01.11.19 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (CA-41) released the following statement after sending a letter to Robert Wilkie, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, urging him to protect VA whistleblowers during the government shutdown:
Chairman Mark Takano wrote, “It has come to my attention that whistleblowers at the Department of Veterans Affairs are unable to receive determinations from the Office of Special Counsel due to the partial
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01.08.19 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (CA-41) released the following statement after introducing H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019:
“The 116th Congress has officially been sworn-in, and thousands of veterans are still waiting for their government to deliver on its promise and grant them the benefits they have earned. The fact that politics got in the way of our duty to care for veterans affected by toxic exposure is a
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01.07.19 • Press Release
Orlando, FL - Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09) welcomed U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano to Orlando’s VA Medical Center facilities in Lake Nona. Following a tour of the VAMC campus, Chairman Takano and Rep. Soto received special program briefings from the various departments in the medical Center and met with the center’s administrators and medical professionals.
Stated Chairman Takano: “It was wonderful to visit the Orlando VA Medical Center in Lake Nona and I
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01.04.19 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Representative Mark Takano (D-CA) released the following statement after he was elected by his Democratic colleagues to serve as Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs:
“This Congress, we have an incredible opportunity to build on this Committee’s work to guarantee veterans access to high-quality, timely care and the benefits they deserve. Today’s veterans population is more diverse than ever before, a testament to the shifting demographic strength of
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12.19.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Vice Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA) released the following statement after the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees met in open session to assess the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) implementation of the VA MISSION Act of 2018:
“I applaud Chairmen Roe and Isakson and Ranking Member Tester for holding this bicameral oversight hearing today,” said Vice Ranking Member Mark Takano. “As the first oversight hearing
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12.12.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Ranking Member Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) released the following statement after she joined Chairman Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN) in hosting a full Committee hearing examining the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) implementation of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017:
“When the bipartisan Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017
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12.10.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed S. 2248, the Veterans Benefit and Transition Act of 2018:
“Today’s legislation includes over 20 provisions that will make meaningful improvements to the lives of veterans across the country, including my bill the Veterans’ Electronic Health Record Modernization Oversight Act of 2017, which will ensure Congress has the
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12.10.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) renewed his call for transparency in a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to immediately provide to the Committee unredacted communications between VA officials and Mar-a-Lago members Ike Perlmutter, Bruce Moskowitz, and Marc Sherman, as well as all travel records to and from Mar-a-Lago.
Today’s letter comes in response to
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11.30.18 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, after numerous reports highlighted continued delays in GI Bill benefits payments and failures in the implementation of certain housing provisions of the Forever GI Bill, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Vice Ranking Member Mark Takano led Democratic Members in demanding answers from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie.
The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017 (Forever GI Bill) made significant improvements to
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11.28.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced sweeping changes in the processing of GI Bill benefits payments under the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Forever GI Bill). VA’s announcement comes after IT issues have caused thousands of student veterans to go months without receiving the GI Bill housing benefits they were
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10.23.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) sent the following letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie expressing concern about the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) processing delays for GI Bill tuition, fees, and housing allowances and to urge the Department to communicate immediately and accurately to beneficiaries facing financial hardship as a result of the delays about the assistance available to them. Ranking Member Walz
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10.16.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) led 45 Members of Congress in sending a letter to Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-GA) urging him to bring H.R. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2018, to a vote in committee so that the legislation can be brought to the Senate floor as soon as possible.
The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act would finally grant presumptive Agent Orange exposure
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10.09.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN), released the following statement after he sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to comply with an August 8 request to provide the Committee any and all communications between VA officials and Ike Perlmutter, Bruce Moskowitz, and Marc Sherman as well as travel records to and from Mar-a-Lago.
The August 8 request followed news
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09.27.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement after the full committee met in open session to discuss veteran suicide prevention, hear from experts in the veteran community, and question current Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials over the progress of core VA initiatives aimed at eliminating suicide among veterans.
The hearing comes one day after the VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
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09.26.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention released its report, “National Suicide Data Report 2005-2016.”
“As a veteran as well as the original author of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, I believe that the VA report released today simply reiterates what many of us have known for a long
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09.25.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its report, “Review of Mental Health Care Provided Prior to a Veteran’s Suicide Minneapolis VA Health Care System Minnesota.”
“This is profoundly unacceptable,” said Ranking Member Walz. “The findings outlined in the Inspector General’s report are deeply disturbing. The finding
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09.04.18 • Press Release
(Washington D.C.) - U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Representatives Phil Roe (TN-01) and Tim Walz (MN-01) are urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to begin clinical trials to better understand the potential benefits or dangers of medical cannabis use.
In a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, the members ask him to begin a large-scale study as soon as possible, so veterans using medical cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic
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08.08.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN), sent the following letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie requesting that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provide any and all communications between VA officials and Ike Perlmutter, Bruce Moskowitz, and Marc Sherman to Congress without delay. The letter follows news reports alleging that the three men, all members of President Trump’s private Palm Beach, Florida club Mar-a-Lago,
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07.26.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN), sent the following letter to Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately investigate Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Acting Secretary Peter O’Rourke for false or misleading statements made before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on June 26, 2018 and July 17, 2018. Ranking Member Walz was joined by Representatives Mark Takano (D-CA) and Kathleen
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07.24.18 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed seven bipartisan veterans bills, including multiple pieces of legislation championed by Democrats:
“We owe our deepest gratitude and respect to the brave men and women who risked their lives to defend this nation,” said Ranking Member Tim Walz. “The legislation the House passed today will make meaningful improvements to the
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