Harshbarger votes to fully fund veterans’ healthcare, benefits, and VA programs

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) today voted in support of H.R. 8469, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2027 , which fully funds veterans' programs and provides critical investments in military infrastructure to support readiness.

"Our veterans have given everything to defend this country, and it is Congress's solemn duty to keep our promises to them. I hear from veterans and military families across East Tennessee every day, and I know how much this support means to them and their families," said Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger. "I was proud to vote for this legislation because it fully funds veterans' healthcare and benefits while making critical investments in military infrastructure and support services for servicemembers, veterans, and military families."

Key provisions include:

• Fully funding veterans' health care and benefits-including the PACT Act , the largest expansion of veterans' benefits in a generation, ensuring toxic-exposed veterans receive the care they've earned.
• Maintaining funding for research, mental health programs, and other programs relied upon by veterans.
• Fully funding the Community Care account, which empowers veterans to seek specialty care to meet their unique needs.
• Authorizing more funds for veteran mental health and suicide prevention programs, including the Veterans Crisis Line, suicide prevention outreach, and expanded Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs.
• Authorizing military construction to fortify the infrastructure necessary to support next-generation American weaponry, such as the B-21 Raider, Sentinel missile program, and the new Space Command HQ.
• Maintaining the prohibitions on the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.
• Prohibiting the VA from purchasing resources directly or indirectly from Communist China.

Importantly, this bill safeguards veterans' Second Amendment rights by preventing the VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge's consent-a provision Congresswoman Harshbarger has long championed, having cosponsored Chairman Bost's Veterans' 2nd Amendment Protection Act and supported the same language in last year's MilConVA bill. Under current VA practice, a veteran who simply designates someone to help manage their benefits can be stripped of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms - without a criminal charge, court hearing, and due process. Every other federal agency, including the Social Security Administration, has refused to follow this practice. This provision ensures the men and women who defended our freedoms do not come home to have those freedoms taken by unilateral administrative action.

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