Today, the House passed Congressman John Carter’s (TX-31) Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) appropriations bill 235-179.

“This bipartisan bill represents our commitment to providing crucial resources for America’s veterans and the men and women in the military, while being good stewards of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars,” Congressman Carter said. “The bill includes funding for important programs to improve health care and wellbeing for veterans, while also improving readiness capabilities for those currently serving.”

Bill highlights:

• $85.3 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs- the largest dollar amount in history for the VA
• Immediately provides funding to support the important reforms passed in the VA MISSION Act, which includes the Veterans Transplant Coverage Act
• $196 million for suicide prevention outreach
• $589 million for traumatic brain injury treatment
• $7.4 billion for homeless veteran services
• Implements strong oversight on VA construction projects
• Includes additional funding for VA oversight offices to protect whistleblowers and increase accountability by investigating poorly performing leadership and inferior patient care
• Continues rebuilding infrastructure for our service members and their families by allocating $10.3 billion for military construction projects
• Provides $1.6 billion for housing all 1,400,000 military families
• Includes $361 million for the construction or alteration of new or existing military medical facilities

Rep. Carter represents Texas District 31, which includes Fort Hood, the largest active duty armored military installation in the free world. He serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Army Caucus and Chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Appropriations.

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