Hearing of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Lowey, Markup on the FY 2021 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs

Hearing

Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee's markup of its fiscal year 2021 bill:

I thank Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz and Ranking Member Carter for their work on this bill. And I thank the subcommittee staff for their efforts to navigate member requests and formulate the product we have before us given the challenges of the past few months.

This subcommittee conducted numerous hearings, both in-person and virtually, to ensure that the bill addresses the most critical and compelling issues that face our service members and veterans.

The Fiscal Year 2021 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill would invest $115.5 billion to support active duty military, veterans, and their families, including:

-$90 billion for veteran's medical care;
-$10.3 billion for life saving mental health programs;
-$840 million for medical and prosthetic research;
-$661 million for women veteran dedicated care;
-$1.9 billion for homelessness assistance programs; and
-$1.35 billion to improve military family housing.

The bill also includes important provisions to make fertility benefits for veterans permanent, restrict funding for construction projects located on installations named after Confederate officers, and prohibit the misappropriation of funds for the President's wasteful border wall. The vital needs of our service members should not be sacrificed for political gain.

Again, I thank the Members of this subcommittee and staff for your commitment to our veterans, servicemembers, and their families.

Source