Texas Democrat chastises Bush on vets' health care

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Texas congressman who represents President Bush's home district said Saturday that the administration and Republicans put a higher priority on tax cuts than on veterans' health care.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said the House has sent Bush a $64.7 billion spending bill to fund Veterans Affairs. That includes a $6 billion increase for veterans' health care, $3.8 billion more than Bush had requested, Edwards said.

"For weeks, the White House budget office threatened to veto this bill, because it was above their request," Edwards said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. "Fortunately, the president finally backed down on his threat to this historic veterans' bill, but only after it was clear that Congress would override a veto."

The Veterans Affairs spending bill passed the House 409-2 last week.

The White House has threatened to veto several Democratic spending bills because they exceed Bush's spending requests.

The VA has received budget increases in recent years, but some veterans groups have said they were not big enough to keep up with demand, which has increased because of the Iraq war.

Edwards said the spending will provide more doctors and nurses, reductions in waiting times and help for veterans with traumatic brain injury, mental health problems and missing limbs. The bill also pays for 1,100 new VA case workers to process benefits claims, he said.

Source: CNN POLITICS