After vets protests, new deal struck to end VA budget crisis
Posted July 28, 2017 7:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) - After a week of debate and protests by veterans' groups, Congressional Republicans and Democrats say they have struck a deal for a $3.9 billion emergency spending package to fill a shortfall at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The plan sets aside $2.1 billion over six months to continue funding the Choice program, which provides federally paid medical care outside the VA and is a priority of President Donald Trump.
VA Secretary David Shulkin had warned that Choice would run out of money by mid-August without emergency help. But veterans' groups had insisted that the emergency funding bill also include additional investments in VA infrastructure.
Don Foran, right, shares stories of his time serving in World War II on dangerous assignments driving a jeep. Foran restored and donated the same model of a 1942 jeep to the Canyon VFW post Wednesday. (Lauren Koski/The Amarillo Globe News via AP)
The Associated Press
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