Chet Edwards For Congress

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County

Chet Edwards has worked hard for McLennan County and his hometown of Waco, using his seniority and seat on the House Appropriations Committee to bring some of our tax dollars back home.

Since the November 2004 election, Chet has secured $74 million in investments over Administration budget requests for defense jobs, better roads, protecting the Waco VA Hospital, cleaning up Lake Waco and other key priorities for McLennan County.

Waco Trib: Waco VA Hospital to get national pharmacy contact center

Waco Tribune-Herald |
By Ken Sury | Wednesday, August 12, 2009, 10:33 AM

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Waco) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki are at the Waco Veterans Affairs Hospital announcing that a National Pharmacy Contact Center will open there, creating 224 new full and part-time jobs in the local economy by 2010.

Waco Trib: Edwards announces funding for Waco VA, L-3, Baylor

Waco Tribune-Herald |
By Ken Sury | Friday, July 31, 2009

The office of U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Waco) has sent out an announcement that the congressman has secured funding for national defense projects at the Waco VA, L-3 Communications, and Baylor University under the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill, which passed the House Thursday.

CQ TODAY: With Edwards as Chairman, VA Funding Sees an Increase

CQ Politics
June 15, 2009 | By Matthew M. Johnson, CQ Staff

Since taking the helm of the House Appropriations panel responsible for military construction and veterans’ issues, Chet Edwards has applied his center-right political philosophy to deliver the two largest budgets in history for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Texas Democrat says the $17.7 billion increase in total funding provided to the VA since his tenure began in 2007 amounts to more money than the combined total provided by the GOP-controlled Congress in the previous 12 years.

As a result of his work on the panel, both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, two of the nation’s largest and most influential veterans’ service organizations, honored Edwards with their highest awards in 2008.

Waco Trib: U.S. House passes bill that could increase money for veterans health care

Waco Tribune-Herald |
By Regina Dennis Tribune-Herald staff writer
Saturday, July 11, 2009

More increases for veterans health care are expected after the House passed a $133.7 billion veterans spending bill Friday.

The 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill represents an increase of $14.1 billion in spending over the 2009 appropriations bill. It allocates $108.9 billion to enhance medical services and mental health treatment, provide assistance for homeless veterans, expand access to health care for veterans in rural areas and fund research for medical needs of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, said the bill provides for 8,300 claims processors, 145 community-based outpatient clinics, 70 vet centers and more than 47,000 additional Veterans Health Administration employees.