Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I am very happy to join Senator Murray today in presenting the fiscal year 2024 and 2025 appropriations bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs and for the Department of Defense military construction.

I am proud to be a part of this first minibus as we continue the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process and the return to regular order. As in years past, this subcommittee crafted the bill in an open and bipartisan way, and I expect to continue that today as we consider this bill on the floor.

This bill takes into consideration the needs of our veterans, their families, and our servicemembers, and, within that framework, we have created a thoughtful and responsible path for both Departments and our related Agencies.

This bill provides $154.352 billion in discretionary spending, which is $184 million over last year's level. Within that, the Department of Veterans Affairs is provided $134.8 billion in discretionary funding, which is $85 million over last year's level. Included in that level is $121 billion for veterans' medical care, a $2.3 billion increase over last year.

This bill funds priority accounts to prevent veteran suicide, increase rural access to healthcare, and support critical mental health programs. It helps to prevent veterans' homelessness and provides funding for innovative medical research.

The bill provides $19.07 billion to support military construction and family housing needs and funds a total of 163 major military construction projects, which we desperately need.

This bill will give the Department of Defense the resources it needs to project power globally, enhance our warfighting capabilities, and train the forces. This bill also provides $1.9 billion to improve the quality of life for servicemembers and their families.

I also want to note that the bill includes $471.3 million for our related Agencies, which include the American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home.

I want to thank Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins for their leadership with the total committee, and also I want to specifically thank Chair Murray and her staff and my staff for the hard work they have done in crafting this bill to get us to where we are at today. So we appreciate them.

Also, we will be encouraging votes so that we can actually get these bills across the finish line.

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