12.18.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening statement, as prepared, during this morning’s Full Committee Oversight Hearing about the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision:
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In its decision in Loper Bright Enterprises versus Raimondo, the Supreme Court overturned forty years of precedent and radically transferred power from the legislative and executive branches to the judiciary. And contrary
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12.12.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) and Representative Neal Dunn, M.D. (FL-02), introduced the Supporting Medical Students and VA Workforce Act. This bill will help the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) address physician recruitment and retention challenges by funding the education of veteran-oriented, mission-focused physicians.
“I am glad to work with Dr. Dunn on this bill to provide assistance to students who are pursuing a
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12.05.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening statement, as prepared, at the beginning of this morning’s Full Committee Oversight Hearing on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funding and a projected Veterans Health Administration (VHA) shortfall:
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
There is currently rhetoric coming from the Right about veterans being on a ‘payroll’ and living on some kind of taxpayer-funded largess because
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11.18.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) applauded House passage of H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. This package includes many provisions that are priorities for veterans and veterans service organizations (VSOs).
“This omnibus package of veterans’ legislation achieves progress on many of the goals we set out to accomplish at the beginning of the 118th Congress,” said Ranking
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11.15.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC— House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after an agreement was reached on the Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act:
“For more than a year, House Democrats have engaged in good faith negotiations in a bipartisan, bicameral manner to ensure this package best serves veterans and the future of healthcare at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Today, I am pleased to
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11.15.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after President-elect Donald Trump announced former U.S. Representative Doug Collins as his Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA):
"I worked with Doug Collins when he was in Congress. And I look forward to continuing to work with him as VA Secretary. We have made tremendous gains in the last four years expanding healthcare and benefits thanks to my
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11.13.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after it was announced that veteran homelessness has reached an all-time low under the Biden-Harris Administration:
"I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on this accomplishment towards the goal of ending veteran homelessness. With 32,000 veterans still unhoused, we have
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10.29.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39), released the below statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it had served a record number of veterans in the last fiscal year. VA announced it had delivered more than 127 million healthcare appointments, provided $173 billion in compensation and pension benefits, and housed almost 48,000 homeless veterans.
The Ranking Member said, “This is tremendous news from VA and the
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10.10.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39), joined by 21 House Democrats urged Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough to use existing legal authority under the Honoring Our PACT Act and other laws to help veterans who have Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) from blast overpressure. Recent research and reporting point to occupational blast exposure is causing severe and long-term damage to the health of servicemembers and
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09.25.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39), reintroduced the VA Employees Fairness Act with 103 original co-sponsors. This bill brings parity to the federal workforce by ensuring full collective bargaining rights for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Title 38 healthcare professionals, including registered nurses, physicians, dentists, and physician assistants.
“VA healthcare workers work tirelessly to provide high-quality care to our
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09.25.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the beginning of the Committee’s oversight hearing entitled, “Everyday Heroes: Supporting the Veteran Caregiver Community:”
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Caregivers are an indispensable component of the complex network of healthcare delivery for our most vulnerable veterans. As we can all see from RAND’s new report, caregivers are not only
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09.24.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it surpassed its fiscal year 2024 goal of housing 41,000 veterans, with over 43,000 veterans housed in the last 12 months:
“This is good news and gets us closer to our goal of ending veteran homelessness. I applaud VA and the Biden-Harris Administration for their continued commitment to preventing veterans from
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09.20.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) applauded President Joe Biden for quickly signing a bill that will provide the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) with the necessary funding to continue administering veteran disability and education benefits in October.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) told the Committee that due to the successful accelerated implementation of the Honoring our PACT Act, more veterans than ever are
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09.19.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) called out House Republicans for wasting time on culture war bills instead of prioritizing funding VA healthcare.
Ranking Member Takano said, “It is inexcusable that House Republicans are shorting veterans by $12 billion for their hard-earned healthcare and wasting precious time this week on culture war bills that have no chance of becoming law. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been
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09.17.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) today took to the House floor to bring attention to ongoing funding shortfalls for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). While Ranking Member Takano was glad the House acted on a supplemental funding bill (H.R. 9468) for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), he slammed the Majority for not also acting this week on $12 billion in funding for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
More veterans
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09.10.24 • Press Release
The Ranking Members of the committees of jurisdiction urge U.S. Army officials to admonish the former president for his misuse of Arlington National Cemetery for political purposes, warn him that a repeat violation could result in his being banned from the cemetery, and investigate and release its findings on how the event was coordinated.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representatives Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member
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09.10.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - This morning, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) called out Committee Republicans’ voter suppression efforts and urged the Department Veterans Affairs (VA) to continue assisting veterans and their caregivers in exercising their right to vote.In this meeting, Committee Republicans voted to subpoena VA for documents on its partnerships with nonpartisan organizations and state agencies to provide voting assistance. Through longstanding policy
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08.09.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - August 10th marks the two-year anniversary of Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39)'s Honoring our PACT Act becoming law. The Honoring our PACT Act is landmark legislation that grants benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances and their survivors. Today the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) marked this anniversary by announcing the latest benefits granted and enrollment numbers, as well as announcing a new presumptive. Ranking Member Takano made the following
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06.13.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at this morning’s Full Committee Oversight Hearing about meeting the needs of veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCID):
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am pleased to be here today to examine how we are meeting the needs of veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders, sometimes referred to as S-C-I-D.
It is estimated that around a
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06.05.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) criticized the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon/VA) appropriations bill on the House floor for being partisan and not meeting the goal of helping every veteran.
The Ranking Member said:
“I am disturbed House Republicans have included many of the same partisan riders in this year’s bill that were in this bill last year. These radical riders aim to restrict access to abortion and attack
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