[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 29, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H1693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CUTS TO VA BENEFITS

  (Mr. LATIMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, I recently visited the Bronx VA Medical 
Center in the Bronx, New York. This center serves many in my district, 
and I am grateful for the quality care they provide and for the 
groundbreaking research happening at this facility.
  When a young person signs up to join the military, Americans make 
them a promise that we will take care of them for the rest of their 
lives because they have put on the uniform of this country and risked 
their lives for all of us.
  That is why it is perplexing and unconscionable that this 
administration has proposed devastating cuts to VA healthcare and 
benefits, eliminating 80,000 staff who provide healthcare and benefits 
to veterans who have earned them.
  More than a quarter of VA staff are veterans themselves. Cuts to the 
programs that provide home loan assistance to veterans, even cutting 
staff of the suicide crisis line that saves lives--for what? This 
message does not say: Thank you for your service. This is a slap in the 
face for those who have served.
  My Democratic colleagues do not support these cuts, and this is an 
ideal moment for bipartisanship, where our Republican colleagues can 
join us in pushing back.

                          ____________________