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During a House Appropriations Subcommittee markup on Monday evening, U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) supported the advancement of the fiscal year 2021 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill to the full committee, where it will be considered on Thursday, July 9.

In total, the bill provides $250.9 billion for military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies, an increase of $15.2 billion above the fiscal year 2020 enacted level. As a member of the subcommittee that writes this annual legislation, provisions Cartwright fought for include:

• $90 billion for veterans’ medical care, including veteran suicide prevention, opioid treatment, women’s care, and medical and prosthetic research;
• $12.5 billion in emergency funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address the rising cost of providing health care for veterans;
• $1.49 billion to address unsafe living conditions in privatized military housing;
• Strong accountability measures for base housing property managers; and
• More flexibility for VA hospitals, like the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, to meet their localized information technology needs.

“This bill we’ve put forward makes strong investments in our servicemembers, military families and veterans,” Cartwright said. “It authorizes robust funding to support a high standard of affordable health care for veterans, including for mental health and substance abuse treatment. It protects American military families by holding private military housing developers accountable for serious health and safety hazards in their facilities. And it provides critical resources to help our military fight current and emerging threats. This legislation holds true to our commitment to those who sacrifice for our nation.”

A bill summary can be viewed here. Bill text can be viewed here.