Fiscal Year 2027 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Good morning.

Good morning. Morning.

The leadership of this committee, Miss Walter McGillis and I, decided last night we would have this at at nine o'clock. But the uh powers that be wouldn't gi wouldn't give us a room. So now we're at eight o'clock again.

How is it be to pay that?

It would have been nicer if we had been at nine o'clock. But anyway we tried very hard. And uh I'm grateful.

Thank you.

You bet. Okay we're we're going for a record here to get this done. Alright? Good morning. The subcommittee on military construction and veterans affairs. and related agencies will come to order. Welcome to the subcommittee mark up for the fiscal year twenty twenty seven, military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies appropriation bill. Welcome Chairman Cole, welcome Ranking Member DeLauro, and Ranking Member Wasserman-Schultz. I'm pleased to present the fiscal year twenty twenty seven military construction and veterans affairs and related a agencies built today. I know this the process to do to this point has been rather quick, a little hectic, but it's important that we do our jobs as appropriators and get moving on the this critical legislation. It's a good bipartisan bill that funds various programs, members on both sides of the aisle care about deeply. The bill before us provides the Department of Veterans Affairs and related agencies just over one hundred and thirty-seven point eight billion dollars in non-defense discretionary funding as well as three hundred and twenty-three billion in mandatory funding to fulfill our obligation to our veterans. As I have stated many times over, we have an obligation to ensure our veterans get the benefits and care that they've earned. This bill does that while addressing other critical issues affecting veterans, including homelessness, military science and takes care of our women veterans. This bill makes critical investment totaling nineteen billion and point two in the infrastructure of our service members who work and live. My voice is so slowly leaving me. Uh to, as always, we keep, kept our promise to those who moved forward first and for having put their life on the line. I look forward to working with all of you as the move, Bill moves forward and I ask for your support for this legislation. Now I will recognize my good friend and ranking member of the subcommittee, Miss Wasserman Schultz, for opening the bar.

Thank you very much uh Judge Carter, Mister Chairman, thank you for yielding and thank you for our work together yet again on the important issues to make sure that our services service members and our veterans and their families are well cared for and I truly appreciate our continued partnership that really maintains the bipartisan tradition of this Thank you, Chairman Cole, and Ranking Member DeLauro for your leadership on the full committee. And Mister Chairman, I I believe that you've put toge what you've put together in this bill is really the best that you could have done under the circumstances, given your inadequate allocation and the pressures that you face from your corner. It's not the bill I would have written, but given the tentative allocation, I would have needed to craft something similar, barring a few notable disagreements. In terms of funding, the bill makes many necessary investments, but it also fails to fully fund some important programs. For military construction, while the bill cuts nine point four billion dollars from the President's request, it includes it does include fifty million dollars in funding to address PFAS remediation efforts. The bill also provides additional investments in child development centers and barracks. I know you worked hard to accomplish that. Both areas of bipartisan concern. Yeah, cool. Unfortunately, the bill does not sufficiently fund the NATO security investment program, under funding it by a hundred and twenty-two million dollars below the President's request, but it is funded at the same level as last year. VA health care is fully funded, although not as high as what the President requested, it is still sufficient to keep up with growing demand and increasing health care costs. I'm disappointed that the bill does not include fifty-three point seven billion dollars in advance funding for the TEF, the toxic exposure fund. I hope we can work this out in full committee as we did last year, but it's vital that we maintain our commitment to fully funding health care for those This advanced funding, I'll note, is also included in the President's budget request. In terms of language, although this bill does not include the myriad culture war writers from last year which I truly appreciate, it still contains several pr provisions that we oppose. This bill undermines VA VA's ability to keep at-risk veterans safe by preventing VA from reporting a beneficiary to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or the NICS system. This helps keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited under federal law from purchasing or possessing firearms. This bill is in effect prohibiting VA from following the law that is intended to protect veterans from self-harm. Veterans make up about one in five adult firearm suicides and we see an average of forty-six hundred veteran firearm suicides every year. It is tragic and unacceptable that this bill undermines our efforts to keep veterans safe. The bill also includes two unnecessary provisions related to Guantanamo Bay and report text on reproductive health. Although the report text is non-binding, it serves no purpose but to antagonize women veterans and those that support the ability for women to make decisions about their own health care. This bill was written with the best information available because the bud- budget was uh once again unacceptably late. And as I speak, the president has still not provided the required justification materials that we need to inform our funding decisions, and I know that as a bipartisan source of frustration. We also held only two hearings, down from about six. It was a constricted time sca- you know, time frame given how late we got the President's budget, uh but making sure that we can get the proper, appropriate feedback, be able to ask questions before we write this bill is re- incredibly important. We've not even heard from the VA secretary whose discretionary budget makes up eighty-eight percent of this bill. Mister Chairman, I know you're working to get the secretary to schedule to testify. I've pressed him as well. He simply must come before us to answer our questions about the President's FY twenty-seven budget proposal for VA and many other important issues affecting our nation's veterans. Finally, once again this year I'm concerned about the government services that veterans rely rely on outside of the MilKom VA bill. The President has asked for one point five trillion dollars for the Department of Defense but he's requested to slash critical programs across the government upon which our veterans rely. I wanna stress I've expressed concerns here this morning, but I truly appreciate the hard work Chairman Carter has put into the bill before us, and look forward to working with him to strengthen the bill during Tuesday's full committee mark-up. Um I hope to see bipartisan progress. We are always able to work closely together on this on this product. Uh we share the same priorities and looking forward to seeing what we can do to improve the bill uh leading up to our full committee mark-up process and address the issues, that have been raised. Um I look forward to continuing this important work with my colleagues throughout the rest of the fiscal year twenty twenty seven process. And I do want to acknowledge my staff, Farouk Ofaso, Tyler Ko, Samantha Price, my legislative director f um in my personal office, who I'll note uh today is her last mark-up. With me as uh as a member of my staff, uh she's done a remarkable job and is uh actually going off the hill for her professional future. But I dearly love her. She's done an incredible job. So thank you so much. And also I wanna acknowledge Justin Masucci, Ariana Delgado, Jason Wheelock, and Jamara Villara Villarreal on judges' staff. Thank you so much, Mister Chairman, look forward to continuing to work together. I'll be right back.

Thank you, Miss Wasserman Schultz. Uh, Mister Cole, I now recognize

Thank you very much, Mister Chairman. Uh, thank you, Chairman Carter, and thank you, Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz. Ranking Member DeLauro and all the members of the subcommittee on both sides of the aisle. Today we begin consideration of the fiscal year twenty twenty seven, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Bill, our first step in advancing another year of responsible results driven appropriations. Uh, this measure reflects a clear priority, delivering for those who have served and those who continue to serve. It fully funds veterans' health care and benefits, and ensures that the promises made to our nation's heroes are met with both words and actions it strengthens safety nets for those in need it uh by supporting critical mental health and suicide prevention efforts and it invests in long-term improvements at the VA and our nation's military cemeteries at the same time this bill reinforces our base posture from the ground up by investing in military construction improving barracks and ensuring our installations are equipped to support readiness in an increasingly complex environment.

Mm-hmm.

From the Indo-Pacific uh to installations here at home, strength and preparedness are not optional. We also recognize that the military unit doesn't stop at the uni- at the uniform but extends to the family behind it. That's why this bill sustains refor- sources for family housing, child care and quality of life needs. Our service members, both past and present, uphold their duty in uniform. And we uphold ours through Article one. This is a responsible, mission-focused bill that honors that shared commitment. I want to thank Chairman Carter for his leadership. I also want to thank Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz and the majority and minority staff for their work on this bill. I look forward to uh its consideration today. And frankly, I look forward to improving the product as we work through the process in the months ahead. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Thank you, Bill. I recognize Miss DeLauro, Ranking Member of the full committee.

Thank you so much uh, Mister Chairman, and I wanna thank you and Ranking Member Wasserman-Schultz, uh and uh acknowledge my friend and uh uh uh uh Chairman Cole, uh this effort. And I wanna just say to uh the Chair and the Ranking Member of the of of the subcommittee, uh I I I think your collaboration is a model uh for how we should proceed and move forward in some way. in which we make progress, it's a way an Appropriations Committee uh should uh uh uh should function. And I thank you for uh preserving the um the goal and the mission of the Appropriations Committee in its work. And I mean that very, very sincerely. And also hats off to the staff because they do a hell of a job on both sides of the aisle. So thank you. You know, we have a moral responsibility to take care of our veterans and our service members. It's part of our job in the Congress and on this committee to make sure that their devotion to our country is matched by their country's devotion to them. The bill before us this morning makes progress to that end in certain regards, and yes, I believe in other areas it falls short. Does not honor our commitments under the PACT Act to advance f- uh uh uh uh uh advance fund health care for veterans who were exposed to toxic chemicals in the line of duty. Adds uncertainty and instability to their access to quality care. Nor does the bill keep our commitment to our NATO allies, falling short of what we promised for NATO's infrastructure program. Also, there are several divisive policy writers in the bill which I I I oppose. However, the bill also contains a number of positive provisions which I support. I am glad that this bill increases the funding for the suicide prevention and treatment programs including suicide prevention outreach. Although progress has been made, the veterans' suicide rate remains high. than the population at large, and it is clear that we must do more to address what is a tragic situation. I am also supportive of the increase in funding for rural health and substance use disorder programs, which provide much needed support for veterans across this country. I'm glad to see that the bill increases funding for women's health care, helping to ensure the women who have served our country get the care that they need. Overall, The bill increases funding for the VA by more than four billion dollars, including a six and a half billion dollar increase to veterans medical care. These are important resources that will go a long way to supporting the brave men and women who have served this country uh and served us um uh gallantly. This is only the first stage of this bill. I look forward to continuing to work with our colleagues and address some of the issues that still remain. I thank you and I yield back.

Uh. Thank you, Mr. Laurel. Who else do I need to recognize? Any other member who wish to be to speak on this? Yes, sir.

Yeah, Mr. Chairman, I wanna thank you uh for two important issues that were were added. One is Subic Bay. For those who haven't been out there, we are now a US base in Subic Bay. It's the only deep water port. Out there the air the airstrip at Subic Bay moved more material than Panama Canal. Uh but in order to defend the Pacific we're gonna have to have forward staged ammunition and some capability to re to produce uh nitrocellulose. So thank you for for including that. And secondly, rebuild our navy. It is not in my night district but I do uh I have been spend a little time in the Philadelphia shipyard uh when I was a SEAL team six commander in ninety eight. And it hasn't improved. Uh so there's basic infrastructure that needs to be done in order for the Koreans to invest a hundred and fifty billion dollars into our ship building program. And that's basic infrastructure to water, roads, and so we can execute uh that shipyard. So, Mister Chairman, thank you uh for the I will.

Will the gentleman yield? I just want to note that um this is Mister Zinke's last mark-up as a member of our subcommittee. And uh, although we have clashed from time to time, we have uh developed a uh a a respect for one another, and uh I have enjoyed serving with you and really wish you the best as you move on to the next stage and also the best of health.

Thank you.

I'm I'm reaching self-actualization. Ah, you're back.

Is there anyone else who wish wishes to be recognized? Oh I was saying that there's no amendments. I'd like to recognize Mr. Rutherford for the purpose of making a motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm uh make a motion that uh remove the bill, favorably reported to the full committee.

The question is on the the motion. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed no. The ayes have it. The motion is agreed to. I ask unanimous consent. the staff be permitted to make technical and conforming changes to the bill and report and the report. Without objection, so ordered. That's pretty good time there folks.

Is it is it record time here?

It's close. I think we are, we did a good job, and especially when everybody got their sleep interrupted In the middle of the damn night. So thank you very much for being here. And uh, is anyone else need a comment? If not, we're adjourned.

There's nothing here about