House Democrats Highlight How Republican MilCon-VA Funding Bill Falls Short

Press Release

"The Fiscal Responsibility Act agreed to and passed with bipartisan support not only prevented an economic catastrophe for all Americans, it also fulfilled a solemn, bipartisan promise we made to our veterans and servicemembers. That agreement occurred because Democrats demanded that we uphold the bipartisan pledge we made in the PACT Act to care for and protect those exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances, Democrats secured the guaranteed funding in the Toxic Exposures Fund in the agreement, overriding Republicans' efforts to slash the Fund in the MilCon-VA bill. However, late last night, the Republicans announced they will undermine this agreement by drastically cutting the FY24 topline back to FY22 funding levels. The bill we are considering today backslides in critical areas and reverses vital progress, like shortchanging dedicated funding for PFAS cleanup, eliminating dedicated climate and military base resiliency efforts, and rejecting critical VA infrastructure funding. It also cuts military construction funding from the current level by $1.5 billion as we grapple with recruitment and retention issues, and it flouts our subcommittee's bipartisan spirit, by failing to equitably fund member community project funding requests, as Democrats did when we were in the majority. Worse, other funding bills that our veterans rely upon, for housing, food assistance, and jobs training for instance, will be slashed and face drastic Republican cuts. Democrats will continue to fight to protect our veterans and servicemembers in a bipartisan manner, but this and other funding bills demand too much sacrifice from those who have or will continue to serve. And that's a promise Democrats will not break."

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