Atlanta, GA -- As President Clinton prepares to sign a $203 billion transportation bill today, Michael Coles, candidate for the United States Senate, reiterated his objection to provisions in the bill that will eliminate medical benefits for veterans with smoking-related illnesses. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Act includes a $15.4 billion cut to health benefits for veterans with smoking-related illnesses. The money will be used to pay for highway and mass transit projects across the country. To justify such cuts, Congress put language in the bill declaring that veterans who smoked while on active duty were engaged in ‘willful misconduct.’ That is the same category the Department of Veterans Affairs has used to deny benefits to alcoholics and drug abusers. Coles stated, “We need to maintain and improve our roads and rail lines, but we should not do so by breaking promises to our nation’s greatest heroes. These vets are not guilty of ‘willful misconduct’ they have earned the right to proper medical care through years of service to our country.” Coles has criticized Paul Coverdell for voting for this cut to veterans’ health care. Although Coverdell sided with the veterans on some earlier votes on this issue, he ultimately voted for the 1999 Senate Budget Resolution1 as well as the Budget Resolution Conference Report2 which mandated that the $15.4 billion cut be a part of the ISTEA legislation __________________________ |
