Lowey statement at subcommittee markup of 2016 Military Construction-VA Appropriations bill

Thank you, Chairman Dent, Ranking Member Bishop, and Chairman Rogers.

Next week our full committee will meet to vote on all twelve subcommittee allocations.  As my colleagues are aware, the House Majority’s budget resolution, which gives this committee its overall budget, was opposed by every Member on my side of the aisle.  Quite simply, it was inadequate, and we much preferred the approach taken by the President calling for an end to the sequester and more reasonable and realistic budgeting that will grow our economy and give hardworking Americans opportunity to succeed.

The Republican budget resolution has consequences that will be profoundly illustrated as each appropriations bill is unveiled.  Chairman Dent has worked in a collegial, collective and cooperative way, but he faces extremely difficult funding levels that seem to have forced compromises no one wants to make on any important service provided in this bill.

The Chairman should be commended on several aspects of this bill, namely the continued commitment to the VISTA Evolution Electronic Heath Records System and continued work to ensure interoperability with the Department of Defense future Electronic Health Care Records System.  I also want to thank him for prioritizing resources to eliminate the veterans’ claims backlog in 2015; which is currently at 180,000 cases over 125 days old; expanding access to medical facilities, increasing the number of qualified medical personnel, and improving healthcare services under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act will further demonstrate our unwavering support to those who serve in defense of our nation.

But there are also difficult shortfalls caused by the inadequate allocation. Even with a modest increase over the enacted level, the bill is $2.7 billion below the President’s request. If these cuts were to stand, our ability to make necessary investments into aging operational and medical facilities would be diminished, and instead of providing all the money necessary for Medical Services and support accounts this bill would rely on questionable “transfers” from other priorities to make up for any shortfalls.

I know not everything requested by the President is sacrosanct, and I respect and support this committee’s ability to evaluate each and every line item in a budget proposal.  But I hope we can all recognize that there are accounts that are legitimately underfunded and will need to be addressed.

Again, I wish to thank Chairman Dent for his work, and I look forward to additional discussions as the bill progresses.