Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Bill

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee Markup of the 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman for yielding. This is the first markup for fiscal year 2024, and I wish I could be happy to be here, but we are operating under unique, potentially harmful circumstances so I want to take this moment to set the stage.

House Republicans just passed a bill that imposes harmful cuts of more than 22 percent. Here we sit, discussing a funding bill that has been marked up to what Chairman Carter referred to as quote “an imaginary topline” and is completely detached from reality. It was written because House Republicans voted on a bill last month that immediately rescinds $2 billion for veterans and fails to include language to protect them from the harmful cuts you all want to impose, and veterans were paying attention. They saw you take that vote, and you realized you had to put something out there so you could fix your message. Still—after knowing this is a messaging bill that is only one small piece of the pie—this bill falls short of our commitment to veterans. 

Just this past summer, not even a year ago, Congress passed the Honoring our PACT Act bill on a bipartisan basis, with a vote of 342 to 88, to expand healthcare and benefits to veterans exposed to Agent Orange, burn pits, and other toxic substances. Even though a few of you on this committee did not vote for the PACT Act, those promises were paired with a pledge, in law, to provide the necessary funding—dedicated funding—to carry out the PACT Act. This bill breaks that promise.

The Department of Veterans Affairs carefully calculated what was required for the Toxic Exposures Fund, and the Department responsibly requested $20 billion for the Toxic Exposures Fund for 2024. This bill barely makes a dent in it. The Republicans have only provided $5.5 billion for the Toxic Exposures Fund—barely a quarter of what is required for this year. That is a betrayal. Leaving $14.7 billion to be funded with non-defense discretionary funds.

I would like to quote a group of people known as VoteVets where they say, “The utter disregard Congressional Republicans have for our Veterans is astonishing and shameful. Veteran victims of Burn Pits and other toxic exposure were made a promise under the PACT Act – that their care and benefits would be guaranteed. The Republicans in Congress are now proposing we toss that guarantee in the garbage and put funding at risk on an annual basis. That goes beyond morally reprehensible. It’s just plain cruel. Unfortunately, this is now a clear pattern of Congressional Republicans threatening our Veterans and military families. In my opinion, none of them have the right to wrap themselves in the flag, ever again. True Patriots don’t do what Congressional Republicans are doing.” That is from Major General (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton. Not by words, but theirs.

With this funding level, Republicans not only turned their backs on their commitment to our veterans who have been exposed to toxins, it pits veterans against veterans, using them as pawns in Republicans’ gambit to slash other nondefense programs and priorities across the federal government that they know veterans, servicemembers, and their families rely on.

Additionally, Republicans are not protecting the Veteran’s Medical Care funding they do have in the bill. They are proposing to transfer up to $4.5 billion out of medical care programs.

This is clearly a house of cards. They are trying to pretend on paper that they are properly funding medical care, but in reality, they are using these critical resources to supplement construction accounts that they woefully underfund. With over $100 billion of needed construction projects, the Republicans rejected the President’s request to supplement construction with $1.9 billion in mandatory funds. This is just more of the same of what we saw a few weeks ago: empty promises without explicit protections for veterans. To quote Congressman David Obey, former Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. “this is posing for holy pictures.” If we make promises, we should keep them. That is what I have been taught.

Lastly, I cannot support this bill without knowing the full slate of 302(b) allocations. Asking us to vote on a bill without knowing the full picture is disingenuous and is fooling no one. We can see through Republicans’ strategy to release the, quote: “easy” bills first, funding them as best as they can but then leaving the rest of the bills with nothing.

What is going to happen to SNAP if Republicans cut the Agriculture bill by more than 22 percent? We all know that 1.3 million veterans rely on SNAP. What’s going to happen to the Housing Choice Vouchers if Republicans cut the Department of Housing and Urban Development by more than 22 percent? The answer is obvious. 50,000 veterans who rely on those vouchers for housing will be harmed. What’s going to happen to job training programs if Republicans cut the Department of Labor by more than 22 percent? 4,200 veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness would lose the support they so desperately need. These are just a few examples. We need to see all the bills so we can see the full picture of how these cuts will undoubtedly affect the brave men and women who fought for our country – and that we promised to take care of.

So do not tell me that Republicans are fully funding veterans’ programs. The larger Republican agenda does nothing to protect veterans from their proposed cuts. I cannot support this bill. And I hope Republicans will work with us in Full Committee. Thank you, and I yield back