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Van Hollen Statement Regarding the MilCon-VA Appropriations Bill
Washington,
Jun 1, 2012 -
Mr. Speaker,
I rise today to express my qualified support for HR 5854, the FY13 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill. While I commend Chairmen Rogers & Culberson and Ranking Members Smith & Bishop for their efforts to craft bipartisan legislation dedicated to addressing the needs of current and former service members and their families, I support this bill with strong reservations about how the measure treats the very civilian employees who will be asked to provide the services and carry out the instructions outlined in the bill.
HR 5854 contains a number of important provisions designed to serve our military with an eye toward trimming spending, eliminating waste and directing taxpayer dollars more effectively.
The MilCon-VA bill, as it is called, funds construction by the Department of Defense for hospitals, clinics, schools, family housing and other facilities in order to deliver timely and vital medical care to our nation’s veterans, active military members and their families. The measure also provides funding for disability care, educational benefits and other resources to help advance U.S. missions abroad.
Specifically, I applaud the committee for funding support for medical services and facilities; for veteran’s compensation, pension and burial benefits for former service members, survivors and their dependents; and for the important family housing here and abroad that helps ease some of the financial burden faced by our men and women in uniform.
Despite providing necessary support for these and other important projects and programs, this bill also continues a troubling new Republican pattern in the Congress of balancing our fiscal accounts on the backs of our federal employees. It seems like every time the Republicans bring a bill to the floor, they use it as a vehicle to attack public servants by cutting their pensions, or pay, or benefits to pay for other spending items. Federal employees have already given up $60 billion of salary over ten years as part of the two-year pay freeze. Starting in January 2013, new federal employees will contribute more to their pensions to offset the $15 billion cost of Unemployment Insurance Extension legislation. And with this MilCon bill, federal employees are asked give up the very small .5% partial COLA allotted in the President’s FY13 budget request.
Nurses and rehabilitation specialists, weapons systems mechanics and border guards are among the many dedicated federal employees that serve our country. They sometimes serve shoulder-to-shoulder on the battlefield with our uniformed service members. They should not be a piggy-bank that Republicans turn to whenever they need a source of funds.
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Congressman Chris Van Hollen
