Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the Fiscal Year 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Funding Bill
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), Ranking Member of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Appropriations Committee's markup of the fiscal year 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill:
– As Prepared for Delivery –
Thank you, Chairman Carter, for yielding.
Congratulations to Chairman Cole on holding his first full committee markup today. And thank you to Chairwoman Granger for your leadership over the last year and to Ranking Member DeLauro for your steady hand in guiding our work here on the Appropriations Committee.
Chairman Carter, it is with a truly heavy heart, because I have appreciated the work we have done together over the past few years, and I know we both prioritize quality of life for our servicemembers and their families and caring for our veterans, that unfortunately, I am unable to support this bill.
To start, the bill before us today is built on a framework that walks away from the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act yet again.
Last year, the ink was barely dry on the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and Republicans essentially tour up that agreement, marking up bills at dramatically lower levels – to the point that even the Republican majority couldn't even get them off the floor.
And somehow, we find ourselves in the same position with 302(b) allocations that once again break the bipartisan FRA agreement, which was the basis for the bills we passed just a couple of months ago.
While the FY25 MilCon-VA bill doesn't face cuts as dramatic as other bills, veterans and servicemembers and their families rely on programs throughout the federal government.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act already only allows for a one percent increase this year, and these topline funding levels are not only not an increase over last year, they are dramatic cuts to current funding levels.
They are leaving at least $75 billion on the table that we should be using for nondefense discretionary programs, consistent with the one percent increase over the agreement most of us in this room made mere months ago.
On the military construction side, this bill cuts funding for servicemembers and their families by $718 million compared to the enacted level – compared to current services.
That's definitely not a one percent increase.
While I do appreciate the investments Chairman Carter made in BRAC, including my requests for dedicated funding for PFAS remediation and increased funding for the oversight of DOD housing, at the same time, the cut to military construction of $718 million from current services will slow crucial progress to modernize and improve DOD's infrastructure.
Furthermore, neglecting to continue dedicated funding to protect our installations from climate change is a national security risk. We all know how extremely costly disaster recovery funding is, and we have an opportunity to get ahead of it.
Last year, we provided DOD with $30 million in dedicated funding for resiliency, a comparatively small sum of funding now, which will pay huge dividends in the future and ensure our national security in the face of our changing climate. By eliminating the dedicated resilience funding this year, this bill would threaten future military readiness.
Cutting military construction now slows our historically bipartisan efforts to reduce the infrastructure backlog to strengthen our national security and to improve the quality of life of our servicemembers and their families. We are backtracking on our commitment to our servicemembers and their families by cutting funding for military construction.
But perhaps the most egregious part of the bill is all the partisan culture war riders it includes.
Riders that include preventing VA from implementing its interim final rule on abortion, which is now final, by the way, to provide abortion services under limited circumstances and abortion counseling, and to ensure that veterans have equal access to healthcare regardless of what state they live in, especially in a time when reproductive rights are under attack around the country.
A woman's decision on whether or not to have an abortion should be made between her and her doctor and her family. It should not be made by the people in this room.
It includes riders that do everything from prohibiting VA from implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as training, to a petty, bigoted prohibition from flying the Pride Flag over VA facilities, from protecting people who speak or act under the guise of religious freedom, essentially authorizing the arbitrary discrimination against LGBTQI+ people, and from prohibiting access to gender-affirming care, just to name a few – aimed to disenfranchise veterans from VA.
The United States did not make exceptions to the promises we made servicemembers in exchange for their service and sacrifice; we made promises to everyone.
This bill undermines VA's ability to report a beneficiary to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited under Federal law from purchasing or possessing firearms. It is prohibiting VA from following the law that is intended to protect veterans and those around them.
It truly is a shame that this bill includes these poison pill riders. They create division between us when we all should have a shared goal of providing healthcare and benefits to veterans.
VA's mission is quote "to fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors."
That is what we should be focusing on here today – how best to ensure veterans are receiving the best care at VA and how best to take care of our servicemembers and their families.
We should not be wasting our time arguing over partisan riders that will not become law.
Thank you, and I yield back.
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