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Americans have a moral obligation to serve veterans The debt we owe to the men and women who served this country in the military does not end with the issuance of their discharge papers and an annual Veteran's Day parade. Their requests for assistance on service-related issues must be handled with efficiency, dignity and justice throughout their lives. That's why we support a measure to increase funding for the Veterans Administration, and why we believe Congress and the President should too. The current proposal calls for $6.7 billion in funding for next year, an increase of almost 20 percent and almost $4 billion more than the President requested. The money is needed, say Veterans Administration officials, to eliminate a burgeoning backlog of requests from veterans, primarily those who served in World War ll and Viet Nam. Without the additional money to hire more processors and personnel, these men and women will wait years to have their claims addressed. That's unconscionable.
The increase being requested may be more than the agency really needs to move forward, but a significant infusion of cash is not unreasonable. Democratic Congressmen Steve Israel, Carolyn McCarthy and Tim Bishop, who held a press conference this week to highlight the need for more resources at the VA, have taken up the battle here on Long Island. Let's hope that a reasonable and responsible compromise is reached and that America's gratitude to its veterans becomes more than just the sound of beating drums and crashing cymbals.
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