Letter: President has helped veterans

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 4:18 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

July 3 - 4, 2004

I was shocked to see the article referencing former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland campaigning for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on the platform that President Bush has cut VA funding. President Bush's 2004 budget actually includes a record $63.6 billion for America's veterans. This represents the largest percentage increase proposed for any department in the federal government.

President Bush reversed six years of essentially flat-line budgets, increasing the VA budget more in his first two years than the previous administration did in the previous six years.

The VA medical delivery system had been neglected for years. President Bush initiated the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services, a national plan to assess and realign VA health care facilities. The CARES plan evaluates national veteran demographics and changes in the delivery of medical services to ensure the best possible system for the care of our nation's veterans. One result is a new VA hospital for Southern Nevada. Another is the elimination of archaic rules to streamline the prescription drug process.

Kerry could have stepped forward anytime as a veterans' advocate in Congress, and supported the improved delivery of medical care. But his voting record shows he has generally been contemptuous of all things military -- until recently, when he realized that he needs the veterans' vote in the upcoming election.

As a disabled veteran who actually uses the VA health care system, I reject Cleland's false claims and the veterans' new fair-weather friend, Sen. Kerry.

PAUL ADAMS