Senator Schumer Visits Embattled
Canandaigua VAv

Charles Schumer visited the Canandaigua VAMC to announce his proposal  for "Mandatory Funding" of the Department of Veterans Affairs based on the current methodology used to fund the Medicare system funding for the VA would be responsive to change in the activities of the military increasing funds commensurate with  OFFE currently is looking for more information on the legislation.

Senator Schumer joined the growing ranks of OFFE 2008 supporters by signing a copy of our Mandatory Funding Resolution, check out his autographed copy by clicking here

We do however applaud the governments interest in addressing the inadequacies of the current funding as orchestrated by the VERA Program.

Check out how the Democrat and Chronicle covered the visit in the local Rochester paper

Schumer visits VA, calls for more funding

James Goodman
Staff writer

(March 19, 2007) — CANANDAIGUA — New York Sen. Charles Schumer visited the Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center today and called for mandatory health care funding for veterans.

“If we designate the V.A. as mandatory funding, that will ensure federal support for health care that will be responsive to demand,” Schumer said.

Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs has an annual budget of $32.6 billion. Schumer said the budget would need about $2.8 billion more to meet current demand.

Earlier this month, Schumer, a Democrat, released a study that, based on figures from the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, show that veterans across the county were having money allocated that didn’t meet their needs.

The study showed that for the nine-county Rochester Finger Lakes region, about $10.5 million less than what would be needed was budgeted.

In 2005, Congress passed an emergency $2 billion spending bill for the V.A. to make up for a shortage of funds.

Check out this OFFE 2008 Press Release - Click Here