For Immediate Release
June 24, 2008

Despite his lip service, Sununu has opposed funding for the VA and for veterans' health care

(Manchester, NH) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake visited the Manchester VA Medical Center today and announced he doesn't foresee that New Hampshire will ever have a full service VA again. [AP, 6/24/08] John Sununu visited with Peake at the VA this morning and issued a press release saying he "thanked the Secretary for coming to New Hampshire to tour the Manchester facility and learn more about the needs of the veterans it serves." [Sununu Press Release, 6/24/08]

"John Sununu may be pleased with the outcome of his meeting with Secretary Peake, but New Hampshire veterans certainly won't be," said Alex Reese, press secretary for the NHDP's Coordinated Campaign. "Sununu's approach to supporting veterans is a three part process: first, attend press conferences and issue press releases; second, vote against ensuring veterans' health care when he's in Washington; and third, declare his pleasure that New Hampshire veterans are being abandoned. Sununu isn't just part of the problem -- he saw the problem, he helped create the problem, and now he's happy the problem persists. Time for him to go."

After John Sununu and the Republican Congress stood by silently while the New Hampshire facility was de-funded, New Hampshire Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter has led the fight in Washington for a full service VA in Manchester. Sununu has issued numerous press releases in the last few weeks touting his support for veterans, but his record contradicts his rhetoric.

John Sununu's Record of Abandoning Veterans
FUNDING FOR THE VA

• Sununu voted against an amendment to increase funding by $25 million to help the VA reduce its backlog of pending benefits claims and ensure that veterans got timely assistance.  [House Vote #281, 7/26/01]
• Just eight minutes later Sununu voted against an amendment to increase funding for state grants for the construction of VA extended care facilities by $5 million. [House Vote #282, 7/26/01]

VETERANS' HEALTH CARE

• John Sununu has voted to cut or provide insufficient funding for veterans' health care 28 times. [House Vote #609, 11/18/99; House Appropriations Committee Markup of H.R.3908, 03/09/00; House Appropriations Committee Markup of H.R.2620, 7/17/01; House Vote #296, 7/30/2001; House Vote #473, 11/13/2002; Senate Vote #74, 3/21/2003; Senate Vote #81, 3/25/2003; Senate Vote #83, 3/25/2003; Senate Vote #379, 10/14/2003; Senate Vote #34, 3/9/2004; Senate Vote #40, 3/10/2004; Senate Vote #48, 3/11/2004; Senate Vote #55, 3/16/2005; Senate Vote #81, 3/17/2005; Senate Vote #89, 4/12/2005; Senate Vote #90, 4/12/05; Senate Vote #114, 4/28/2005; Senate Vote #242, 9/22/2005; Senate Vote #251, 10/5/2005; Senate Vote #343, 11/17/2005; Senate Vote #7, 2/2/2006; Senate Vote #15, 2/13/2006; Senate Vote #41, 3/14/2006; Senate Vote #63, 3/16/2006; Senate Vote #67, 3/16/2006; Senate Vote #98, 4/26/2006; Senate Vote #114, 3/23/2007; Senate Vote #172, 5/17/2007]