Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed appropriations legislation to fund military construction projects, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and related agencies in fiscal year 2024. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) released the following statement after supporting the package, which includes $799.1 million above President Biden’s budget request for family housing and other quality-of-life projects.
“As promised, I’ve upheld my commitment to ensuring our veterans and service members are well taken care of in the appropriations process. This bill increases construction funding for family housing and child care facilities and fully funds veterans’ health and medical care – building on my successful effort to expand medical services for veterans at the Portland VA. In addition to voting consistently to fund veterans’ programs fully, I’m working hard on legislation to care for our nation’s heroes. I recently introduced a bill to provide homeless veterans with needed resources and assistance, which has already passed the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. It’s an honor to serve those who have served us, and delivering results for Oregon’s veterans will continue to be one of my top priorities,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
Background
The appropriations bill includes $17.474 billion for family housing and essential military construction projects – $799.1 million above the president’s budget request. This includes $293.8 million for seven child development center projects and $362.3 million for nine barracks projects.
Additionally, this legislation – combined with the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, which Chavez-DeRemer supported in May – boosts funding for the VA by $16.481 billion from the previous fiscal year. It fully funds the president’s request for veterans’ medical care at $138.127 billion. It also fully funds veterans’ health care and toxic exposure-related needs.
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