The military construction and veterans’ spending bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee would provide $147.9 billion to run VA activities not related to claims processing. Provisions would address rural health ($250 million), homeless veterans ($6.2 billion for health care and support, and $250 million for the Homeless Grant Per Diem program), Iraq and Afghanistan veterans ($4.1 billion for health care), female veterans ($4.9 billion, including $422 million for gender-specific programs), medical and prosthetic research ($586 million), and long-term care ($7.6 billion). The panel also called for the VA to address the needs of sexual-trauma victims, authorized $3.7 billion to improve VA’s information-technology systems, and $121.4 million for the VA inspector general’s office.
