mr. chairman , i have an amendment which i am labeling an emergency amendment . 
it is an emergency amendment because the money is needed for the veterans of this nation , especially those who are returning from the war in iraq and afghanistan who may not be able to get the services they need for a variety of wounds , both physical and mental . 
let me first say where i got the number of $ 3.1 billion . 
it is not just a figure grabbed from the air . 
every year the veterans service organizations of this nation put together a budget called the independent budget for the department of veterans affairs . 
this is the one for 2006 . 
what it says is that just to keep meeting the needs for our current veterans and those who we expect to see in the coming year , we will need an additional $ 3.1 billion than was allocated by the president in his budget . 
we do not know what this house will adopt yet , so this figure is drawn from the inadequacies of the president 's budget as he gave it to congress recently . 
this is a supplemental budget for those fighting in iraq and afghanistan . 
at least that is the title . 
let me make sure all the people of the house understand the relevance of the veterans budget for the war that we are fighting abroad . 
here is what our first president , george washington , said and it has never been done more eloquently : `` the willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war , no matter how justified , shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their country. '' mr. chairman , the morale of our troops overseas depends on how we are going to treat their comrades when they return and how we treat their comrades who served in earlier battles . 
we are not treating them to the level that is worthy of their sacrifice . 
whether you look at the amount of nurses , whether you look at research funds , whether you look at the resources for post-traumatic stress disorder for which virtually every returning soldier , marine who is in iraq and afghanistan may have , wherever you look , there is a deficiency in this veterans budget . 
i call that an emergency . 
i call that important to the struggle that is being waged overseas . 
if you are voting for that struggle , you have to vote to make sure the veterans who come back from that struggle are well treated . 
right now we have a proposal from the president which advocates a mere one-half of 1 percent increase in the veterans health care budget over the previous year . 
that is a real cut , because of health inflation and the advancing age and the needs of the population , to about a 14 or 15 percent cut by the administration 's own figures . 
so we are cutting in real terms 15 percent from the veterans health care budget . 
how does the administration want to fund that cut ? 
doubling the copayments for prescription drugs , adding an enrollment fee of up to $ 250 for those in the so-called lower categories of veterans preference . 
that is outrageous . 
that is unconscionable to charge the veterans of this nation for their own health care and to balance the budget on the backs of these veterans . 
the chairman of the committee on veterans ' affairs was not satisfied with having a $ 250 enrollment fee . 
he proposed doubling it to almost $ 500 for some of these veterans . 
these veterans are supposedly in lower categories , either because of the nature of their illness or their income . 
but , madam chairman , this nation , this congress has the funds to help all of these veterans to get the care that they need . 
let me remind my colleagues , this is a $ 2.5 trillion budget that we are operating within our nation . 
we have about a $ 400 billion deficit , a $ 7.5 trillion debt . 
we are spending several billion dollars a week in iraq . 
yet someone is going to say that we do not have the $ 3 billion that is necessary for our veterans ? 
i reject that argument because this is a nation that is worthy of its veterans . 
this a nation that could put the money where it is needed . 
and this is a nation that can do what is required for our veterans . 
we simply can not charge these copayments . 
we simply can not charge this enrollment fee . 
we simply can not continue to have a va that is gagged from informing veterans of their rights under law . 
that is what is happening in the va today . 
my amendment to provide $ 3 billion extra will correct that injustice . 
