WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor on the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill that is being considered now as part of a package of three appropriations bills. Earlier today, the full Senate voted 91-7 on the motion to proceed to the package. Senator Murray continues to work with Vice Chair Collins and her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to proceed with amendment votes and debate on the package. Video of Senator Murray’s floor speech is HERE.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below:
“We are working in good faith to set up amendment votes, and get this ball rolling on the bipartisan Appropriations package that the senior Senator from Maine and I assembled, along with all of our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee so we can return the Senate back to regular order for the first time in a long time, which many of our colleagues have called for.
“In the meantime, I’d like to talk more about the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill included in this funding package, and why the investments in this bill are so important for our military readiness, for our military families, and especially for veterans across our nation who have sacrificed so much for us.
“As Chair of the Milcon-VA Subcommittee, I worked closely with the senior Senator from Arkansas who just spoke to get input from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and draft the strongest possible bill—even under tough toplines from the debt limit deal.
“I’m very pleased that the bill we put together—which did pass our Committee unanimously—makes crucial investments and gets our military and our veterans the support they need.
“This bill provides $19.1 billion dollars for military construction—that is an increase over the FY 23 level—and supports hundreds of construction projects at base installations so we can improve the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families, modernize maintenance and training facilities, and make military installations more resilient against growing threats, like climate disasters.
“The $2.4 billion for quality-of-life improvements in this bill will support projects like building new barracks and housing, and—just as critically—maintaining existing housing so that the homes military families are living in right now don’t fall into disrepair.
“I’m proud our bill also provides funding for eight new child development centers so we can expand child care access for our military families.
“These type of quality-of-life investments are essential to our recruiting, retention, and overall readiness.
“More importantly—they are what our troops deserve and what we owe them for the sacrifices they make.
“This bill also funds other essential military construction projects like training and vehicle maintenance, improving energy resilience on bases, and making sure our installations are better prepared to face severe weather events.
“Because, as our Generals and Admirals have made crystal clear—climate change is a national security threat and we absolutely cannot afford to let it undermine our troops and military readiness.
“The bill the we are considering today also includes investments to strengthen our alliances and partnerships around the world—including by supporting NATO infrastructure projects, and providing funding to strengthen our global presence—including over half a billion for this work in the Indo-Pacific.
“I’m also glad we were able to include funding here to address PFAS and other toxins—“forever chemicals”— at former installations that could put our communities, and military families especially, in harm’s way.
“PFAS are a serious health hazard and they have been found in the water supply at hundreds of military bases across the country, including in my home state.
“Then, of course, there’s the VA funding in this bill, which is just as essential.
“I’m someone who previously chaired the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee—I specifically asked to be assigned to that committee as soon as I came to Congress, and I am really honored to have been the first woman ever to serve on that committee.
“Because, as the daughter of a World War II veteran, I take our nation’s commitment to care for our veterans personally.
“When my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis—which eventually forced him to stop working—his VA benefits were crucial to making sure he could get the care he needed.
“So I know firsthand how essential VA care is for veterans and their families and I am constantly meeting with veterans in my state about their experiences too.
“Living up to our obligation to those who served our country is simply non-negotiable for me.
“I know many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle feel the exact same way.
“That’s especially true for my partner across the dais on our subcommittee, the senior Senator from Arkansas.
“We’ve worked closely together for many years on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
“So I knew when we started on this bill, he was someone who cares deeply about our men and women in uniform, and takes our obligations to our veterans seriously.
“In other words—he’s exactly the kind of partner you want across the table to negotiate a bill like this.
“I’m pleased to say we were able together to draft a bill that ensures we keep our promises to servicemembers and veterans—by fully funding VA’s budget request.
“That means increasing funding for mental health and suicide prevention programs—since we know, tragically, that suicide is the leading cause of death for veterans, especially younger veterans.
“It means increased funding for rural health care, so veterans in every corner of the country can get the care they need, homelessness prevention programs that help with the challenges of returning to civilian life, and for the caregivers program—which I fought to expand, along with so many of my colleagues last year.
“Of course, it means increased funding for women veteran’s care—women are the fastest growing demographic of our veterans.
“I am also especially pleased to say this bill includes funding to expand the child care pilot program I helped establish.
“Because, as I always remind my colleagues, we have a child care crisis in this country, which is why I worked to include funding to expand child care sites at VA facilities—so lack of child care doesn’t keep our veterans from getting the care they need.
“In addition to the VA care funding here, let’s not forget, last year we actually passed the largest expansion of VA care in decades by passing the bipartisan PACT Act, and earlier this year Congress worked to live up to that expansion by passing more than $20 billion in funding for the toxic exposures fund—as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
“This is already making a difference for veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxins.
“Another crucial investment in this bill—is the funding increase for VA infrastructure.
“Because we cannot let veterans’ health care be undermined by the challenges related to VA’s aging medical facilities.
“Or, for that matter, jeopardized by botched rollouts like we saw with the electronic health record modernization program.
“I was glad to see that VA did put a pause of the rollout of EHR earlier this year—something I had been pushing them to do—and we made sure that pause was reflected in this funding bill.
“Because I was raising the alarm from day one about how the botched EHR roll out was hurting Washington state veterans.
“It’s a challenging situation right now with EHR—we can’t just flip a switch and fix it as much as I wish we could.
“But I am watching closely to make sure we see changes that provide real results for our veterans and our VA providers.
“Because at the end of the day—these investments are not just about programs and contracts.
“This is about our promise to get veterans the benefits they earned and need to stay healthy. Things like: prescriptions, mental health care, cancer screenings, and so much more, and to make sure every woman and man who serves our country in uniform gets the support, the training, and the equipment they need to be at their best.
“M. President, before I wrap up I also want to say a bit more about some of the items in this bill I fought hard for that are especially important to my state.
“When it comes to military construction there are several projects I worked very hard to get funding for, like new barracks and a parachute rigging facility at Joint Base Lewis McChord, bulk storage tanks at the fuel supply in Point Manchester, updated electrical infrastructure at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to help prevent unexpected power outages, and funding to advance other projects across my home state bases like equipment, maintenance, and platoon training facilities.
“When it comes to support for our veterans and our VA facilities, I pushed to make sure this bill includes funding to help the American Lake VA medical center upgrade its facilities and provide quality care, and funding for the Tahoma National Cemetery and its work to ensure we honor the veterans we’ve lost.
“It’s worth noting, while those are some of the projects I’m most excited about in my state.
“We made sure that all Senators, on both sides of the aisle, could weigh in on this bill, and I know many other members worked very hard to support similar projects, and get funding that is important to their states.
“I urge my colleagues to come to the floor, talk about some of the projects that you have in this bill—and why this funding is important to your families back home.
“I also invite them to talk to me and the senior Senator from Maine about amendments and ideas for how we can make these bills better.
“Our staffs are working around the clock, and so are we.
“We do want to set up a managers’ package, we do want to set up votes on amendments, and we want to get this funding package passed in the Senate, and passed into law.
“Because, let’s be clear—this is a bill that can actually be passed into law.
“That’s because all of the hard work, careful consideration, and in many cases, compromise that went into producing this bipartisan bill.
“This is a responsible bill we wrote together—Democrats and Republicans—how?
“By listening to our communities, and listening to each other to so we can help people, and solve problems.
“That’s how this process should work. That’s what we were all sent here to do.
“So let’s work together and show the American people Congress can actually do its job, get our communities the resources they need in a timely, responsible way can actually help people, and solve problems.
“Thank you.”
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