January 31, 2006

Ms. Deborah Beck
Executive Director
Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs
1726 M Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

Dear Ms. Beck:

On Friday, I joined several of my Senate colleagues in sending a letter to President Bush to urge him to fully fund the veterans' health care system when the Administration presents its Fiscal Year 2007 budget request to Congress in the coming weeks.

We have a responsibility as a nation to make sure that those who bravely served our country have the health care they need and deserve. Last year, the Senate had to step in to provide emergency funding to the VA to address shortfalls. I will fight to make sure that this year's budget fully funds VA health care.

[Below is our letter to President Bush]

January 27, 2006

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing today to urge you to give appropriate attention and priority to the needs of our nation's returning servicemembers and veterans in the Fiscal Year 2007 budget proposal you will soon be submitting to Congress.

As in years past, we plan to move forward in a bipartisan manner to provide adequate funding for the VA health care system. Last year, VA did not have enough resources to keep pace with demand, and faced a crisis situation that proved detrimental to patient care and services. The Senate acted swiftly and unanimously to provide emergency funding to fix the problem, but we must learn a lesson from this experience.

We have to do much more than merely keep pace with inflation and payroll costs. With tens of thousands of servicemembers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom will return home this year, each of us has a responsibility to ensure that the VA health care system receives full appropriated funding - without reliance on increasing out-of-pocket fees to veterans or cutting services. Caring for these men and women who have bravely served our country must be considered part of the cost of war.

It is imperative that VA is able to provide high-quality primary and specialty care in a timely manner, in addition to long-term and mental health care for those who require it. It is already apparent that all of these services will continue to be in high demand and we cannot ignore them as we shape the future of VA health care. We all have an obligation to the men and women who serve our nation to ensure that VA does not fall short again on the resources to provide these important services to both older and newer veterans.

We sincerely hope that your budget will be a clear message to the heroes of our conflicts - past and present - that their sacrifices are not forgotten. Your support will go a long way in keeping the promises we have made to our nation's veterans.

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton