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JUNE 15, 2007 – SENATE APPROPRIATORS APPROVE $500 MILLION FOR FY 2008 VA
R&D
Good news for VA research
funding continued on Thursday, June 14, when the full Senate
Appropriations Committee approved an FY 2008 appropriation of $500
million for VA medical and prosthetic research. This followed the
recommendation made the day before by the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related
Agencies (MilCon-VA).
Report language accompanying the bill states, “The Committee remains
highly supportive of this program, and recognizes its importance both in
improving healthcare services to veterans and recruiting and retaining
high-quality medical professionals in the Veterans Health
Administration.” It urges VA to expand its research on neurotrauma,
sensory loss and PTSD; to complete a study on PTSD involving Vietnam
veterans; to devote not less than $15 million to research on Persian
Gulf War veterans’ illnesses; to continue its Nursing Research
Initiative; and to evaluate expanding research and clinical efforts
related to geriatric care. The Committee commends VA for its work on
neuro-rehabilitation research.
Summary of FY 2008 Appropriations
Current Year: $411 million
FY 2008 Budget Request: $411 million
House Appropriations Committee: $480 million
Senate Appropriations Committee: $500 million
FOVA Recommendation: $480 million
Earlier this week, the White House
officially informed Congress that the president would veto any bills
that exceed the president’s budget, but made an exception for the MilCon-VA
bill which is about $4 billion higher than requested, with most of the
increase going to VA. This greatly improves the chances that the
significant increases for VA medical services and research in both the
House and Senate bills will survive the steps remaining in the FY 2008
appropriations process.
The House bill is scheduled for floor consideration and passage today,
and the Senate may bring their bill to the floor before the July recess.
Needless to say, members of the Friends of VA Medical Care and Health
Research (FOVA) will urge Congress to accept the higher, Senate-approved
funding level for VA research when House and Senate conferees meet to
resolve the differences between their respective bills.
Links to previous updates on funding are
posted on the NAVREF web site at
http://www.navref.org/advocacy/default.htm. For those interested in
more details, the Senate bill and its accompanying report are not yet
readily available, but should be posted shortly on the Thomas web page
related to appropriations. See
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app08.html. |
