Today. Member granger and all subcommittee members participating via video. I want to offer a brief explanation of how this will work. Configuredm has been for the appropriate social distancing. Some members have opted to use teleconferencing, which allows them to participate mostly. Once you start speaking, there will be a slight is delay. Speaking into the microphone activates the camera. If you dop ui remarks not immediately see the screen switch. If it does not change after several seconds, please make sure you are not muted. That the members participating by video remain on mute, unless you have sought recognition. Thatill notice the clock will show how much time is remaining. Remaining, i will gently tap the gavel to remind you that your time has expired. Ie clock will turn red and will recognize other members. We will follow our traditional order. Finally, we have set up gmail address. That includes documents to be inserted by unanimous consent. Address is house appropriations. Submissions at mail. House. Gov. It has also been provided to your staff. Requesters must unanimous consent out loud separately from sending the document. Andk you for your patience understanding as we navigate. The bill before us today demonstrates our commitment to Service Members. We can be proud of the work that we did, which takes into account the feedback that each of you and our colleagues have provided. Cardof you have received a with your Top Priorities that were incorporated. I were hearing schedule ended prematurely because of the pandemic, but we held several hearings to tackle many of the issues that have faced neglect for too long. The subcommittee held a hearing to focus on the substandard conditions found in substandard housing. The impactearing on of exposure to Service Members. Side, we also held an oversight hearing on Electronic Health record modernization in order to have greater transparency. I am proud that we have mandated investments and our program to improve readiness and provide benefits and military care that our veterans have earned. Billion dollars above the fy 21 budget request. It provides 10. 1 i will remind the members i know you do not need reminding that he percent of the militarys infrastructure worldwide is in fair were poor condition. The bill also includes 439 billion for the Conservation Investment program, which is 397 Million Dollars above the request. 2. 4 billion is for unfunded priorities that were approved. They can be executed during fy 2021. The total also provides 1. 3 billion for Family Housing construction and 135 million for Housing Support costs. And an additional 200 million will be provided for cleanup. It is a priority of the committee. The bill includes a new provision to prohibit military Construction Projects on installations named for confederate officers who waged billion against the less a total of 242 billion, including mandatory spending my fy 2021rovided for the program, of which 108 billion is discretionary funding. This represents an increase more than the fy 20 inactive level. We have achieved consensus with the senate that the cost of health care is growing exponentially and cannot remain within the budget cap. The total is designated to adequately fund v. A. Health care. This will help us to prevent us from falling off the cliff. Fully funding the budget request and providing for approximately 7. 2 million patients to be treated in fy 21. Millionincludes 661 for gender specific care for women. Money for homeless programs. Abuse 10. 3d for Mental Health care services, Million Dollars including 313 Million Dollars for suicide outreach. Other areas of interest include robust oversight of the implementation, boosting investment in medical and prosthetic research, progress and construction of facilities, ensuring access and care for veterans in rural areas, including telehealth, and improving treatment of conditions like rare cancers and pressure ulcers. Finally, the bill provides an increase of 8 over the budget request for the four related agencies to maintain Service Levels and invest in need of maintenance. The American Battle for monuments commission, the court of appeals for veterans claims , Arlington National cemetery and the Armed Forces Retirement home. Nobody will be surprised that this bill does not fund a border wall, nor allow the president to and and divert military bypass and divert military Construction Funding from previously approved National Security projects. As i have said, military construction dollars should be used for the purpose of they are provided, which is to support the department of defenses mission for Service Members and their families. With that i want to say thank you to our subcommittee members. It is a joy to work with each of you. Colleaguesot of our complement one another on their subcommittees and how well they get along. With thisspecial case subcommittee and it makes me really proud to have you as colleagues. I want to thank my partner, judge carter, who not only worked tirelessly and is a passionate advocate for his constituents and people who serve in the armed forces, but he is an absolute gentleman and has become a dear friend. It has been wonderful, serving with you. Want to say thank you for your support. This will help our Service Members, their families and our veterans. Before i turned to judge carter, i want to express my appreciation for the members of the subcommittee, who after this year will not be serving with us in congress. You have been a tireless advocate for your local v. A. And have set a high bar for every other member. The passion you bring to your job every single day just how genuine you are and how compassionate, how honest and real you are. One of the best experiences of all my years in congress has been to be able to call you one of my dear friends. I wish you all the best. Have andan, you steadfast in your support. Your commitment to the military, training and schools has been critical. We will miss the many positive contributions you have made. You have been a breath of fresh candor. Can door we wish you all the best. Not bother i will with what is written down here because i will speak from my heart. I can think of no other member that has mentored me more. I will have a hard time not getting choked up, talking about you. I will dearly miss you. The example that you set for submitting women and so many Public Servants your integrity and passion, your industry. I will forever remember your quote about being an incredibly kind and wonderful person, who someone once said about you, she holds an ice pick behind her velvet love. That says a lot about you and the stature that you gained here, attaining the highest position on this committee. Respected. Ow is more i want to thank the staff who has worked incredibly hard to prepare this bill. Of course, i want to thank the subcommittee staff, my team, our nicole h young, nicole cohan. Carter, i would like to turn to you for your comment. Thank you very much, madam chairman. I am honored to be here with you. It has been a joy to work with you on this subcommittee. Congress was as congenial as our subcommittee has been, we would be in good shape, but i want to thank you for working with me and the members of our party. I want to tell you that i appreciate you bringing this bill before the subcommittee. , except forod bill a few areas. I would like to express my appreciation for you accommodating all of the request ofthis will and report, many which were made on a bipartisan basis. Did workommittee staff to address every concern. Fundingly support the provided and am pleased that it will include funding for almost every project on the priorities list. That is to be commended. Thank you. 35 million for oversize privatization of military housing. With energye deals conservation and cleanup of contaminated areas. We heard some Horror Stories this year. A we share those concerns. Support the funding. I want to highlight the increases for Mental Health and Construction Projects. The administration failed to request sufficient budgets for the smaller agencies. Thank you for providing for the armedding forces Retirement Homes and others. , it prohibits the thatng of installations dare the name of confederate soldiers. Punishesision unfairly our men and women in uniform. It will only hurt soldiers impacted, ofhose no fault of their own. Me thatt acceptable to this provision would deny the young soldiers, who had worked in the texas heat. Yesterday in texas, it was 100 degrees. Close to 100 degrees. Had an abrams tank sitting out in the sun. It sits out in the blazing texas sunshine all day long. You could literally cook breakfast on this tank. Cause seconddegree burns for those who touched it. It is a shame that we have people working in such a bad situation. We are doing something to fix. Hat these forbe utilizing the good of our soldiers. We should not be making our soldiers lives more difficult over issues of which we have no control. The subcommittee has no jurisdiction over military installations. The Appropriations Committee should leave this to the authorizing committee. Yes, we do sometimes use the power of the purse to change a policy. This provision goes beyond that. Since 1940, the soldiers in my oftrict disparaged the name confederate general, who was the commander of the texas brigade. He brought skills to every major flict regarding the u. S. The soldiers have value to serve and do not deserve to be unjustly punished because of the name on the front gate. Provides emergency recognizend i regarding Veterans Health care, that i do not believe we should set aside the 2019 bipartisan budget agreement as part of the fiscal year. We will have to pay for this. Might be recognized, no one has been more effective in defending issues that affect her state and in particular, one problem she has raised, every day. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Alot of people are taking look at the special projects because of her intelligence. She is a good friend. Of course, my good buddy works with both sides of the aisle. A really hardworking, smart man. We are going to miss will. I consider him one of the greatest assets that we have. Does, itwhatever he will be something that is good for our nation and good for one in our nation. One of the sweetest ladies i know. I got to know her. I fell in love. She has been a good friend of mine. I hope she takes good care of her health, when she retires. I have been encouraging her to do that. She is a treasure for our country. Andnsider her a good friend has enjoyed her company. Even when she is beating up on us, she does it with grace. We are going to miss you. Thatman, thank you for all you have done for our country and thank you for being my friend. Yoully, the staff, thank for all of your hard work. My staff keeps me informed and keeps me out of trouble. Everybody knows that is a real job, to keep me out of trouble. Moving to thed to appropriate process. I want to thank the chair for this will and i want to thank the subcommittee for what they have done for this bill. I am looking forward to its conclusion. I think we will have good product. Thank you judge carter. Thank you for your thorough and comprehensive statement, and your dedication to your constituents, and to the men and women who serve in our armed forces. I would like to recognize the chairwoman for her opening statement. I want to thank excuse me. , first of all fear very generous and kind words. Speechlike i am giving a every time. I just want to say, we have shared our experiences and this has been an extraordinary opportunity for me, to wake up every day and to do good things. I appreciate your very generous remarks. Still have a little more time to do some more work, but i really do want to thank you. I also want to thank Ranking Member carter. He is over there. I want to thank you for your work on this bill. Staff to the subcommittee for formulating the product. Given the challenges of the past few months. Conductedmmittee numerous hearings, both in person and virtually, to make sure the bill addresses the most critical and compelling issues that face our Service Members and veterans. Military construction and Veterans Affairs bill would invest 100 15. 5 billion to support active duty veterans. Including 90ilies, billion for veterans care, 10. 3 billion for lifesaving Mental Health programs. 840 million for medical and prosthetic research. 661 million for Women Veteran dedicated care. 1. 9 billion for homelessness 1. 3 5nce programs and billion to improve military Family Housing. The bill also includes important provisions to make fertility. Enefit for veterans permanent it restricts funding for Construction Projects located on installations named after confederate officers and prohibits the misappropriation the president s wasteful border wall. The vital needs of Service Members members should not be sacrificed for political gains. I hope, and that im chair, although having spent billions on the process of coordinating medical care between veterans and military, i do hope that in this next session, you will be able to complete the job. It is an issue that has been going on for so long. , and suchnappropriate a waste. The cause is so important. You are going to get this done. I think the members of the sub thank you to the members of the subcommittee and staff and their families. We still have several months to work together, so thank you once again for your generous, kind word. Words. Remarkableu figure work. He will be missed. Thank you for presenting the military Construction Veterans Affairs bill today. I appreciate the work that you and Ranking Member carter have done this year. You have addressed many Critical Issues that affect our nations veterans. You have reached across the aisle to fund many important projects. Construction priorities that were requested by the department of defense help to improve Family Housing for the military. It ensures that the nation veterans have been given the care that they deserve and make are that veterans have resting place, whether on our own soil or overseas. We are on our first day of markups. Using 5. 1s drafted billion that is outside of the budget cap established last august. Now is not the time to undo an agreement that is less than a year old. A topn health care is priority, however designating funding as an emergency is wrong. The budgeting simply frees up funding to be spent on other bills. In addition, i have concern about policy provisions in the text. I want to work with you and our colleagues to resolve our differences, and i say that with all sincerity. I want to mention two outstanding members. She isman martha actually irreplaceable in my opinion. We have many losses. Martha has been a tireless advocate for alabama and her district, over the decade she served in congress. She has been a passionate voice for women, often traveling to afghanistan on mothers day to promote the rights of women there and to visit female troops, serving in harms way, apart from their own children. Martha has been dedicated to our military and veterans. She exposed problems at the da Health Care System and lead efforts to stop devastating cuts that threaten military readiness. Our committee and the nation are better off because of her service. Congressmen will heard is a National Security expert. We will miss his goodnatured and serious approach to solving the most challenging issues. With his background, he might still be here and none of us would ever know it. Will has worked to improve the care for those who have fought for this great nation. Focus onspecial Electronic Health records, a concern that i share. I wish them all the best, but i want them to know that we are trying to get every ounce of work from them before they leave congress at the end of the year. In closing, i want to thank betsy, on my staff and the rest of my staff for their hard work on this bill. Thank you, misses granger. Is there any further discussion, or does remember wish to add an amendment . I am seeing none. Is there a motion to advance the legislation . Thank you. I vote that it be promoted to the board committee. Favorably promoted to the committee. Aye. L those opposed say the ayes have it. Please leave your copy of the bill in the room. Again, thank you to all the members for your hard work. The subcommittee stands adjourned. Heres a look at our live coverage thursday. At 1 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, defense secretary, mark esper, and general mark milley testified before the House Armed Services committee about Defense Department authorities related civilian law enforcement. At 5 00 p. M. , campaign 2020 coverage includes jill biden and discussingren the reopening of schools amid the pandemic. And on cspan2 at 10 00 a. M. Eastern, the house Appropriations Committee considers legislation setting 2021 spending levels for the state department, foreign operations, agriculture, and military construction. Future is in our hands. And ladies and gentlemen, the best is yet to come. President trump is hosting a rally in new hampshire. Watch our coverage saturday at 8 00 p.