{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-boebert-takes-action-support-americas-veterans", "Rep. Boebert Takes Action to Support America's Veterans", "2024-06-06", "2024", "2024-06", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Lauren Boebert", "B000825", "boebert.house.gov", "boebert", "https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congresswoman Lauren Boebert voted for H.R. 8580 and to fully fund America's veterans healthcare and benefits. Additionally, this Appropriations bill also contained five of Congresswoman Boebert\u2019s amendments that passed the House this week with unanimous, bipartisan consent to redirect an additional $10,000,000 to our nation's veterans and their programs.\n\nCongresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) stated, \u201cOur men and women in uniform make extraordinary sacrifices to defend America and preserve our rights. I will always fight to ensure these heroes receive the care they earned and this appropriations bill that passed the House with my support provides full funding for their healthcare and full funding for their veterans benefits. This legislation also protects us from dangerous terrorists by preventing the closure of Guantanamo Bay. In addition, H.R. 8520 contains an important amendment that passed with my support that prevents Biden and his agency minions from disarming 20,000 veterans as well as five of my amendments that passed the House to improve veterans' care and services. Finally, this America First bill also prohibits the VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens.\"\n\nBackground:\n\nThis week, the House passed H.R. 8580, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, with Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's support by a bipartisan vote of 209 to 197.\n\nCongresswoman Boebert passed five amendments to this bill with unanimous bipartisan support through the House of Representatives to improve veterans\u2019 benefits and services as part of the bipartisan en bloc amendment package.\n\nCongresswoman Boebert\u2019s amendments that passed the House include the following:\n\nBoebert Amendment No. 3\n\nRedirects $2 million to provide additional resources for medical and prosthetic research to ensure our veterans receive cutting-edge medical care from the VA.\n\nBoebert Amendment No. 4\n\nRedirects $2 million to the Office of the Inspector General to combat waste, fraud, and abuse.\n\nBoebert Amendment No. 5\n\nRedirects $2 million to fund grants for the construction of veteran\u2019s cemetery programs to assist state and tribal governments in providing burial benefits for veterans in rural areas lacking a VA national cemetery\n\nBoebert Amendment No. 6\n\nRedirects $2 million to provide additional funding for the construction of new state-extended care facilities\n\nBoebert Amendment No. 7\n\nRedirects $2 million to the Board of Veterans Appeals to help reduce its backlog so that veteran claims can be adjudicated in a timely manner.\n\nSome of Congresswoman Boebert's other actions to support America's veterans include:\n\nCongresswoman Boebert has now passed 11 amendments through the House with bipartisan support to increase funding for veterans\u2019 care by $23,000,000.00 by redirecting funds from the bureaucracy to funding for veterans.\n\nShe voted for at least four pro-veteran bills that became law.\n\nCongresswoman Boebert cosponsored H.J. Res 44, which protects millions of veterans and gun owners by nullifying the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF\u2019s) unconstitutional pistol brace ban rule.\n\nShe transferred $2 million from Health and Human Services General Department Management for the purchase and implementation of telehealth services to improve health care coordination for rural veterans between rural providers and the Department of Veterans Affairs\n\nCongresswoman Boebert helped lead a successful pressure campaign to restart Honor Flight Services for our veterans visiting their memorials in Washington D.C.\n\nShe redirected funding to the Board of Veterans\u2019 Appeals from VA bureaucracy to reduce its backlog and process veterans\u2019 claims more quickly.\n\nCongresswoman Boebert redirected funding from VA bureaucracy to VA IT systems to assist with reducing the veterans\u2019 disability claims backlog.\n\nShe voted for the Veterans Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act that became law to provide a 3.8% COLA increase for our nation\u2019s heroes through a $4.9 billion increase annually for veteran\u2019s benefits.\n\nOther background on H.R. 8580 courtesy of the House Appropriations Committee\n\nThe FY25 MilCon-VA Appropriations Act honors our commitment to our nation\u2019s veterans by fully funding health care and benefits programs, bolsters our national security through robust funding for the Indo-Pacific region, and reins in the woke ideology pushed by the Biden Administration.\n\nThe bill provides a total of $378.6 billion in overall funding, including $147.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Defense (Military Construction and Family Housing), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and related agencies, and $231.1 billion for mandatory programs, namely medical care for toxic exposure.\n\nMilitary Construction and Housing - $17.9 billion, $412 million above the FY25 President\u2019s Budget Request, including $1.1 billion for 11 barracks projects, $1.1 billion for investments in the Indo-Pacific region, and $2 billion for Military Family Housing.\n\nVA - $337.4 billion, $75.5 million above the FY25 President\u2019s Budget Request and $30.2 billion above the FY24 enacted level, including $112.6 billion for medical care.\n\nKey Takeaways\n\nHonors our commitment to veterans by:\n\nFully funding veterans\u2019 health care programs.\n\nFully funding veterans\u2019 benefits and VA programs.\n\nBolsters our national security by:\n\nProviding robust funding for the Indo-Pacific region, fully funding projects in Guam, and increasing resources for INDOPACOM to improve the Department of Defense posture in the region.\n\nMaintaining the prohibitions on the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.\n\nFocuses the Executive Branch on its core responsibilities by:\n\nReaffirming the political limits outlined in the Hatch Act, particularly those of lobbying Congress and using official resources for political purposes.\n\nProhibiting the use of funds to promote or advance critical race theory.\n\nProhibiting the implementation, administration, or enforcement of the Biden Administration\u2019s executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion.\n\nSupports American values and principles by:\n\nProhibiting taxpayer dollars from being used for abortion, using Hyde language which includes exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.\n\nProtecting the 2nd Amendment rights of veterans, preventing VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge\u2019s consent.\n\nProhibiting VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:11:47Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-boebert-takes-action-support-americas-veterans"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.642884384840727, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}