WASHINGTON, DC – I am pleased to share with you some progress toward “regular order” as we approach the 2015 Fiscal Year. I firmly believe in the need for Congress to fulfill its Constitutional duty to budget through a regular, deliberative, transparent process, rather than last minute, emergency legislation to prevent a government shutdown. That’s why it is important that the House of Representatives consider each individual appropriations bill, and recently the House considered two of these annual pieces of legislation.
On May 7, I was pleased to support H.R. 4486, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2015, which provides funding levels for the benefits and medical care of our nation's veterans, and for military construction and family housing. Our active duty military and our veterans deserve a robust budget that funds priorities for military facilities and housing and supports those who have served and are serving this country. At a time when budgets are tight, this legislation provides critical funding above the current year’s funding levels to help alleviate issues at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, including improved medical care, faster claims processing, and necessary VA construction programs. It also provides funding for mental health care, suicide prevention, traumatic brain injury treatment, homeless veterans programs, and rural health initiatives. These are all critical issues our veterans face. For Virginia, this bill also provides funding for much-needed military construction in Quantico, Yorktown, Dahlgren, and other areas in Virginia’s First District and across the Commonwealth.
The House also considered and passed H.R. 4487, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for 2015, which sets funding levels for the legislative branch, including the offices of the Members of the House, support agencies, visitor services, and Capitol operations. While the House legislation made cuts beyond the President’s proposal, it did not cut enough. Congress must lead by example when it comes to reining in spending, and I opposed this legislation because it did not go far enough to achieve that goal.
During the first week of May, we also paused to honor our nation’s public servants as the nation observed Public Service Recognition Week. Each day, our federal, state and local public employees are making a difference in our district, our Commonwealth and the Nation. They are active citizens that teach, nurture, defend, protect and lead our community into a bright future. I have had the opportunity to witness firsthand the contributions and achievements of these hard-working citizens, and am proud of hard work performed by public servants in America’s First District. I am proud to be a member of the Congressional Public Service Caucus, a bipartisan caucus for members of the House and Senate committed to building public and congressional support for a well-trained, high-performing federal workforce. They are truly the best this nation has to offer and I am proud to serve them in the United States Congress.
The main streets of Virginia’s First District are full of ideas to get our economy back on track, and your feedback is critically important to me as I serve you. I can be reached by telephone at (202) 225-4261, through my website (www.wittman.house.gov), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/reprobwittman), and via Twitter (www.twitter.com/robwittman).
Congressman Rob Wittman represents the First District of Virginia. He serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Armed Services Committee where he is the Chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee.
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