Rep. Lauren Underwood Delivers Remarks at Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Markup to Highlight How Republican Funding Bill Undermines Veterans’ Benefits and Care

June 10, 2025 Press Release WASHINGTON—During today’s House Appropriations full committee markup of the 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies funding bill, Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14) delivered the following remarks: “Mr.
Chairman,
I strongly oppose the Fiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs,
and Related Agencies Appropriations bill we are considering today. Our veterans
are heroes who have given so much to our country. Their sacrifices can never be
fully repaid, but the least we can do is to provide them with high-quality
healthcare and other benefits they are entitled to. When they
come home, they deserve to know that the country they fought for is going to
deliver on its promises. And today,
we have
the opportunity to keep those promises—but
unfortunately, my colleagues across the aisle have chosen to join the Trump
Administration in turning their backs on veterans. To start,
this bill takes a page right out of the Project 2025 playbook by wasting
billions of taxpayer dollars to privatize veterans’ medical care—even though
this approach will only lead to higher costs, longer wait times, and more
barriers to care. So
while this Committee could be investing in vital, VA-based care that is
consistently preferred by veterans and outperforms private community care,
House Republicans have written a bill that will raise costs AND lower the
quality of veterans’ care. This is unacceptable. If that wasn’t
bad enough, let’s talk about
the PACT Act. I was proud
to support this historic, bipartisan expansion of health care and benefits for
veterans exposed to toxic substances like burn pits and Agent Orange. Since its
passage, the VA has delivered new PACT Act-related disability benefits to more
than 1.4 million veterans and over 14,000 survivors of veterans who died of a
toxic exposure-related illness. The PACT Act
was a promise: if you put your life on the line for this country, we will take
care of you. But this
bill breaks that promise by failing to provide
guaranteed advance funding for the PACT Act’s Toxic Exposure Fund.
Advance
funding provides the certainty the VA needs to plan for and deliver consistent
high-quality care for our veterans who were subjected to toxic exposures. And it doesn’t
stop there. This bill is packed with the same cruel, performative policy riders
we see year after year. As a nurse, I believe health care is a human
right—including the full range of reproductive health care services.
But this bill blocks the VA from providing abortions or even abortion
counseling. It would
force many of our veterans—like countless women across this country since the
disastrous Dobbs decision—to wait till they are on their deathbeds to receive
essential health care. It’s extreme, it’s
deadly, and it’s anti-veteran. The bill
also underfunds military construction by $904 million, delaying critical
infrastructure needs that are vital to our military readiness. That hurts
recruitment, worsens the quality of life for servicemembers and their families,
and undermines our national security. But perhaps
most
alarming – this bill FAILS to
stop the Trump Administration’s dangerous, unconstitutional effort to dismantle
the Department of Veterans Affairs. So far, the
Trump Administration has illegally fired thousands of VA staff that support
critical services like processing claims benefits and keeping the Veterans
Crisis Line running, and they have cancelled more than 500 contracts.
These
cuts have interrupted veteran services and threatened the future of critical
research from cancer treatments to suicide prevention. And this is
just the beginning. Donald
Trump’s VA Secretary has said publicly that the Administration’s goal is to
reduce the agency’s staff by 15 percent –that’s
80,000 fewer professionals working to keep our promises to those who have
served this country and many
future generations of veterans left behind. Already I
have heard from veterans in my District about the distress caused by these
impending cuts. At my most recent town hall, one veteran who has sought mental
health care at the VA since the 1970 shared
his concerns about the future of his care in midst of these impending cuts. Another
constituent of mine reached out via email and shared that “veterans that use
the center for mental health issues are having anxiety attacks over the issues
at the VA.” This is the real cost
of the Administration’s decisions. And instead
of standing up for our veterans, my Republican colleagues have written a bill
that rubber stamps the Administration’s illegal and cruel acts. For all
these reasons and more, I cannot support this bill. Our veterans
deserve better. They deserve a Congress that honors their service—not just with
words, but with action. They deserve
a fully funded VA, access to comprehensive health care—including reproductive
care—and a government that keeps its promises. I ask my
colleagues across the aisle to do the right thing, stand up for veterans, and
reject this misguided bill.” ###