02.18.26 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
released
the
following
statement
expressing
his
concerns
with
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs’
(VA)
interim
final
rule,
which
immediately
changes
how
veteran
disability
ratings
are
evaluated.
Before
this
change,
VA
could
not
reduce
ratings
based
on
the
effects
of
medication
when
evaluating
a
service-connected
disability,
requiring
evaluation
of
a
veteran’s
true
functional
impairment.
This
new
VA
rule
changes
… Read More
02.12.26 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(D-CA)
released
the
following
statement
after
today’s
full
committee
markup.
“Several
bills
moved
forward
at
today’s
markup
with
bipartisan
support.
Committee
Democrats
supported
four
of
the
five
bills
considered,
including
legislation
to
strengthen
veteran
caregiver
experiences,
Fisher
House
access,
improve
VA
patient
scheduling
experiences,
and
the
quality
of
VA’s
advisory
committees,”
said
Ranking
Member
… Read More
02.11.26 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(CA-39)
released
the
following
statement
applauding
Senator
Bob
Archuleta
(D-Pico
Rivera),
Senator
Sabrina
Cervantes
(D-Riverside),
and
Assemblywoman
Pilar
Schiavo’s
(D-Santa
Clarita)
leadership
and
California
Attorney
General
Rob
Bonta’s
stewardship
as
Senate
Bill
694
(SB
694)
was
signed
into
law
by
Governor
Gavin
Newsom.
“Veterans
were
willing
to
give
everything
in
service
to
our
country.
For
that
service,
we
… Read More
02.11.26 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
delivered
the
following
opening
remarks,
as
prepared,
at
today’s
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Full
Committee
hearing
on
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs’
plan
to
reorganize
the
Veterans
Health
Administration
(VHA).
“Thank
you,
Chairman
Bost.
Yesterday,
I
had
the
opportunity
to
speak
at
the
A-F-G-E
legislative
conference.
I
met
with
colleagues
of
Alex
Pretti
who
shared
stories
about
his
service
to
… Read More
02.09.26 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON,
DC
—
Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
released
the
following
statement
after
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
released
the
2025
National
Veteran
Suicide
Prevention
Annual
Report.
“After
months
of
delay,
VA
has
finally
released
its
overdue
suicide
prevention
report.
While
the
overall
numbers
have
gone
down
ever
so
slightly,
more
clearly
remains
to
be
done.
One
life
is
too
many.
Losing
more
than
17
veterans
every
single
day
to
suicide
is
… Read More
01.27.26 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
Congresswoman
Julia
Brownley
(CA-26),
Ranking
Member
of
the
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Subcommittee
on
Health,
introduced
a
joint
resolution
of
disapproval
under
the
Congressional
Review
Act
(CRA),
to
formally
overturn
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs’
(VA)
recently
finalized
abortion
rule.
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(CA-39)
co-led
the
resolution.
All
Democratic
membersserving
on
the
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs,
including
Rep.
… Read More
01.25.26 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Yesterday,
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
released
the
following
statement
condemning
the
murder
of
VA
ICU
nurse
Alex
Jeffrey
Pretti.
“Today
we
mourn
the
tragic
death
of
yet
another
American
standing
against
the
violence
we
have
all
witnessed
throughout
our
communities.
Alex
Jeffrey
Pretti
was
gunned
down
in
broad
daylight
in
Minnesota
by
ICE
agents
using
unjustified
lethal
force.
Before
his
life
was
taken
from
him,
Alex
spent
his
days
caring
for
… Read More
12.30.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—This
year, Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
and
Committee
Democrats
confronted
a
pattern
of
actions
by
the
Trump
administration
that
weakened
and
undermine
the
health
and
economic
security
of
veterans
and
their
families.
These
actions
did
not
always
appear
as
direct
cuts,
but
were
implemented
through
internal
policy
revisions,
staffing
decisions,
and
administrative
delays
that
reduced
VA’s
capacity
to
deliver
timely
care
and
benefits.
Committee
Democrats
focused
on
exposing
these
actions,
… Read More
12.23.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Yesterday,
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
used
the
cover
of
the
holiday
season
to
issue
an
internal
memorandum
reinstating
a
near-total
ban
on
abortions
and
abortion
counseling,
ripping
away
access
to
healthcare
from
thousands
of
veterans.
This
cruel
and
dangerous
move
will
harm
veterans
and
damages
trust
in
the
very
system
that
is
supposed
to
protect
them
and
serve
their
healthcare
needs.
Rather
than
waiting
to
finalize
a
proposed
regulation
on
abortion
care,
VA
took
this
… Read More
12.15.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
released
the
following
statement
denouncing
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs’
(VA)
decision
to
cut
tens
of
thousands
of
unfilled
healthcare
positions.
This
cut
is
just
one
component
of
a
massive
reorganization
planned
for
the
Veterans
Health
Administration
(VHA).
“Today,
in
a
briefing
for
bipartisan
Committee
staff,
officials
from
VA
were
provided
the
opportunity
to
explain
the
Washington
Post’s
reporting,
… Read More
12.15.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON-
Last
week,
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(D-CA),
Senate
Veteran’s
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Richard
Blumenthal
(D-CT),
Congressman
Chris
Pappas
(D-NH),
and
Congresswoman
Nikki
Budzinski
(D-IL)
sent
a
third
letter
to
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
Secretary
Doug
Collins
urging
him
to
address
VA’s
failure
to
pay
required
education
benefits
on
time
to
over
75,000
veterans
and
their
families
and
survivors.
"These
payment
failures
are
not
… Read More
12.12.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans'
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
issued
the
following
statement
regarding
the
passage
of
H.R.
2550
-
the
Protect
America’s
Workforce
Act,
as
led
by
Congressman
Jared
Golden
(ME-02)
and
cosponsored
by
the
Ranking
Member.
“The
people’s
House
has
spoken.
Americans
support
unions,
as
does
the
House.
As
a
former
union
member,
I
can
tell
you
firsthand:
unions
are
necessary
and
benefit
not
only
their
membership,
but
all
Americans,”
said
Ranking
Member
… Read More
12.09.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
The
Washington
Post
published
a
letter
to
the
editor
co-authored
by
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano’s
(D-CA),
Senate
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Richard
Blumenthal
(D-CT),
and
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Member
Congresswoman
Nikki
Budzinski
(D-IL),
in
response
to
The
Post’s
December
1st
Editorial
Board
piece
titled,
“America’s
veterans
deserve
better
care
than
government
unions
provide”.
“I
am
incredibly
disheartened
to
see
… Read More
12.03.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
the
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
held
a
Full
Committee
Hearing
on
two
bills:
H.R.
6047
-
The
Sharri
Briley
and
Eric
Edmundson
Veterans
Benefits
Expansion
Act
of
2025
and
H.R.
4077
-
GUARD
Veterans’
Health
Care
Act.
The
Sharri
Briley
and
Eric
Edmundson
Veterans
Benefits
Expansion
Act
of
2025,
introduced
by
Congressman
Tom
Barrett
(MI-07),
would
increase
home
loan
fees
on
disabled
veterans
with
a
disability
rating
of
70
percent
or
less
after
their
first
use
of
VA
home
… Read More
12.03.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(CA-39)
delivered
the
following
opening
statement
as
prepared
at
the
House
Committee
on
Veterans'
Affairs
Legislative
hearing
covering,
"H.R.
6047,
the
'Sharri
Briley
and
Eric
Edmundson
Veterans
Benefits
Expansion
Act
of
2025',
and
H.R.
4077,
the
'GUARD
Veterans’
Health
Care
Act’.
The
Ranking
Members'
closing
remarks,
as
delivered,
are
below
as
well.
Opening
remarks:
Mr.
Chairman,
we
are
going
to
be
spending
a
lot
of
time
today
talking
about
the
VA
… Read More
11.24.25 •
Press Release
[WASHINGTON,
D.C.]
-
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(D-CA)
and
Senate
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Richard
Blumenthal
(D-CT)
are
pressing
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
Secretary
Doug
Collins
to
immediately
increase
reimbursement
rates
for
organizations
housing
and
providing
critical
resources
for
more
than
25,000
homeless
veterans.
In
a
letter,
the
lawmakers
called
out
Secretary
Collins
for
failing
to
comply
with
a
law
that
ordered
increasing
… Read More
11.19.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON
-
Today,
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(D-CA)
addressed
the
announcement
that
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
had
permanently
housed
51,936
homeless
Veterans
nationwide
in
fiscal
year
2025.
“We
applaud
VA
Homeless
Programs
staff
across
the
country
for
this
tremendous
accomplishment,
which
shows
that
the
programs
and
models,
including
Housing
First,
currently
being
used
to
address
veteran
homelessness,
are
incredibly
successful.
The
ongoing
… Read More
11.14.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(D-CA),
Senate
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Richard
Blumenthal
(D-CT),
and
Ranking
Member
of
the
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Subcommittee
on
Economic
Opportunity,
Chris
Pappas
(D-NH),
sent
a
letter
addressed
to
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
Secretary
Doug
Collins
urging
him
to
address
VA’s
failure
to
pay
out
required
education
benefits
to
thousands
of
veterans,
their
families,
and
… Read More
11.12.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON
- Tonight,
Republicans
passed
a
partisan
Continuing
Resolution
(CR),
accomplishing
the
bare
minimum
and
doing
little
to
address
veterans’
most
urgent
needs.
ACA
subsidies,
which
over
a
million
veterans
rely
on
to
afford
coverage,
are
set
to
expire
at
the
end
of
the
year.
Premiums
are
already
rising
and
in
some
cases
skyrocketing.
Despite
Democratic
efforts
to
include
relief,
this
Republican
CR
fails
to
address
the
looming
healthcare
crisis,
leaving
millions
of
veterans
and
their
… Read More
11.04.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
issued
the
following
statement,
following
a
letter he
led
with
Democratic
Members
of
the
House
to
Secretary
Doug
Collins
demanding
the
immediate
reversal
of
VA's
decision
to
remove
male
breast
cancer
from
the
list
of
presumptive
conditions
covered
under
the
PACT
Act.
The
Members
warned
that
the
move
reflects
a
broader
trend
within
the
Trump
Administration
to
undermine
laws
expanding
veterans’
benefits
in
order
to
… Read More
