HONOLULU — Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka supports a $380 million increase in discretionary funding above President Obama’s budget proposal for the Veterans Affairs Department.

The proposal also has the support of Akaka’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Akaka said Monday in a Washington news release that the nation should never forget that caring for veterans is a cost of war. He says he looks forward to working with other senators and the administration to build on what he called the president’s “strong VA budget proposal.”
Akaka says he and the committee are calling for stronger funding to help disabled veterans train for new careers, to provide support to family caregivers, and to invest in medical and prosthetic research.