development organizations that rebuild low- to moderate-income housing in affected areas. With the help of its vendor partners, the Home Depot has provided and shipped nearly $1.25 million in in-kind product donations including generators, gloves, flashlights and batteries, floodlights, food, cleaning supplies and linens. This effort by Home Depot will continue until the cleanup process is completed.

Georgia's own Center for Disease Control has directed much of its resources toward providing both immediate help to the victims' day-to- day health needs, as well as the long-term difficulties of containing the spread of disease and infection.

CDC positioned personnel on the ground in Louisiana prior to the storm making land.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC Director, has asked the CDC Foundation to activate its Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, created after 9/ 11 to provide flexible and immediate resources for CDC to use in a public health emergency.

Dr. Gerberding has also activated the CDC state-of-the-art Bernie Marcus Emergency Operations Center to support the Department of Health and Human Services as a coordinating hub for the hurricane response.

Public health scientists, relief workers, and medical supplies as well as environmental and medical test samples have been on the flights to and from the affected areas.

As of today, September 22, the CDC has sent hundreds of thousands of doses of antibiotics and maintenance medications for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, pain and anxiety, just to name a few. Also included are IVs, insulin syringes, and basic pharmaceuticals.

CDC has deployed 246 professionals to the field. Specialties include nursing, epidemiology, sanitation, occupational safety, disease surveillance, and risk communication.

CDC is helping to vaccinate thousands of children at evacuation centers' and CDC experts are helping to organize, implement, and assess the evacuation centers' vaccination program.

CDC has been focusing on food-borne, water-borne, and insect-borne infectious disease outbreaks as well as checking water quality, restoring critical laboratory functions and rebuilding public health and laboratory infrastructures.

Many evacuees in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama lost their personal health records. These needs are being addressed through existing immunization systems.

In Louisiana alone, CDC estimated that 8,300 queries were made to the Louisiana Immunization Network for Kids statewide--LINKS--regarding vaccination histories for kids that were evacuated. CDC is using LINKS to determine health records of children and providing immunizations for those in need and for those with no proof of health records.

A story of human interest: Liz O'Mara surveys a shelter in Jackson, MS. A CDC public health advisor, she spent her second week of marriage on a cot in a conference room with 10 men ``who snored!'' But she says:

It is an honorable experience to play a small part of a

State and local response effort. We--Strategic National

Stockpile--are not here as individuals, but as a team. We

rely on each other's commitment to their specific

responsibilities and expertise as a synchronized unit, or we

simply would not be very successful assisting with State and

local needs.

I am proud of the efforts that Georgians, as well as all Americans are doing to help those who are suffering from Hurricane Katrina. We owe them a great deal of gratitude.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I am very pleased to join my chairman, Senator Hutchison, in recommending the 2006 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and related agencies appropriations bill to the Senate. I thank Senators Cochran and Byrd for their leadership and assistance in guiding this bill through the committee and to the floor.

I very much appreciate the support of our leaders in allowing us to take up this bill at this time before we have completed action on the Defense authorization or appropriations bills. I recognize this is not the normal order of business. With the clock running and a large amount of unfinished business facing the Senate, it is imperative we press on with these bills as quickly as possible.

With one disastrous hurricane behind us and another bearing down on Texas, we all recognize there is no time to dawdle. We face enormous challenges with these hurricanes. Both Senator Hutchison and I hope and pray it will not bring another measure of devastation on our coastal States. My heart goes out to my chairman, Senator Hutchison, to her people, our people, in the State of Texas. I hope we can move this bill quickly so she can return to Texas later today to help her constituents prepare for the onslaught of the storm.

I want the Senator to know all on this side wish you and your people Godspeed. I hope it does not hit as hard as it looks like it might.

We have watched with great pride the heroic actions of our Nation's active and reserve military personnel as they have rushed to respond to devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. We have watched these same troops courageously carry out their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We ask so much of our military and we all recognize we can never adequately repay our debt of gratitude to them. That said, we as Senators have both the opportunity and the responsibility to ensure programs important to our military forces and our veterans are adequately funded.

As Senator Hutchison has said, the bill before the Senate today is a bipartisan effort to provide a portion of that funding for the infrastructure needs of our military and the health care and other needs of our veterans.

I want to emphasize the bipartisan nature of this bill and to especially commend the chairman, Senator Hutchison, for her skill and her determination--and she can be very determined--in addressing the budgetary complications posed by merging the massive and troubled budget of the VA into the military construction appropriations bill.

In that respect, when we had hearings, it was interesting to see that Senator Craig came, Senator Akaka came, Senator Murray came, the former authorizers, as well as appropriators when the VA was in another budget.

I hope veterans all over the United States recognize how deeply this Senate does care that the VA budget is adequately funded. It was a struggle, but we got there and we got there together. That was thanks to the authorizers and the appropriators and the former appropriators, including my friend Senator Mikulski, for working closely with us.

This bill is notable in several regards. First, under the leadership of Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd, we were able to provide $1.977 billion in emergency funding to address the projected shortfall in veterans health care. This was originally disputed, but the authorizers found that the percentage of increase in the planning model was wrong. Therefore, additional moneys were, in fact, needed. That was in addition to the $1.5 billion in the 2005 supplemental funding we were able to add to the 2006 Interior appropriations bill to make up the current shortfall in veterans health care funding. So it was a double effort because money was also added on the Interior bill as well as on our bill.

At a time of tight budget constraints and many competing needs, the Senate Committee on Appropriations demonstrated it stands united in support of our veterans. I very much hope the full Senate and the House will stand by our committee's recommendation.

The bill before the Senate today totals $82.98 billion, of which $44 billion is discretionary. For military construction, the bill equals the budget request of $12.116 billion, although we have rearranged some of the funding within that request.

For the VA, the total amount appropriated in this bill is $70.7 billion, including $34.1 billion in discretionary spending and $36.6 billion in mandatory spending. This is $3.2 billion above the President's original budget proposal.

Even before we learned of the terrible shortfalls in the VA budget, Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd provided an additional $1.26 billion to the subcommittee to cover shortcomings in the President's budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Senator Hutchison and I used that additional funding to restore proposed cuts to programs and to make up all the savings assumed in the budget submission for proposed enrollment fees and increased pharmaceutical copayments, as the chairman mentioned.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations unanimously rejected levying these fees on our veterans and provided funding to ensure that the VA could continue to provide service to all eligible veterans.

The bill also provides essential funding for military construction, military family housing, and base realignment and closure costs. Once again, Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated the vital mission of the Guard and Reserve forces to respond to disasters at home and the important backup role played by components of our Active-Duty Forces.

As any experienced military member will state, infrastructure is the key to readiness. Our troops can't train or deploy effectively without the infrastructure necessary to support their mission. This bill provides important funding for military infrastructure needs, including family housing. As the chairman mentioned in the privatization of a number of new projects, those needs will only increase as a result of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on a number of facilities and installations in Mississippi and Louisiana.

We must be prepared to meet those emerging requirements and others we may yet face, without slowing down the progress we are making toward addressing the backlog of military construction requirements nationwide. I suggest that a necessary place for some of this will be the next emergency supplemental rather than, hopefully, amendments to this bill.

Finally, this bill includes necessary funding to implement the 2005 base realignment and closure process and to continue the environmental cleanup from the previous BRAC rounds. This is very important to me. I thank the chairman for going along with it because the environmental cleanup needs are far beyond those envisioned or those budgeted.

Much of the remaining environmental cleanup requirements is in my home State of California. I am particularly mindful of the need to finish this job. Senator Hutchison has strongly supported me in this effort. I appreciate her concern that we fully fund environmental cleanup of military installations closed under the BRAC process.

Again, I thank Chairman Hutchison for her steadfast leadership on this bill, and Chairman Cochran and Senator Byrd for their unstinting support of our Nation's military members and veterans. I also thank, because we have a great staff, Tammy Cameron, Sean Knowles, and Dennis Balkam on the majority, and Christina Evans, B.G. Wright, and Chad Schulken of my staff for their professionalism and their excellent work.

This is a good bill. I encourage all of my colleagues on the Democratic side, in particular, to support it and to move expeditiously to pass it.

I yield the floor.

If I may, Mr. President, I very much concur with what my chairman has just said. In watching on television, one of the things that has come through to me is the enormous sensitivity of our military toward people's plights. What is coming back from people is: Oh, they are treating us so well. They really care.

I believe that is a real commendation for the American military, thrown into a situation for which they are not necessarily trained. After all, they are trained for war fighting. They have done amazingly. I think from the top, when General Honore went down--no nonsense, ``move that gun down''--there was no doubt who was in command. It was a true command presence and followed down through the ranks in an amazing way.

So I just want to say thank you very much to each man and woman who is down there helping people go through some of the worst days of their lives.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 1859

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 1860

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 1861

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 1863

I move to lay that motion on the table.

Amendment No. 1864

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Amendment No. 1865

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. President, I propose that for the moment we set aside the Akaka amendment, that Senator Craig and I make our 2-minute ending comments, and we then have the vote on the Akaka amendment, and then final passage so there are consecutive votes.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, this bill is notable in several regards:

First, under the leadership of Senator Akaka and Senator Byrd, we were able to provide $1.977 billion in emergency funding in this bill to address the projected shortfall in veterans health care funding for 2006.

This is in addition to the $1.5 billion in the 2005 supplemental funding we were able to add to the 2006 Interior appropriations bill to make up the current shortfall in veterans health care. The bill before the Senate now totals $82.98 billion, of which $44 billion is discretionary spending.

For military construction, the bill equals the budget request of $12.116 billion. Although we have rearranged some of the funding within that request for the VA, the total amount appropriated in this bill is $70.7 billion, including $34.1 billion in discretionary and $36.6 billion in mandatory spending. This is $3.2 billion above the President's original budget request.

I commend and thank the chairman of the committee, Senator Hutchison of Texas. We have worked very well together in producing a very good bill. I am delighted we were able to finish it with quick speed.

I thank the staff on both sides. We have great professional staff. They have done a fine job.

I would like to turn it over to the chairman of the committee, my friend, Senator Hutchison.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I appreciate the expeditious way our leader and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies has brought this important appropriations bill to the floor. It is, in my opinion, without question, that we ought to try to deal with all of our appropriations bills this year, complete them individually, complete the total process. We have seen the difficult and confusing process of omnibus bills over the last couple of years. Clearly, this Congress ought to demonstrate to the American taxpayer that we can conduct our budgeting and our appropriating process in a reasonable and responsible fashion to move ahead. The chairman of the subcommittee is urging us to come to the floor if we have amendments and address them in a timely fashion, to see if we can complete work on this appropriations bill today. I appreciate that.

As chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I have worked closely with the chairman and the ranking member of this subcommittee to assure that we have adequately funded the Veterans' Administration. As our colleagues know--and certainly observers have known--we have had difficulty in effective and responsible projections of costs. As we have seen a ramping up of services to America's veterans and as the quality of veterans health care improves, there has been a substantially greater number of veterans who have chosen to use the veterans health care system to provide for their needs. As a result, H.R. 2528 provides $70.71 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the highest amount of appropriated dollars in the history of the Department. Of this funding, $34.09 billion is discretionary funding, meaning spent across the spectrum of veterans services, which is $1.26 billion above the administration's request, and $23.32 billion is for medical services which is $1.3 billion above the administration's request. Not only did the administration come in at a higher number, but as the needs changed, Congress came in at an even higher number. That speaks clearly to our commitment to America's veterans, as we have always responded to their needs in what we believe to be a direct, straightforward way.

The overall budget of Veterans Affairs has risen $22.5 billion or 47.5 percent, with average increases for all veterans at nearly 7.8 percent every year. I am talking about since the Bush administration took office. These increases more than double the growth of the entire Federal budget, which has increased by 4.14 percent. I am talking about the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Anyone who says we are not meeting the obligation to America's veterans with unprecedented increases and increases that are substantially more than in other areas of our Federal budget simply hasn't looked at the numbers and the level of health care being provided. Health care funding alone has grown by $10 billion, or 52 percent, during the Bush administration. With that attention and response from the Congress and this President, VA has become a modern health care system, described in recent national publications as the best health care anywhere. Of course, that is exactly why we now see more veterans seeking veterans health care; it is not the health care of last resort. It is the health care of first choice. It is a modern, quality delivery system all of us can be proud of, not only because we are providing it but because it serves America's heroes in a way that we feel an appropriate obligation to do so.

I thank Chairman Hutchison for the work she has done, and the ranking member, Senator Feinstein, for their cooperative effort with us as we have worked our way through this difficult funding process for veterans. The job is well done. The services and the resources provided are responsible and adequate for the serving of America's veterans.

I am privileged to serve on this subcommittee, to work with the chairman and ranking member to accomplish this task. I also have the unique responsibility of serving as chairman of the authorizing Committee on Veterans' Affairs. I am pleased and proud of the work we are doing, not only for America's veterans today but for those who are soon to become America's veterans. The brave men and women serving us in the defense of our freedom in the war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming back. Many of them will be requiring significant services as they have been injured and found themselves in harm's way. Of course, that is our responsibility. We will not back from it in any way. America's veterans or America's serving men and women soon to be veterans need to know that this Congress has and will continue to address their needs in a responsible fashion, to serve them as we appropriately must, sometimes having to draw priorities but recognizing that those needing the care are going to get the care, the kind that is appropriate and responsible for America's heroes, America's veterans, and men and women currently serving in the armed services.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment numbered 1868 on behalf of Senator Salazar. I ask for its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 3:10 today, the Senate proceed to a vote on or in relation to Akaka amendment No. 1852, with no amendments in order to the amendment prior to that vote; provided further that no other amendments be in order to the bill and that following disposition of the Akaka amendment, H.R. 2528 be read for a third time and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage with no intervening action or debate; provided further that following the vote the Senate insist on its amendments, request a conference with the House, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.

I finally ask unanimous consent that there be 2 minutes equally divided for debate prior to passage.

Mr. President, Senator Akaka is en route to the floor to make some final comments on his amendment prior to the vote. With that in mind, and that vote occurring at 3:10, I will take 5 minutes or less to debate in opposition to the Akaka amendment. I do this with great difficulty because the Senator is proposing additional funding in an area that we have already concentrated on, both in the appropriating subcommittee and in the authorizing committee. He is asking for an additional $10 million in the budget for the Veterans Readjustment Counseling Service. This would represent a $14 million increase for the service just this year and that is an increase of almost 15 percent in its budget.

I agree the Veterans Readjustment Counseling Service does great work. They have taken on some additional roles, including the Global War on Terrorism Outreach Program, but this bill already provides a generous $4 million increase for this function and more broadly provides over $3 billion for veterans health care programs.

I understand the Senator from Hawaii would like to focus some attention on this program with his amendment, but I would say to my colleagues that I believe the administration and the Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee, which I chair, has already focused the necessary needed additional attention on mental health and the counseling needed for our returning service members. We have also dialoged very directly with the Veterans' Administration and at this time they feel they are adequately funded.

The bill I sponsored, S. 1182, which was just reported to the floor from the Veterans' Committee, contains numerous provisions to increase and provide access to mental health and counseling services. VA could hire marriage and family therapists as well as licensed medical health care counselors.

Further, VA is directed to work on improving access to telehealth initiatives in our Vet Center Program, which VA has expressed a desire to do.

Finally, I oppose the amendment because it would further reduce VA's information technology budget, which I think is critical. VA has made tremendous strides in improving its IT programs. It has made some errors, but clearly the benefits are outweighing the mistakes, in my opinion, in most instances.

This bill places conditions on VA's access to its IT money to ensure it is well spent and properly managed. But at the end of the day, they must continue to move forward and make needed improvements to their IT program, and the money in this bill is critical to making sure they do that.

It is for all of these reasons, regretfully, that I stand to oppose Senator Akaka's amendment. As I said, we are putting substantially more money into counseling and veterans readjustment counseling services.

We understand from where the Senator speaks. We appreciate it. Clearly, he and I and all of us who look more closely at veterans programs recognize the need for counseling for many of our veterans when they return. It is a high priority of this chairman; it is a high priority of the ranking member. It is my opinion that with the additional $3.2 billion--new dollars--in the veterans budget which this represents, with the add-ons which we put in Interior and a variety of other appropriations, we have adequately funded necessarily and appropriately the services the Senator would wish to provide additional moneys for, taking them from critical areas but still remaining very important.

I see the Senator is on the floor to speak to his amendment. I yield the floor.

Will my colleague yield?

I appreciate the chairman yielding.

Let me say to the chairman and ranking member, as the chairman of the authorizing Committee of Veterans' Affairs, how much we appreciate the cooperative way in which we have worked together to get these numbers right. Both Senators have spoken very clearly to that effort and to the unprecedented amount of money that has flowed to veterans at this time, which we think is necessary and appropriate.

I thank the Senator for that due diligence.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.