Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement on the Fiscal Year 2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill:
“Our veterans and our communities deserve more than the totally inadequate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill which passed the House yesterday. This bill falls far short of providing sufficient funding for Veterans Affairs, offering a staggering $1.4 billion less than the President requested to fund the Veterans Administration. It underfunds veterans’ medical services and VA construction allocations by more than half a billion dollars apiece. That will limit upgrades and renovations to veterans’ medical facilities, and will deprive injured and suffering veterans in dire need of care. It is no wonder that veterans service organizations have raised strong objections to this bill.
“I am committed to looking out for the best interests of our veteran community. That is why I opposed final passage of this Appropriations bill. I also continue to oppose the Republican majority’s tactic of getting around the spending caps they have imposed through their budget by providing an additional $532 million for this bill through the Overseas Contingency Operations fund, which is not subject to those caps. We cannot allow Republicans to use creative accounting to get around their funding cuts while our communities continue to suffer. We need to replace these crippling budget caps with a long-term solution which will provide certainty, protect our veterans, and provide them with the services and care they have earned.”
