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Rep. Tim Ryan hails $9.4M for air base in bill he opposed
YOUNGSTOWN
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan touts the inclusion of $9.4 million for the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in a military construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill he voted against.
“The bottom line is you’re getting stuff done for your district,” he told The Vindicator on Thursday. “We’re certainly happy we were able to get money in there to support our troops.”
Ryan, of Howland, D-13th, said Thursday that he couldn’t support the bill because it doesn’t adequately fund veterans’ health benefits. It was approved by the House 255-163 largely along party lines.
However, Ryan issued two statements praising the bill’s inclusion of $9.4 million to YARS in Vienna to upgrade its indoor firing range, and $3.3 million to the Ravenna Joint Military Training Center for a firing range.
The first statement occurred April 23, the day after Ryan voted no on the bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee of which he is a member. The second took place April 30, the day after he voted against the bill on the House floor.
Neither statement mentions Ryan voted against the bill. But the statements specifically say Ryan “strongly supported these funding inclusions” — meaning YARS and Ravenna.
His April 23 statement includes the sentence “The MIL-CON Appropriations Bill passed the House Appropriations Committee by a voice vote and is awaiting a vote by the full House of Representatives” but does not mention that he voted against the bill.
“I don’t see anything wrong with” not stating opposition to the bill, Ryan said Thursday.
In the April 30 statement, Ryan wrote: “Each and every day, the men and women stationed in Youngstown and Camp Ravenna put their lives on the line for our safety, and it is our job to give them the resources they need. I am proud to have supported our airmen and soldiers through my position on the House Appropriations Committee, and I’ll continue to work to ensure these vital funds get to YARS and Camp Ravenna.”
Though supportive of the local funding and most of the military construction part of the appropriations bill, Ryan said he objected to funding for the VA.
The $171 billion bill included $163 billion for the VA. That is a $4 billion increase from the previous budget and is the largest amount of money ever approved by the House for the VA, according to an article in The Washington Post. But it is $1.4 billion less than the president’s request, and various veterans groups are backing Barack Obama’s proposal.
“Veterans groups would support my no vote,” Ryan said.
Of that $1.4 billion, Ryan said his main concern is the House bill provides $690 million less than what the president requested for veterans’ medical care.
“It was a significant cut,” Ryan said.
When told it wasn’t a cut, Ryan said, “Maybe ‘cut’ is not the right word. But a huge number of veterans are coming into the system for care. I thought the president’s number would more adequately take care of our veterans.”
The Post article states the VA has “access to billions of additional dollars that was allotted to deal with its access-to-care problems.” Bipartisan legislation passed in August 2014 by Congress allows the VA to spend $5 billion to improve infrastructure and hire physicians and medical staff, and additional $10 billion to pay for veterans to get medical care outside the system if they live far away from a VA facility or if they wait longer than 30 days for an appointment, according to the newspaper.
The bill is now in the hands of the Senate. After changes are made there, it will go to a joint House-Senate conference committee and then back to both legislative bodies for a final vote.
“It’s so early in the process,” Ryan said. “You don’t know what will happen. I’d rather vote no and see what the Senate will come up with and then decide on a number. I wanted my vote to reflect my disapproval. I don’t think anyone’s going to walk around and say, ‘You voted against this so early in the process,’” and be upset.