Congressman Bob Filners mayoral campaign has often aimed to portray him as a unifier and his competitor, City Councilman Carl DeMaio, as a divider. Filner argues he would be better than DeMaio at crossing party lines and solving problems at City Hall.

To bolster his argument, Filner has often pointed to his congressional record and specifically, his push to expand veterans' benefits. He was chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from 2007 to 2010 and remains the committees ranking Democratic member today.

Talking about his tenure as chairman at an Aug. 9 mayoral debate, Filner claimed his leadership had resulted in substantial budget increases for veterans benefits and won unanimous support from Congress. Heres the full quote:

We decided to Fact Check the statement because Filner has repeatedly cited an increase in the budget for veterans health care to prop up his congressional record and in this case, also cited unanimous support from Congress, bolstering his campaign theme.

Weve rated part of his claim Mostly True, the other part as Huckster Propaganda.

Our analysis below is broken down by each claim. First well examine whether the budget increased by 65 percent while Filner was chairman of the House of Representatives committee, and then well review whether Congress unanimously approved the additional funds.

Claim: A 65 percent increase while Filner was chairman.

Analysis: Budget documents back up Filners percentage.

But its important to understand how it was calculated. He was chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs for four years, though the percentage describes how funding changed over six.

Go here to see the original:

Boosting the Veterans’ Health Care Budget: Fact Check