Appropriations Debate/title> </head> <body bgcolor="#FCFBEB"> <div align="center"><center> <table border="0" width="100%" height="175"> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="1"><p align="center"><img border="0" src="LogoSmYbkg.JPG" width="95" height="101"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="50"><p align="center"><b><font color="#800000" size="5">APPROPRIATIONS DEBATE</font></b><p align="center"><font color="#000080"><strong>July 21, 2004</strong></font></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" height="15"><br> <font color="#000080" size="2"><b>The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) did not receive the resources it needs to maintain current services when the House Appropriations Subcommittee for VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies marked-up VA’s funding levels for fiscal year 2005. With tight budget constraints and competing political priorities, the full committee will consider the VA/HUD appropriations bill on Thursday morning, July 22, 2004. The bill will not be brought to the House floor for a vote until sometime in September or October.<br> <br> Currently, the Subcommittee only provides an additional $1.2 billion for VA health care, which leaves a shortfall of $1.3 billion just to maintain current services. We are asking Congress to provide a total increase of $2.5 billion over the President’s request for VA programs to bring it to the level recommended by the House Veterans' Affairs Committee in its Views and Estimates. <br> <br> Please contact your representative and urge him or her to honor our nation’s commitment to veterans by providing VA a vital increase in resources. </b></font> <p align="center"><font color="#000080" size="2"><b><a href="http://capwiz.com/dav/issues/alert/?alertid=6131621">TAKE ACTION!</a></b></font></p> <p align="center"> </p> </td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td width="50%" height="17"><p align="center"><font size="2"><a style="color: #800000; font-weight: bold" href="http://www.hcvc.org">TO HCVC HOME PAGE</a></font></td> <td width="50%" height="17"><p align="center"><font size="2"><a style="color: #800000; font-weight: bold" href="archives/archives.htm">TO ARCHIVES</a></font></td> </tr> </table> </center></div> </body> </html>