Among Democrats lobbying President Bush before the Administration releases the 2007 budget proposal are Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) the ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee. They want to ensure there is no repeat of last year’s VA budget snafu. They wrote: “With tens of thousands of servicemembers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of who will return home this year, each of us has a responsibility to ensure that the VA health care system receives full appropriated funding.” Lawmakers had to fix a VA funding shortfall last year, so the Senators suggest, “We must learn a lesson from this experience.”
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
