West SBV Times

Washington, D.C. – Following today’s markup of the House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s fiscal year 2024 funding bill, Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) – a member of the Appropriations Committee – released the following statement:

“The 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies funding bill is the result of Republicans taking unprecedented steps to ram through a partisan bill that fails to honor our nation’s commitment to veterans, servicemembers, and their families. The bill includes many partisan demands that harm the well-being of our servicemembers, including undermining abortion care and discriminating against LGBTQI+ individuals. These poison pills stand no chance of becoming law and do nothing to change the fact that every Republican on this committee already showed us where their true priorities lie when they voted to cut $2 billion from veterans’ health care and benefits as a part of their reckless Default on America Act.

“Extremist Republicans haven’t stopped there and continue to demand drastic, across-the-board cuts to domestic spending priorities like veterans’ housing programs. This is nothing more than an attempt to hijack the routine appropriations process, and right now, they are succeeding. As a member of the Committee, I continue to have deep concerns about the precedent that this sets, and as the mother of an Air Force veteran, I am outraged that Republicans continue to play political games with the livelihoods of our veterans and their families.

“While I'm proud I secured crucial investments in Inland Empire veterans as part of this bill, the underlying bill does not go far enough to support programs and services that our veterans rely on. These heroes risked everything to serve our nation and supporting them when they come home should never be a partisan issue. Under Speaker McCarthy and the Republican majority, the appropriations process and bills are falling woefully short of honoring our commitment to veterans, but my Democratic colleagues and I will keep fighting for veterans to get the care and benefits they deserve.”

As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Torres secured veterans-related provisions that:

• Address the backlog of veterans’ claims – Torres’ provision includes language from the Congresswoman’s Veterans Administration Backlog Accountability Act and directs OIG to review the causes of VA’s current claims backlog and provide all appropriate feedback on the work VA is doing to address backlog issues.
• Improve veteran suicide data – Torres’ provision encourages the VA to include veteran benefit usage into its annual suicide prevention report, including usage of disability compensation, education, employment, home loan, and foreclosure assistance benefits, as well as participation in housing and food security programs.
• Support housing for veterans facing homelessness – Torres’ provision recommends a funding increase for case managers to handle the recent expansions in eligibility.
• Crack down on sexual harassment in the VA – Torres’ provision affirms the importance of implementing and improving sexual harassment policies in the VA and directs Veterans Care Agreements to ensure that the policies are fully communicated and complied with along with an annual update report.
• Expand educational opportunities for veterans – Torres’ provision directs the VA to work with other federal agencies and state licensing bureaus, as appropriate, to evaluate the transferability of Defense Department skills and certifications to state certifications to aid in the transition to civilian employment.

During today’s markup, House Democrats also highlighted how Republicans cannot credibly claim to fully fund veterans’ programs until they have shown us how they treat veterans in the rest of the domestic funding bills they plan to cut by as much as 60 percent.

Issues: Appropriations, Local Issues, National Security and Foreign Policy, Veterans

Original source can be found here.