'Partisan Culture War Riders': Debbie Wasserman Schultz Hammers GOP's Appropriations Package

3 months ago

During debate on the House floor, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) rose in staunch opposition to HR 8580, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2025.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

00:04I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 8580, the Fiscal Year 2025 Military Construction,

00:09Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Bill.

00:11While I unfortunately cannot support the bill on the floor today, I am grateful to Chairman

00:15Carter for the work that we've been able to accomplish together over the years on this

00:19subcommittee.

00:20I know we both prioritize quality of life for our service members and their families

00:23and caring for our veterans, but sadly, the bill before us today is built on a framework

00:28that once again walks away from the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act agreement, which

00:32is law, which was the basis for the bills that we passed just a couple of months ago.

00:37While the FY25 MilCon VA bill doesn't face cuts nearly as dramatic as the other bills,

00:43veterans, service members, and their families rely on programs throughout the federal government.

00:47These funding levels only move us further from a bipartisan agreement on all of the

00:51funding bills that those who served our nation rely on.

00:56On the military construction side, this bill cuts funding for service members and their

01:00families by $718 million compared to last year's bill.

01:05This cut will slow crucial progress to modernize and improve DOD's infrastructure.

01:10In FY24, we provided DOD with $30 million in dedicated funding for resiliency, a comparatively

01:17small sum of funding now, which will pay huge dividends in the future and ensure our national

01:21security in the face of our changing climate.

01:23By eliminating the dedicated resilience funding this year, this bill will threaten future

01:28military readiness because we are not making sure we invest in hardening facilities to

01:33make sure that they can withstand the impact of natural disasters.

01:37Cutting military construction now slows our historically bipartisan efforts to reduce

01:41the infrastructure backlog to strengthen our national security and to improve the quality

01:48of life of our service members and their families.

01:50But perhaps the most egregious part of the bill is all the partisan riders it includes.

01:55This bill is usually first up on the floor like we are this fiscal year because we have

02:01a bipartisan process.

02:04But unfortunately, partisan culture war riders have distracted from our ability to accomplish

02:10that.

02:11We have riders that include preventing the VA from implementing its interim final rule

02:14on abortion care, which is now final, by the way, to provide abortion services under limited

02:19circumstances, abortion counseling, and to ensure that veterans have equal access to

02:24health care regardless of what state they live in, especially in a time when reproductive

02:28rights are under attack around the country.

02:30A woman's decision whether or not to have an abortion should be made between her and

02:34her doctor and her family.

02:36It should not be made by politicians in this chamber.

02:40And this bill includes riders that do everything from prohibiting VA from implementing diversity,

02:44equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as training, to a petty, bigoted prohibition

02:49from flying the pride flag over VA facilities during pride month to add insult to injury,

02:55from protecting people who speak or act under the guise of religious freedom, essentially

02:59authorizing the arbitrary discrimination against LGBTQI plus people, and to prohibiting access

03:05to gender-affirming care, just to name a few, all aimed to disenfranchise veterans from

03:11the VA.

03:12Let me just note.

03:14The United States did not make exceptions to the promises that we made our service members

03:18in exchange for their service and sacrifice.

03:20We made promises to everyone.

03:22This bill undermines VA's ability to report a beneficiary to the National Instant Criminal

03:27Background Check System to keep guns out of the hands of people who are prohibited under

03:31federal law from purchasing or possessing firearms.

03:34It is prohibiting VA from following the law that is intended to protect veterans and those

03:39around them.

03:41We have a dramatic suicide problem among our veteran population, and allowing people who

03:48are prohibited by law to possess a gun makes that suicide more likely, not less, puts other

03:55people around them in their care circle at risk.

04:00That is unacceptable, irresponsible, and unnecessary.

04:03This bill prioritizes guns over protecting veterans.

04:08It's truly a shame that this bill includes these poison pill riders.

04:11They create division between us when we all should have a shared goal of providing health

04:14care and benefits to our veterans.

04:16These culture war riders were rejected in conference negotiations last year, and we

04:20know that they will be rejected again this year in order to reach a final agreement.

04:24This bill can't pass with all of these poison pill riders attached to it, so I urge my colleagues

04:28to oppose this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

'Partisan Culture War Riders': Debbie Wasserman Schultz Hammers GOP's Appropriations Package

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