Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Chair of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's Member Day hearing:
Good morning. I want to welcome everyone to today’s Member Day Hearing for the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
The hearing today will ensure that Members have an opportunity to provide input into the bill this Subcommittee will produce for fiscal year 2022. We are pleased that we have three Members here to discuss a variety of MilCon-VA programs.
This hearing is vital for us as Appropriators. It provides us the opportunity to zero in on the issues our colleagues are dealing with and help them address important issues through our Committee’s work.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that many of the programs and projects being discussed today have been hindered by the perennial, and frankly unacceptable, yearly reduction of Milcon funding requested by the recent President’s budget requests.
Although we have not yet received the FY2022 President’s budget request, I am hopeful it will reflect a renewed interest in the critical Milcon funding that not only impacts mission readiness, but also the quality of life of our servicemembers and their families.
And even though we do not yet have the President’s budget request, I am confident this hearing will help the Subcommittee as it looks forward to crafting our FY2022 bill and report.
I look forward to today’s testimony and continuing this productive dialogue
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
