June 8, 2024
Dear Friends,
This week, House Republicans advanced the first of 12 funding bills that will make up the Fiscal Year 2025 federal budget. This bill covers critical investments in military construction and services for service members and their families, offering us an opportunity to both bolster our military readiness and expand the essential health benefits our veterans rely on. After the GOP-led chaos that dominated last year’s budget process, I had hoped that my Republican colleagues would work with Democrats this time around to deliver strong funding legislation that can quickly pass both chambers of Congress, preventing any damaging interruptions to vital federal programs and services.
But once again, House Republicans have shown themselves utterly incapable of governing responsibly. Instead of reaching across the aisle to craft a funding bill that delivers for our veterans and their families, the GOP has advanced a deeply flawed, highly partisan bill that harms our national security and strips away vital benefits from both veterans and active-duty service members.
On Thursday, President Biden and other world leaders gathered in Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings that helped turn the tide of the Second World War. Strengthened by unprecedented investments in military readiness and innovation, our brave troops stormed the beaches on that fateful day with the knowledge that they would be prepared for any challenges they might face. But now, as a changing world presents a new set of challenges for our armed forces, Republicans are attempting to advance a budget that leaves our service members dangerously vulnerable to emerging threats.
The latest GOP budget proposal would slash funding for military construction by $718 million compared to last year, leaving critical infrastructure needs unfunded and damaging programs that are essential for military readiness, recruitment, and retention. These cuts include a $50 million reduction in funding for natural disaster recovery efforts, leaving our military installations unprepared to respond to increasing instances of severe weather. And even as our military leaders call climate change “an existential threat to our nation’s security,” Republicans are proposing a $30 million cut to climate change and resiliency projects at our bases, disarming our military in the face of the climate crisis and putting our service members and our national security at risk.
Republicans are not only harming our military readiness with this extreme legislation. They are also using this critical funding bill to slash essential VA health benefits and to further their ongoing attempts to roll back women’s rights and institute a nationwide ban on abortion. In the same week that Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have codified the right of all Americans to access contraception, House Republicans are seeking to ban VA health centers from offering abortion counseling and, in certain cases, from providing abortions to veterans and their family members. This provision would make it more difficult for millions of women who rely on VA health services to access the essential care they need.
But the GOP culture war posturing does not stop there. As we observe Pride Month and celebrate the basic freedoms that LGBTQI+ Americans have fought so hard to achieve, Republicans are attempting to enact a slew of radical anti-LGBTQI+ measures through the federal budget. These efforts include a ban on medically necessary, evidence-based care for transgender veterans and the creation of a license for people and organizations — including those receiving federal funding — to deny care to LGBTQI+ people under the guise of religious liberty.
Each and every veteran who has served our nation in uniform has done so with the promise that they and their families would be cared for upon their return to civilian life. Denying services to our LGTBQI+ veterans to score political points is a shameful abandonment of that promise.
Our veterans and active duty servicemembers deserve better than this extreme GOP proposal that slashes essential benefits and leaves our nation less secure. As the budget process continues, it is my hope that Republicans will stop the partisan charades and start working in good faith to advance common-sense legislation that addresses the needs of the American people. Until then, my Democratic colleagues and I will remain committed to delivering strong federal investments that better the lives of our veterans, their families, and all hardworking Americans.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from federal agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- During National Homeownership Month, the Buffalo Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is hosting a free virtual homebuying informational webinar in collaboration with the Philadelphia Homeownership Center and the Office of Housing Counseling!
- This event will be held on Thursday, June 13th at 10:00 AM.
- At the webinar, you’ll have the chance to learn more about Single Family Programs, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Resource Center, and the types of Housing Counseling services available to you.
- To learn more or to register for the event, click the link HERE.
- Upon registration, you will receive an email invitation to join the webinar.
- For any questions, please contact Ashley Graves at [email protected].
