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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06.05.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (HVAC) Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39), House Committee on Financial Services Ranking Member Maxine Waters (CA-43), and HVAC Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Levin (CA-49) have introduced the End Veteran Homelessness Act of 2024 (H.R. 8560). This legislation will help reduce casework bottlenecks and expand eligibility for the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, allowing more veterans experiencing or at risk
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06.04.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after the Full Committee’s hearing on critical skills incentives:
“It has been less than two years since my Honoring our PACT Act was signed into law, and the implementation has been an overall success. Last month, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that one million veterans and their survivors have been granted PACT Act benefits. And earlier this year
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05.21.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member, and author of the Honoring our PACT Act, Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after the announcement that the one millionth PACT Act disability compensation benefit claim has been granted:
“We passed my historic Honoring our PACT Act less than two years ago, so I am thrilled that one million veterans and their survivors have already been able to receive the benefits they have earned. We have a sacred
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05.15.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC -- House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after Committee Republicans introduced the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (H.R. 8371), a package negotiated without House Democrats or Veterans Service Organization (VSO) input, that will pour scarce VA dollars into private care and complicate all future veteran legislative priorities:
“After months of time-wasting and
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04.25.24 • Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Committee on Veterans Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a final rule that will expand healthcare and benefits to more veterans who received other than honorable discharges:
“I applaud VA Secretary Denis McDonough and the Biden Administration for this long overdue expansion of healthcare and benefits for some veterans who received an other than honorable discharge.
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04.11.24 • Press Release
Washington, DC - House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the beginning of today’s Full Committee oversight hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs FY 2025 and 2026 budget request:
“Today, we welcome Secretary McDonough and Veterans Service Organization representatives of the Independent Budget to discuss the Department of Veterans Affairs Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025. Budgets reflect our
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03.21.24 • Press Release
Washington, DC - House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the beginning of today’s Full Committee’s legislative hearing on the Toxic Exposure Act of 2024 that will undermine the Ranking Member’s landmark Honoring our PACT Act:
“Thank you for yielding, Mr. Chairman.
The Cost of War Toxic Exposure Fund, created by my Honoring Our PACT Act, is a vital component of the law and represents our promise to
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