President Trump in Nevada Friday signed a spending bill that boosts funding for veterans’ health care, saying he was making good on another campaign promise.
“We are fighting to make sure you get the care you so richly earned,” said the president, who signed the bill during a visit to the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center. “And today’s legislation is one more promise that the Trump administration is keeping.
“We made a lot of promises and we kept them all,” he said.
Mr. Trump made VA reforms a top issue in his 2016 presidential campaign. At the time, the VA was embroiled in scandal over mismanagement and misconduct involving veterans being put on long waiting lists for care, sometimes resulting in veterans dying while waiting for treatment.
The spending bill he signed was a $147 billion package to fund energy and water programs, Congress and military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It contained $86.5 billion for the VA, including funding the VA Mission Act that provides private health-care options for veterans.
Mr. Trump visited Nevada during a campaign swing across the country. He held a rally and fundraiser to boost two Nevada Republicans, Sen. Dean Heller and House candidate Danny Tarkanian.
At the signing ceremony, Mr. Trump credited Mr. Heller with leading the fight to reform the VA.
“This was very important for him,” the president said. “There’s never been any reform like we’ve been able to do over [a] very short period of time.”
Nevada is home to more than 300,000 veterans.
Mr. Heller is locked in a tight race with Democrat Jacky Rosen.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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