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
10.14.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
The
Washington
Post
printed
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano’s
(D-CA)
letter
to
the
editor,
a
response
to
The
Post’s
October
9th
front-page
piece
titled
"How
some
veterans
exploit
$193
billion
VA
program,
due
to
lax
controls."
“The
Post
looked
for
villains
in
the
wrong
place
and
misled
the
public
with
one-off
anecdotal
explanations
of
why
VA
disability
claims
have
grown.
Doing
so
is
a
disservice
to
those
who
risked
their
lives
in
our
nation’s
… Read More
10.09.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(D-CA)
and
Senate
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Richard
Blumenthal
(D-CT)
sent
a
letter
to
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
Secretary
Doug
Collins
expressing
concern
regarding
reports
they
received
from
veterans
Service
Organizations
(VSOs)
and
constituents,
that
VA
is
currently
failing
to
process
and
disburse
critical
educational
and
housing
benefits
provided
under
the
Post-9/11
GI
Bill,
Veteran
… Read More
10.09.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON
-
Today,
House
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
(D-CA)
and
Senate
Veterans’
Affairs
Committee
Ranking
Member
Richard
Blumenthal
(D-CT)
led
a
group
of
Committee
members
to
call
out
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
(VA)
Secretary
Doug
Collins
for
weaponizing
the
government
shutdown
and
artificially
ending
communications
with
Congress—despite
the
fact
these
constituent
services
have
already
been
funded
by
multi-year
appropriation
bills
that
are
not
affected
by
the
… Read More
10.08.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans'
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
and
Veteran
Service
Organization
(VSO)
leadership
responded
to
the
Washington
Post’s
recent
article
titled
“How
some
veterans
exploit
$193
billion
VA
program,
due
to
lax
controls,”
written
by
Craig
Whitlock,
Lisa
Rein,
and
Caitlin
Gilbert
and
published
on
October
6th.
“In
an
attempt
to
spotlight
VA
claims
system
challenges,
the
Washington
Post
omitted
essential
context
and
misled
readers,
undermining
the
vital
… Read More
09.30.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans'
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
issued
a
blistering
condemnation
of
the
Republican-led
government
shutdown
and
Speaker
Mike
Johnson’s
cynical
ploy
to
use
veterans’
programs
as
political
leverage.
House
Republicans
jammed
through
a
hyper-partisan
continuing
resolution
without
Democratic
input
on
September
18
and
adjourned
until
October
7
--
knowingly
forcing
a
government
shutdown.
“Speaker
Johnson
and
House
Republicans
have
chosen
brinkmanship
… Read More
09.19.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans'
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
issued
the
following
statement
regarding
the
Republicans’
partisan
continuing
resolution
(CR).
“House
Republicans
have
chosen
to
ignore
the
immediate
needs
of
Americans
and
veterans.
Instead
of
acting
to
keep
healthcare
affordable
and
ensure
VA
can
deliver
the
care
and
benefits
veterans
have
earned,
Republicans
are
advancing
a
partisan
bill
that
ignores
an
urgent
healthcare
crisis
driving
up
costs
for
families
… Read More
09.18.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans'
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
announced
that
the
House
of
Representatives
passed
fourteen
bipartisan,
veteran-focused
bills
this
week.
This
includes
three
bills
led
by
Democratic
Members
of
the
House
Committee
on
Veterans’
Affairs:
H.R.
4446
-
FAST
VETS
Act,
offered
by
Representative
Maxine
Dexter
(OR-03),
would
make
it
easier
for
veterans
to
find
employment
through
the
VA
Veteran
Readiness
and
Employment
(VR&E)
program,
which
… Read More
09.12.25 •
Press Release
WASHINGTON—
Today,
House
Committee
on
Veterans'
Affairs
Ranking
Member
Mark
Takano
issued
the
following
statement
regarding
SB
694,
urging
his
California
colleagues
to
bring
this
important
legislation
to
the
floor
for
a
vote
today.
“Veterans
were
willing
to
give
everything
in
service
to
our
country.
In
turn
for
that
service
and
commitment,
we
need
to
exemplify
that
same
level
of
commitment
to
ensuring
they
receive
every
penny
of
their
benefits.
Unfortunately,
bad
actors
are
set
on
profiting
… Read More
