Military Construction, VA

Mr. Chairman. As you all know, this bill has a strong reputation for finding bipartisan common ground as members work together to fund the construction of military facilities and strive to improve the quality of life and care afforded to our veterans and military families. Once again, Chairman Culberson has continued this tradition. The bill before us provides funding levels that I think most members on both sides of the aisle agree are appropriate, while avoiding contentious legislative riders that complicate passage.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to also thank the subcommittee chairman and ranking member for their work on this bill.

This is the first of the twelve spending bills that the House will consider for FY 2015. I am pleased that we are beginning the process with a bill, as reported out of committee, that includes reasonable spending levels and is devoid of controversial riders. I hope this is a sign of what is to follow.

Despite fiscal constraints, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill would meet the needs of service men and women and continue to support our veterans.

I am particularly pleased with the emphasis on the increased need for prosthetics for our female servicemembers.

Highlights of 2015 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act

2014 Enacted: $73.299 billion

President's Request: $71.897 billion

Committee Mark: $71.499 billion

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION: $6.557 billion, a decrease of $3.3 billion million below 2014 and equal to the budget request, is provided for Military Construction programs.

· The Committee recommendation fully funds the 2015 budget request for all Reserve Components at $426.5 million, which is $239 million below the 2014 enacted level.

Mr. Chairman, we have done a lot to ease the burden of military service, for example, the Congress passed the 9/11 GI bill, the Hiring Heroes Act, and the Caregivers Act, all with strong bipartisan majorities.

However, we are still struggling in the claims process area but we are making progress. The last update I saw there were a total of 672,000 claims and of that 389,000 are considered backlogged. So Mr. Secretary we still have a ton of work to do on this.

I have heard from many on the reasons for the backlog, the inclusion of Agent Orange, the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the complexity of new wounds both physical and mental of our veterans, and more which I completely understand.