February 26, 2025

Ranking Member Takano's Opening Statement at Legislative Presentation of The American Legion & Multi VSOs

Press Contact

Elain Shubat

IMG_1173

WASHINGTON— Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening statement as prepared at the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs joint hearing entitled, "Legislative Presentation of The American Legion & Multi VSOs: Minority Veterans of America, Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A, National Association of County Veterans Services Officers, Military Officers Association of America, National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families, and Wounded Warrior Project."

Thank you, Chairman Bost.

Today we continue our annual series of Joint Hearings. 

I am pleased to welcome our first panel, the National Commander and representatives of The American Legion as well as our second panel, representatives from Minority Veterans of America, Jewish War Veterans, The National Association of County Veterans’ Service Officers, the Military Officers Association of America, National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, and the Wounded Warrior Project.  

I’d like to extend a special welcome to The American Legion’s National Commander, James LaCoursiere Jr. from Connecticut, and National Auxiliary President Trish Ward, from Kansas.  

Before I begin my remarks: I have to ask, are there any Californians in the room this morning?  WELCOME!   

These hearings are important because they’re a great opportunity for us to hear from the VSOs about issues impacting veterans in their daily lives.  

It was at these hearings in 2022, when the VSOs stood in solidarity, calling on Congress to pass the Honoring Our PACT Act. 

Without you we would never have passed the largest expansion of veterans’ healthcare and benefits since the Vietnam War.  

Without you, millions of veterans would still be struggling to access healthcare for the toxic exposures they experienced in their service to our country.  

I will always be grateful to the VSOs for helping us get it done.  

As I’ve said all along, The PACT Act was never meant to be a “one and done”, there’s still so much more work to do, because the “pact” was not only about toxic exposure, it is also about our promise to ensure that veterans have access to their care and benefits, and that we do everything we can to:  

  • End veteran homelessness and veteran suicide  

  • Address new categories of illness and injury associated with military service, for example blast injury and military traumatic brain injury 

  • Finally achieve Guard and Reserve Parity 

  • Ensure that VA is welcoming to ALL veterans who have earned the right to be there 

  • Ensure that VA’s infrastructure can support its mission 

  • And so much more.  

Unfortunately, I’m not optimistic under this Administration.  

I have grave concerns about how President Trump’s Executive Orders are being carried out across the federal government, most especially at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and how they are going to impact veterans.  

We learned on Monday that VA indiscriminately fired an additional 1,400 employees. That means we have lost more than 2,400 VA employees just in the last two weeks, many of them veterans, and this doesn’t even account for the folks that took the questionable “fork-in-the-road” buy-out offer.  

I question how purging the workforce, firing the watchdogs, and making VA hostile to certain veterans is helping VA serve veterans better. I think serving veterans is why we are all here. It is certainly why I am here and why I serve on this Committee – because I think there is no higher calling or honor than to serve those who have served.  

Since he was sworn in, I have requested information from Secretary Collins about his implementation of the Executive Orders, and his employment actions against VA employees, none of which he has responded to. This is very troubling.  

I’m also concerned about the Administration’s attacks on inclusion and accessibility and its focus on intentional exclusion.  

President Trump’s actions are making VA a LESS welcoming place for millions of veterans. 

In fact, one of his first actions was to close the VBA Office of Equity Assurance, the office tasked with eliminating disparities in the award of disability benefits as a product of discrimination. It is absolutely having a negative impact on access to care and benefits for our nation’s most under-served veterans. 

This administration has turned DEI into a boogey man to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to the issues that Americans are struggling with:  

  • Gas and eggs are getting more expensive not cheaper, 

  • Medicare and Social Security are at greater risk than ever before, 

  • And this administration is too focused on tax breaks for Elon Musk and his billionaire friends to care. 

The Chairman is quick to claim that we want to choose bureaucracy over veterans. I dispute that…  

  • What about the veterans who lost their jobs to the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate firings of federal employees? 

  • What about black veterans who were unable to access VA home loans due to red-lining? 

  • What about women veterans, who’s service is STILL not valued as much as their male peers, and are now worried about the loss of gender-specific care at VA?

  • What about LGBTQ+ veterans whose health is in jeopardy because of the administration’s denial of their very existence?  

Ensuring the institution is there to serve veterans, IS putting veterans first.  

It is our job to ensure access to world-class healthcare and benefits to ALLveterans who have earned that right, and I take that responsibility VERY seriously.  

It is my hope that I can count on the VSO community to help us hold VA accountable to ALL veterans, and that you will also hold Congress accountable by making sure we walk the talk. That we are carrying out our constitutional oversight responsibilities by asking tough questions, demanding answers, and taking legislative action when it is needed. We cannot waiver in this, because we know that veterans are depending on us. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. 

 

###