Congresswoman Thelma Drake Radio Address
 November 16, 2007

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, this is Congresswoman Thelma Drake, and I have the honor to represent Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, which is home to more active duty military than any other congressional district, and boasts America’s third largest population of veterans.

This year, I had the privilege to support legislation that provides $6.7 billion in increased funding for our veterans.  The bill passed the House and Senate with near-unanimous votes months ago.  Unfortunately, Veterans Day has come and gone and our nation’s veterans still do not have access to this increased funding.

Instead of sending this bill to the president, who has agreed to sign the bill, the Democratic leadership has decided to hold our veterans’ funding hostage, use it as a vehicle to pass billions in unrelated spending and advance a political agenda.  This is absolutely unacceptable.

The Democratic leadership’s scheme to hold veterans hostage is a dangerous and irresponsible precedent that should be stopped dead in its tracks before it becomes standard operating procedure in Washington.  A clean Veterans Appropriations conference agreement has been introduced as a stand-alone bill.

This bill could move through Congress and be signed by the President today.  But instead, the Democratic Leadership in Congress chose to adjourn early for the Thanksgiving holiday before providing the increased funding for our veterans.

America’s servicemembers and veterans have served our nation with honor and distinction.  For giving themselves completely to the cause of freedom, they deserve from their government an indisputable commitment to ensuring that they receive the benefits they have earned.

By further delaying action on this important funding legislation, Democrats in Congress are jeopardizing the healthcare and benefits not only for our current veterans but for our returning troops – some of whom are slated to return in just a few months.  Our returning troops do not deserve to come home and find themselves in the middle of a political game.

In giving thanks for our nation’s many blessings this Thanksgiving, we must also convey our gratitude to those who selflessly served in our nation’s Armed Forces.  America owes its past, present, and future to our veterans and our returning troops.  They are heroes and Congress must honor its covenant to provide for them and their families.  The Democrats have squandered the opportunity to pass this funding on time.

They failed to pass it before Veterans Day and they failed to pass it before the Thanksgiving recess. Our veterans deserve better.
So I urge you to take a moment in the days ahead to contact your Representative and demand that he or she do everything in their power to get our veterans the funding they deserve.

Thank you for listening and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.