Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2027

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARSON. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of my amendment No. 9 to H.R. 8469, the Fiscal Year 2027 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

When Americans serve our country, we have a responsibility to support them when they come home. That means giving the Department of Veterans Affairs the tools it needs to treat veterans today and find better ways to help them recover tomorrow.

My amendment is straightforward. It increases funding for the VA's Medical and Prosthetic Research Program to $994 million. As drafted, the underlying bill cuts $45 million from veteran-focus medical research. I believe that is the wrong direction at a time when research costs are rising, veterans' needs remain urgent, and medical breakthroughs depend on sustained investment.

VA research supports veterans who are living with traumatic brain injury, PTSD, toxic exposure, cancer, chronic disease, limb loss, and other conditions tied to their service. These are not abstract issues. They directly impact whether veterans can work, care for themselves and their families, regain independence, and live with dignity.

This work is already making a difference. The VA is the largest integrated health care system in the country, which gives its researchers a unique window into veterans' long-term health needs. That matters because many service-related conditions affect veterans over many years and require sustained, longitudinal study, VA researchers have used that experience to expand lung cancer screening to hundreds of thousands of veterans, advance precision medicine, and develop prosthetic technologies that help veterans regain mobility and independence.

This research does not stop at the walls of the VA. Breakthroughs that begin with veterans can improve care for the entire country. VA researchers are using artificial intelligence and advanced imaging to detect disease earlier, testing new treatments for spinal cord injuries and bone regeneration, and advancing robotic and sensor-enabled prosthetics that help veterans with limb loss regain mobility, independence, and dignity. That is why sustained investment in VA research is not just sound science, it is how we turn our commitment to veterans into better care, better recovery, and better medicine for all Americans.

This is exactly the kind of work we should be strengthening, not cutting. This amendment is a modest, responsible step to reverse the funding cut in the bill and keep VA medical research moving forward.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and help uphold our commitment to America's veterans.

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