Congressman Denny Heck Explains his Vote on the FY 2016 MILCON Appropriations Bill

The following is a statement from Rep. Heck regarding his vote on the FY 2016 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, & Related Agencies appropriations bill, which passed the House, 255-163, on Thursday, April 30:

"My vote no for H.R. 2029 is grounded in two items: the lack of adequate investments in VA services and healthcare, and the continuance of damaging sequester cuts. I have said it before and I'll say it again: sequestration levels were meant to be so damaging that we would work to end them. The sequester level caps would put non-defense discretionary spending at its lowest level, adjusted for inflation, in the past decade. That is not acceptable.

"In addition, this bill is $1.4 billion lower than the President's request for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which translates into 70,000 fewer veterans receiving VA medical care, and less new and replacement facilities with sufficient staff and equipment to adequately maintain the VA's facility infrastructure. After the past year we've had, one thing we've learned is that more resources, not less, are needed to improve our VA system. I will not cut corners and abandon the promise we made to our nation's veterans.

"The bill is expected to be vetoed if it reaches the President's desk. I will work hard in my capacity as the representative of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the American Lake VA Medical Center, thousands of servicemembers and more than 80,000 veterans, to find a more agreeable funding level for the FY 2016 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, & Related Agencies appropriations bill. And that absolutely includes a kill switch to sequestration."

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