Foxx Opening Remarks on H.R. 1041, H.R. 6047, and H.R. 1329

As prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon, the Committee will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time.

Today, the Rules Committee is convening to consider three measures: H.R. 1041, H.R. 6047, and H.R. 1329.

H.R. 1041, the Veterans 2^nd Amendment Protection Act , would institute a sorely overdue correction within the appointment process of fiduciaries for veterans.

When the VA appoints fiduciaries to veterans to manage their benefits due to disability, the act of doing so can trigger automatic reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

This, in turn, would unnecessarily strip the veterans of their right to possess firearms without a court finding of any reasonable or present danger that they present.

The brave men and women who have served our nation are afforded the same Constitutional rights and due process as every other American.

Sadly, the VA process deprives them of that right.

Again, this is an issue that must be corrected.

H.R. 6047, the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2026 , would increase the monthly benefits rate for catastrophically service-connected disabled veterans with a traumatic brain injury or other severe disabilities that require regular, round the clock, in-home medical care, offering an additional $10,000 annually.

This legislation also expands the VA Home Loan Program eligibility requirements for National Guard and Reservists from 90 days of active-duty service to 14 days of active-duty service with a 1% fee.

This would allow more members of the Guard and Reserve, generally younger members, to be able to live the American dream by owning their first home.

Further, H.R. 6047 would transform the lives of over 500,000 veterans and their families, filling crucial gaps in the delivery of VA benefits that has not changed in decades.

And finally, we'll turn to H.R. 1329, the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Act , that would designate land on the Reserve of the National Mall to establish the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum.

This museum was already funded back in the 116^th Congress on a bipartisan basis in both the House and the Senate, and this legislation would allow the Museum to be built alongside many other peer museums.

The development of the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum has been years in the making.

By moving forward with this legislation and designating the land on the Reserve of the National Mall as the site for the museum to be constructed, we are one step closer to realizing the museum's completion.

Women's history is one that needs to be told, and the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum will do just that: recognize women's contributions to various fields and throughout different periods of history that have influenced the direction of the United States.

With that, I now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. McGovern, for any comments he wishes to make.

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