COLEMAN SIDES WITH BUSH, AGAINST SUPPORTING VETERANS

11/08/2007

Votes for blank check in Iraq, but against benefits for servicemen and women


(St Paul, MN) -- Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman today voted to strip veterans funding at a time when our servicemen and women are facing ever greater difficulties at home. Preventing veterans funding from reaching President Bush’s desk would shield the president from vetoing another popular bill on the heels of his veto of children’s health insurance.

“Norm Coleman is playing politics with our veterans, plain and simple,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. “Coleman writes a blank check for our failed strategy in Iraq one day, and pulls the purse strings closed on our veterans the next. Come next November, the hundreds of thousands of veterans in Minnesota along with their friends, families and communities, will remember how Norm Coleman turned his back on them today.”

Coleman Voted To Block Veterans Funding. Coleman put his loyalty to Bush ahead of his loyalty to veterans by voting to block veterans funding from going to the President’s desk, even though he supported the bill earlier. [Senate vote 316, 9/6/07; Senate vote 404, 11/7/07]

Coleman Turned His Back On Hundreds Of Thousands Of Minnesota Veterans. There are currently 410,003 veterans in Minnesota, and 18,916 Minnesotans have been deployed in support of United States military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism. Coleman turned his back on all these servicemen and women by voting against this vital legislation. [Census Bureau, Department of Defense, CTS Deployment File as of July 31, 2007]

Coleman Voted Against Historic Funding For Nation’s Veterans. The bill provides almost $88 billion for the Veterans Administration, the biggest increase ever, including $37 billion - $2.6 billion more than the President requested -- for veterans’ health. The bill includes funding to hire 1,800 new claims processors to help address the backlog of 400,000 unprocessed claims. To address horrific problems exposed by the Walter Reed scandal, the bill provides $1.2 billion for construction and maintenance of VA hospitals and clinics. [House Appropriations Committee, 11/6/07; CQ House Action Report, 11/6/07]

Bill Needed Now More Than Ever As Veterans Suffer Unnecessarily. A study from Harvard Medical School researchers found that there were 1.8 million uninsured veterans in 2004, and that their ranks were growing twice as fast as the population at large. Far too many veterans are living on the streets; an estimated 500 to 1000 veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq are homeless. Delays by the VA in processing disability claims stretch nearly six months, and appeals are dragged out nearly two years. Facilities problems go way beyond Walter Reed as widespread maintenance problems such as mold, leaky roofs, and rodents abound throughout VA facilities. [USA Today, 10/31/07, Newsweek, 3/21/07, AP, 9/19/07; AP, 3/13/07, AP, 3/21/07]