DeLauro and Wasserman Schultz Issue Joint Statement on VA Policy Change Endangering Veterans

WASHINGTON – Today, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) and House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Subcommittee Ranking Member Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25) issued a joint statement regarding an announcement by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that they will limit their cooperation with the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), removing a key safeguard that prevents individuals who may pose a threat to themselves or others from acquiring firearms.

"Countless veterans will needlessly die because of this decision by VA Secretary Doug Collins and Attorney General Pam Bondi to reverse a decades-long safeguard that halts individuals who may harm themselves or others from receiving a firearm. Guns are used in three out of every four veteran suicides, and preventing VA from reporting a beneficiary who is unable to manage their own benefits to a national background firearm safety system for a review only makes them less safe. The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations' subcommittee receives notifications every time a suicide occurs on VA property, and nearly every single one includes a gun. This decision by Collins and Bondi ensures we will see even more notices of veterans and others around them dying by firearms." 

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