Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) issued the following statement of disapproval after House passage of H.R. 8580, the FY2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Funding Bill:
“Historically, funding bills for our nation’s veterans have been bipartisan, so I am deeply disheartened by the poisonous provisions authored by House Republicans added to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “Not only does this bill fail to honor our commitment to our nation’s veterans, but this bill also drastically undermines our national security by cutting military construction by over $718 million and withholding additional funding for critical military installations and vital climate resilience projects to address extreme risks making it difficult for military bases and facilities, like Naval Base Ventura County, to defend against sea level rise and worsening disasters. The bill also delays key efforts to address child care shortages on our bases and to repair and rehabilitate dilapidated military housing.
“To further add insult to injury, MAGA Republicans have once again hijacked the appropriations process to perpetuate a dangerous and bigoted anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ agenda. This bill includes anti-gay, anti-trans, and anti-veteran provisions that discriminate against our former servicemembers and deny them the medical care they need. This bill also prohibits VA from implementing its rule on access to abortion care, preventing women veterans from accessing lifesaving, reproductive health care. House Republicans’ continued assault on women’s reproductive rights is an egregious affront to our democracy and further erodes the freedoms of our servicemembers and our veterans.
“I offered a number of amendments to strike these provisions and to increase funding for women veterans’ health care to levels requested by veterans service organizations, but House Republicans refused to allow my amendments – and other Democratic amendments – to be debated or voted on.
“I voted no on this misguided bill because I cannot, in good faith, support legislation that obstructs military readiness and strips women veterans of their rights and their bodily autonomy, nor will I condone attacks on LGBTQ veterans. It is with great disappointment and frustration that I am, once again, calling on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stop using our servicemembers and veterans as pawns in extremist ideological debate.
“I trust that the Senate will reject this harmful bill and produce a bipartisan bill that will better serve our veterans and better reflect our nation’s values. I remain committed to working to ensure that the final FY2025 MilCon-VA funding bill includes provisions that invest in our servicemembers, our veterans, and our nation’s defense.”
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Issues: 118th Congress, Defense, Military, National Security, Veterans' Affairs