At First Hearing as Chair of Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, Senator Murray Pledges to Fight to Make Good on Promise to Our Servicemembers and Veterans

"As the daughter of a World War II veteran, this work is personal to me. I take seriously our nation's obligation to our service members, veterans, and their families. We have to make sure we are meeting their needs and keeping our promises to them. I've worked to do that every day since I first came to the Senate. It was my top priority when I led the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, and it is my number one focus as chair of this subcommittee too.

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I'm glad to have Senator Boozman as my partner across the aisle--we've worked closely together on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and I know he takes this responsibility seriously as well. I look forward to working with him on this subcommittee, and with all of our colleagues, on these important issues--starting by making sure we continue our progress on returning to regular order. Because we cannot keep up with our competitors like China if we let critical investments like military construction fall behind or fall into uncertainty due to partisan fighting.

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After all, our ships, submarines, aircrafts, and more are only as good as the infrastructure they rely on, and they are only as well supported as the troops who operate them.

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Climate change is an urgent national security threat--and if we want to keep our nation ready for anything, we have to make sure our bases are resilient in the face of climate disasters. Includes key funding to strengthen our alliances and partnerships around the world by supporting NATO infrastructure projects and funding to address PFAS and other toxins at former installations that could put our communities in harm's way--an issue that must also be dealt with on active installations.

These investments improve our recruiting, retention, and overall readiness.

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