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Vet Groups Need More Cash

Even as President Bush and Congress heap praise and promises of support on troops in Iraq and veterans at home, veterans` groups say the federal government is failing them by woefully underfunding programs on which vets rely. The Bush administration, with a push from Congress, added more than $20 billion to the Veterans Affairs budget in Bush`s first four years in office, more than the Clinton administration added in eight years.

Yet even with a VA budget of $68 billion, the government`s financial commitment is being outpaced by the rising cost of health care and the soaring number of veterans eligible for health care, Education and housing assistance. "We`re a continuing cost of war," Joseph Violante, national legislative director of the Disabled American Veterans, said. "If you want your freedoms, if you want your safety and your peace, you have to pay for it."

With increased costs and demand, the VA earlier this year revealed a $1 billion shortfall in health care funding, generating Democratic charges that the Republican-controlled White House and Congress were shortchanging vets even as they publicly vowed support. Bush proposed adding $100 million for VA health benefits in his 2006 budget request, but that is $3.4 billion short of what a coalition of the nation`s largest veterans groups said is necessary to meet current needs.