REPRESENTATIVES JOIN TO URGE FUNDS FOR VETERANS HOMES
FRESNO, CA - CongressmenJim Costa (D-Fresno) is among a bipartisan group of twenty-two CaliforniaMembers of the House of Representatives who have voiced their support foradequate funding of Veterans Homes. Thegroup includes Valley legislators, Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced), George Radanovich(R-Mariposa) and Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield). Veterans' homes, Congressman Costa stated, "provide a critical safetynet for the well being of those who served our country."
The Members of Congress signed on to a letter sent to theranking members of the Senate Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life andVeterans Affairs this week urging their prompt attention to the insufficient fundingof State Extended Care Facilities for Veterans. The Fiscal Year 2006 Military Quality of Life and Veterans AffairsAppropriations Act should include the Senate's funding level of $104 millionfor the State Extended Care Facilities Grant Program, Costa and the other lawmakersnoted in their letter.
In California, veterans areforced to endure a two-year waiting list to join one of the state's threeveterans' homes in Yountville, Chula Vista and Barstow. Any reduction to funding or restrictions onthe use of funds for new projects will delay the construction of the proposednew homes being built in Fresno, Lancaster, Los Angeles, Redding and VenturaCounty.
"It is our responsibility to provide for our nation'sVeterans in their time of need; the sad truth is they sometimes find themselveswithout basic healthcare and housing," Costa said.
The grant program being promoted by the lawmakers providesfunds to construct and maintain extended care facilities through a 65 percentto 35 percent federal-state match. "TheDepartment of Veterans Affairs reports that California has the greatest need foradditional veterans' homes and the state is committed to working with thefederal government to build new facilities, so we must do our part on theFederal level to ensure this funding does not fall by the wayside," Costaconcluded.