One Million Call for Full Funding of Veterans' Health Care

CHICAGO – On Sunday, Feb. 10, at 1:30 p.m., Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will join Illinois veterans to call on Congress to heed the one million-plus Illinois citizens who voted yes Tuesday in a referendum demanding full mandatory federal funding of veterans’ health care.

"In the primary election, 1.14 million voters in 23 counties throughout Illinois approved this referendum," Quinn said at a news conference in the 15^{th floor Blue Room of the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St. in Chicago.} "The people of Illinois have told Congress loud and clear that our nation’s veterans deserve to receive the health care they earned by serving our country. It is time for our elected officials in Washington to do the right thing and approve full mandatory funding for veterans health care."

In Tuesday’s primary election, voters in 23 counties – including Cook, Rock Island, LaSalle and DeKalb -- considered the referendum question: "Shall the federal government be required to adopt full mandatory funding of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of ensuring that all eligible honorably discharged U.S. veterans receive quality and accessible healthcare and services?"

Quinn led the statewide call to place the mandatory funding of veterans’ health care question on primary ballots. In a personal letter to every county clerk in Illinois, Quinn said the issue is of "paramount importance" to voters.

Tuesday’s results confirm voters’ wholehearted support for the measure. "This referendum question passed by a vote of 90% or more in every single county," Quinn said.

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare of Rock Island is the author and lead sponsor of HR 2514, the Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act. The bill that would make Veterans Administration health care a mandatory spending item within the federal budget, alongside Social Security and Medicare. The bill currently has 115 co-sponsors and is strongly supported by the veterans’ community.

The federal budget just proposed by President Bush fails – for the eighth consecutive year – to provide enough resources to cover the anticipated cost of veterans’ health care.

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