Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Chairman John Carter
HT-2 The Capitol
(202) 225-3047
Majority | Minority |
| John Carter – Chair | Debbie Wasserman Schultz – Ranking Member |
| John Rutherford | Sanford Bishop, Jr. |
| Michael Guest | Veronica Escobar |
| Ryan Zinke | Mike Levin |
| Stephanie Bice | Henry Cuellar |
| Scott Franklin | |
| Mark Alford – Vice Chair | |
| Nick LaLota |
Recent Activity
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4366, a bill that will provide funding for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
During the last Congress, three trillion dollars was spent outside of the normal appropriations process. As spending soared, so did inflation.
There was damage done to the economy, and the work of the Appropriations Committee changed significantly over those two years.
That is why earlier this year, I asked Subcommittee Chairs to evaluate all of the funding in the pipeline.
When the President's budget finally arrived, I directed them to review each agency's budget – line-by-line.
I want to thank the Subcommittee Chairs for their work to identify ways to save hard-earned tax dollars.
These savings have allowed us to reduce overall spending without short-changing what is most important – national defense, homeland security, and veterans.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. McGovern, and members of the Committee. I want to thank each of you for the opportunity to testify on the FY24 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill.
This is a good bill because it supports our troops and their families and the Nation's veterans.
We provide almost $800 million above the budget request for military construction and family housing.
We focus this funding to deter China's aggression in the Pacific and on barracks and child development centers.
We fully fund veterans' programs at the requested level, while strengthening our oversight of the VA.
In response to VA's actions, this bill includes the Hyde Amendment. This will ensure tax dollars are not used to fund elective abortions.
I know my friend and ranking member, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, opposes this provision and several others.
WASHINGTON – Today, the Full Committee met to consider the Fiscal Year 2024 subcommittee allocations. The measure was approved by the Committee with a vote of 33 to 27.
Good morning. I'm honored to present today the first of the FY24 appropriations bills.
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill is special. We provide funds for our military and for service members and their families. We also provide funds for veterans' programs and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Finally, we provide funds to the agencies that honor our military and veterans, such as Arlington National Cemetery.
The bill provides almost $800 million above the budget request for military construction and family housing. With this funding, we address many unfunded requirements and provide additional funding for the services to better manage privatized housing.
As we begin our first full committee markup for Fiscal Year 2024, I want to take a moment to remind everyone what happened with government spending the last two years and explain the challenges this Committee now has ahead of us.
During the previous congress, three trillion dollars were spent outside of the normal appropriations process.
As spending sky-rocketed, so did inflation.
There was damage done to the economy, and the work of this Committee changed significantly over those two years.
That is why earlier this year I asked subcommittee chairs to evaluate all of the funding in the pipeline.
When the President's Budget finally arrived, I directed them to review each agency's budget line-by-line.
They did excellent work identifying savings in many areas.
WASHINGTON – Today, House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger (TX) released the following statement on postponing markups scheduled for the week of May 22, 2023.
"Given recent developments in the negotiations between Speaker McCarthy and the President, and in order to give the Speaker maximum flexibility as talks continue, the Committee will postpone this week's markups."
