00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 33                                                                     
01 Supporting federal funding for veterans' health care and urging the United States                                       
02 Congress to ensure adequate funding for veterans' health care.                                                          
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the United States Department of Veterans Affairs provides medical care                                  
05 for veterans who have risked their lives to protect the security of the nation; and                                     
06       WHEREAS the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has the largest                                        
07 integrated health care system in the United States; and                                                                 
08       WHEREAS the missions of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs include                                
09 providing health care to veterans, educating and training health care personnel, conducting                             
10 medical research, serving as backup to the United States Department of Defense, and                                     
11 supporting communities in times of crisis; and                                                                          
12       WHEREAS the United States Department of Veterans Affairs provides a wide range                                  
13 of specialized services to meet the unique needs of veterans, including treatment and care for                          
14 spinal cord injury, blindness, traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder, amputation                       
15 injuries, mental health and substance abuse, and conditions requiring long-term care; and                               
16       WHEREAS federal discretionary funding for veterans' health care is controlled by the                            

01 executive branch and Congress through the budget and appropriation process; and                                         
02       WHEREAS the United States Governmental Accountability Office report in 2005                                     
03 highlighted the lack of resources and staffing available to the United States Veterans                                  
04 Administration for processing an increasing backlog of veterans' claims; and                                            
05       WHEREAS discretionary funding for the United States Department of Veterans                                      
06 Affairs lags behind both medical inflation and the increased demands for services; for                                  
07 example, the enrollment for veterans' health care increased 134 percent between fiscal years                            
08 1996 and 2004, but funding only increased 34 percent during the same period when adjusted                               
09 to 1996 dollars; and                                                                                                    
10       WHEREAS former United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi has                                 
11 publicly stated that the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has been struggling to                            
12 provide health care to the rapidly rising number of veterans who require health care;                                   
13       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature expresses its profound gratitude                               
14 for the sacrifices made by veterans who suffer from medical or mental problems resulting                                
15 from injuries that occurred while serving in the United States armed forces; and be it                                  
16       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
17 Congress to ensure adequate funding for veterans' health care.                                                          
18       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
19 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
20 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable James B. Peake, United States Secretary of                              
21 Veterans Affairs; and the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S.                                  
22 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
23 Delegation in Congress; and to all other members of the 110th United States Congress.