[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 89 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2615-H2616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REPUBLICANS' BROKEN PROMISES TO VETERANS

  (Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, let's shed light on the 
Republicans' broken promises to our veterans.

[[Page H2616]]

  I have the privilege of serving as the ranking member of the normally 
bipartisan Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations 
Subcommittee. However, this year, my Republican colleagues plan to 
slash medical care for toxic-exposed veterans, rolling back a promise 
this body made just last year when we passed the bipartisan PACT Act 
into law.
  The PACT Act created the Toxic Exposures Fund, which is a pledge in 
law to provide a dedicated funding source to ensure the care related to 
toxic exposures will always be set aside and not have to compete with 
other veterans' priorities at VA and other agencies.
  As you can see in this chart from the Republicans' VA budget report, 
President Biden honored this promise by carefully calculating the need 
and proposing $20.3 billion for the TEF in his fiscal year 2024 budget. 
The Republicans' bill only provides $5.5 billion, a quarter of the 
request. Not only do they shortchange the TEF by $14.7 in 2024, but 
Republicans completely eliminate it, they zeroed it out in 2025.
  Republicans can protest all they want, but their broken promise to 
our veterans is right here in black and white. We must keep our promise 
to our veterans, just like Joe Biden and the Democrats do.

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