Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 9468, offered by my friend and fellow veteran--let me say that again, friend and fellow veteran--because when our side over here is talking, we are talking as veterans who understand the issues. Representative Mike Garcia of California is carrying this bill. I thank him for his service. I am a veteran.

Today, we are carrying out our responsibility to protect our veterans and taxpayers. This bill would appropriate $2.88 billion to make sure that veterans' disability compensation and education payments will continue without delay.

We also expect the Department of Veterans Affairs to handle the taxpayers' money responsibly. That is why the bill would also force VA to improve their budget and provide more information on how they handle the benefits funding because, Mr. Speaker, the Biden-Harris administration should never have put VA in this position in the first place. The VA shortfall is yet another prime example of critical mismanagement by the current administration.

This bill would also direct the inspector general to do a top-to- bottom audit of the reasons for the healthcare and benefits shortfall. I have been getting half answers from executives at VA for 2 months about this shortfall.

The Biden-Harris administration has asked Congress to hand over another $12 billion right now based on eight pages of old numbers that don't add up. That is not what our constituents sent us here to do. They expect me, as the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and as a Member of Congress, to ask very important questions and get to the bottom of the reality of what is happening, and that is what I intend to do.

This legislation is a step in the right direction, and it upholds the House Republicans' commitment to always care for men and women who have served our military. I am proud to support it. Whenever the statement is made about the fact that Republicans aren't doing that, yes, we are, but we are doing it with the responsibility of exactly what we are supposed to be doing, and that is giving oversight. Somehow the other side of the aisle forgets that we have to do that, and for some reason the administration doesn't want to answer the questions we are asking.

Mr. Speaker, our responsibility is to look over the budget and make sure it is being spent wisely. Remember, the VA was not created for the VA; it was created for the veterans, and that is what this language does.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I don't have any additional speakers. I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, do you know what is a stubborn thing? Math. Math is a stubborn thing. As I have mentioned earlier, this bill falls short of supporting the full funding needs for the VA. It is very simple.

The VA has told us that by March of 2025, which is only a few months away, they will need an additional $12 billion for veterans' healthcare. There is nothing mysterious about this.

I am not that good at math, but the VA has reported that they are delivering more appointments to veterans than ever before, and that has something directly to do with why they need the additional resources. In fact, there have been 91 million appointments thus far in 2024, outpacing last year's total. The VA expects to see 127 million appointments by the end of this month.

The VA has also reported that costs for drugs and prosthetic devices are higher due to market pressures. Additionally, community care costs will need to grow by 16.5 percent next year in order to deliver anticipated community care needs for veterans.

Math is a difficult thing, apparently, for our friends on the other side of the aisle. Despite these warnings, my colleagues across the aisle have decided to ignore the VA, to obfuscate, to create smoke and mirrors.

Mr. Speaker, I spent the morning with over 100 of my veterans who served in World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam war, and I promised them I was coming back here to make sure that we addressed this $3 billion shortfall and that we would ensure that we fully implemented the PACT Act and ensured that veterans who were exposed to toxic substances would have their care covered. The PACT Act presumes, Mr. Speaker, that that exposure is what caused their illnesses, caused the disease that so many had to struggle with getting the ability to have that healthcare paid for until the PACT Act became law.

Despite these warnings, my colleagues across the aisle have decided to ignore the VA. In their continuing resolution, which would end on March 28, and which we expect to vote on tomorrow, they purposefully excluded any additional funding for veterans.

I will remind you, Mr. Speaker, and my colleagues, that when we committed that we would make sure that the PACT Act funds were guaranteed, that we had guaranteed funding so that we wouldn't leave the funding for veterans' healthcare to the whims of the appropriations process, as we do every year, our friends on the other side of the aisle decided to put a bill together that denied that guaranteed funding.

They denied that guaranteed funding repeatedly until they were finally shamed into living up to our commitment to our veterans. This funding is needed to hire more medical professionals, deal with the growing cost of community care, relieve cost growth issues for pharmacy and prosthetics. We have to make sure that we are there for them.

The bottom line is that this bill that is here before us is a good first step in addressing the funding pressures the VA is experiencing due to the administration's successful implementation of the PACT Act, but it fails to address the additional funding needs in healthcare.

I encourage my colleagues across the aisle to include the funding in a CR that is necessary for the VA to ensure that our veterans receive the quality care that we promised them, that the law requires, and that they deserve.

Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California.

Just a reminder, there is $140 billion cash on hand by the VA in discretionary dollars for FY 2025. This bill works to close the gap for FY 2024 to the tune of $2.88 billion.

This is an opportunity for every single Member of Congress to show their support for our veterans across the Nation, 7 million of them.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for H.R. 9468, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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