12 2 STA T .5 1 86CON C UR R E NT RESO L UT I ONS —J UNE 5 , 2 0 08 they h av e s e r ve dw e l la n dh o nora b ly and have m ade s ig ni f i c ant sacrifices for this N ation
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this resol u tion p rovides $48, 2 0 2,000,000 in discretionary budget authority for 200 9 for F unction 7 00( V eterans B enefits and S ervices), including veterans ’ health care, which is $4,940,000,000 more than the 2008 level, $ 3 , 65 4,000,000 more than the C ongressional Budget O ffice’s baseline level for 2009, and $3,284,000,000 more than the P resident’s budget for 2009; and also provides more discretionary budget authority than the President’s budget in every year after 2009; (3) this resolution provides funding to continue addressing problems such as those identified at W alter R eed A rmy M edical Center to improve military and veterans’ health care facilities and services; (4) this resolution assumes the re j ection of the health care enrollment fees and pharmaceutical co - payment increases in the President’s budget; (5) this resolution provides additional funding above the President’s inade q uate budget levels for the D epartment of Veterans Affairs to research and treat veterans’ mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injury; and (6) this resolution provides additional funding above the President’s inadequate budget levels for the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve the speed and accuracy of its processing of disability compensation claims, including funding to hire additional personnel above the President’s requested level .SEC.512 .SE N SE OFTH E CON GR ESS ON HO M E LA N D SEC U R I T Y . I t is the sense of the Congress that — ( 1 ) this resolution assumes additional homeland security funding above the President’s requested level for 2009 and every subsequent year; (2) this resolution assumes funding above the President’s requested level for 2009, and additional amounts in subsequent years, in the four budget functions—Function 400 ( T ranspor- tation), Function 450 (Community and Regional Development), Function 550 ( H ealth), and Function 750 (Administration of J ustice)—that fund most nondefense homeland security activi- ties; and (3) the homeland security funding provided in this resolu- tion will help to strengthen the security of our Nation’s transportation system, particularly our ports where significant security shortfalls still e x ist and foreign ports, by expanding efforts to identify and scan all high-ris kU nited States-bound cargo, equip, train and support first responders (including enhancing interoperable communications and emergency management), strengthen border patrol, and increase the preparedness of the public health system. SEC. 51 3 . SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING LONG - TERM FISCAL REFORM. It is the sense of the Congress that— (1) both the G overnment Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office have warned that the Federal budget is on an unsustainable path of rising deficits and debt; (2) using recent trend data and reasonable policy assump- tions, CBO has projected that the gap between spending and
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