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Friday, June 15, 2007
President Drops Veto Threat, Seeks Offsets on Mil Con
But Senate Appropriations Omits Offsets in 28-1 Vote
As we surmised last week, President Bush has dropped his long-standing threat to veto any FY 2008 appropriations bills that exceed the amounts he has requested, agreeing to sign a Military Construction-VA bill that provides $4 billion more than he has sought, so long as the $4 billion difference is accompanied by "reductions in other appropriations bills to offset this increase," according to Wednesday's Statement of Administration Policy on the bill.
But the Senate Appropriations Committee took no heed of the Statement, approving the bill yesterday 28-1. The Senate version of the bill is identical to the House bill. The House Appropriations vote last week was 56-0. The full House may vote on the bill as early as today.
The preponderance of the proposed increase goes toward veterans' health care, specifically research into and the treatment of traumatic brain injuries and stress disorders. NPR reported this morning that 40 percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from severe psychological problems.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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