Culberson: On FY 19 Miltary-VA Appropriations Subcommittee Bill

Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Representative John Culberson (TX-07) Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce Justice and Science (CJS) released the following statement today after the House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the fiscal year 2019 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations bill.

This legislation delivers on the promises of the federal government to support all those who have selflessly served our country. Its our veterans sacrifice that allows each of us to live in a free and prosperous America. By providing $9 billion above the fiscal year 2018 level for the VA alone our veterans will have improved access to health care suicide prevention programs claims processing homelessness prevention opioid addiction treatment and job training. Our greatest responsibility is to provide for our active duty troops veterans and their families. This bill helps fulfill that duty by providing $1.6 billion in funding for military housing and $361 million to repair existing and build new medical facilities that will care for 9.8 million soldiers and their family members. Im pleased that this legislation provides the necessary resources to give our veterans the care they need and deserve. It addresses VA medical care the disability claims processing backlog and provides for $1.7 billion in construction funding for the VA in addition to nearly $2 billion provided for repair of existing VA infrastructure. This is an important bipartisan bill. I thank my colleagues on the Committee for their hard work and urge the full House to consider this important piece of legislation as soon as possible.