Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. BROWNLEY of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise this afternoon to offer an amendment to H.R. 2029. My amendment would restore the funding for major construction projects in the Department of Veterans Affairs to $1.14 billion to meet the level that the VA has requested.

As ranking member of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, I share the outrage of many of my colleagues over the unacceptable mismanagement of the VA's major construction program.

I agree that VA management must be held accountable for their failure to manage construction costs for the Denver hospital. Congress must reform the VA construction program so that it uses taxpayer dollars wisely and efficiently. However, we cannot continue to ignore the sad state of disrepair in VA hospitals and clinics across our country which are in desperate need of funding for modernization and health and safety improvements.

Most of the VA's medical infrastructure is old and outdated. The average building age is approaching 60 years. Many VA health facilities urgently need seismic retrofitting or emergency repairs. Others are too small to accommodate the growing population of veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the aging population of veterans who served in Vietnam continues to put great stress on the VA.

Many veterans in underserved communities like Ventura County are counting on us, on Congress, to ensure that new construction projects are delivered and that their health care needs will be met. The funding levels in the bill would delay VA plans to expand health care facilities in many locations, harming VA's ability to provide care to veterans.

If the current funding level in this bill is made law, the VA would have to scuttle plans for a rehabilitative therapy building in St. Louis, Missouri, two outpatient clinics in Alameda and French Camp in California, and a community living center in Perry Point, Maryland. Delaying these projects is not the right way to honor our commitment to our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Chair, draconian funding cuts to the VA's major construction program are not the only way that veterans are being shortchanged in this bill before us today. The majority's bill also fails to meet the administration's budget requests in other areas, including medical services, medical facilities, and information technology.

For example, the VA estimates that at the bill's current funding level, over 70,000 fewer veterans will receive medical care compared to the administration's request. In addition, the VA will not be able to pay for cemetery expansions in St. Louis, Portland, Riverside, Puerto Rico, and Pensacola, which would have enabled the Department to serve 18,000 veterans and their family members annually.

Veteran advocates, including AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, agree that, in the long run, Congress will be forced to appropriate much larger sums to enable the VA to catch up on the deficits being created by this bill, not only in capital infrastructure, but in critical investments in other VA services in health care.

If we really want to change the culture of the VA and ensure that veterans everywhere can get the services and benefits they have earned, Congress must do its part by investing in our veterans.

When Congress cuts corners, we put the health and well-being of the men and women who have served this country at risk.

I realize, Mr. Chairman, that my amendment is subject to a point of order, so I intend to withdraw my amendment, but we must fix this bill before it moves forward.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

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