Rep. Boebert Takes Action to Support America's Veterans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Lauren Boebert voted for H.R. 8580 and to fully fund America's veterans healthcare and benefits. Additionally, this Appropriations bill also contained five of Congresswoman Boebert’s amendments that passed the House this week with unanimous, bipartisan consent to redirect an additional $10,000,000 to our nation's veterans and their programs. 

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) stated, “Our men and women in uniform make extraordinary sacrifices to defend America and preserve our rights. I will always fight to ensure these heroes receive the care they earned and this appropriations bill that passed the House with my support provides full funding for their healthcare and full funding for their veterans benefits. This legislation also protects us from dangerous terrorists by preventing the closure of Guantanamo Bay. In addition, H.R. 8520 contains an important amendment that passed with my support that prevents Biden and his agency minions from disarming 20,000 veterans as well as five of my amendments that passed the House to improve veterans' care and services. Finally, this America First bill also prohibits the VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens."  

Background:

This week, the House passed H.R. 8580, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, with Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's support by a bipartisan vote of 209 to 197.

Congresswoman Boebert passed five amendments to this bill with unanimous bipartisan support through the House of Representatives to improve veterans’ benefits and services as part of the bipartisan en bloc amendment package.

Congresswoman Boebert’s amendments that passed the House include the following:

Boebert Amendment No. 3
Redirects $2 million to provide additional resources for medical and prosthetic research to ensure our veterans receive cutting-edge medical care from the VA.

Boebert Amendment No. 4
Redirects $2 million to the Office of the Inspector General to combat waste, fraud, and abuse.

Boebert Amendment No. 5
Redirects $2 million to fund grants for the construction of veteran’s cemetery programs to assist state and tribal governments in providing burial benefits for veterans in rural areas lacking a VA national cemetery

Boebert Amendment No. 6
Redirects $2 million to provide additional funding for the construction of new state-extended care facilities

Boebert Amendment No. 7
Redirects $2 million to the Board of Veterans Appeals to help reduce its backlog so that veteran claims can be adjudicated in a timely manner.

Some of Congresswoman Boebert's other actions to support America's veterans include:

Congresswoman Boebert has now passed 11 amendments through the House with bipartisan support to increase funding for veterans’ care by $23,000,000.00 by redirecting funds from the bureaucracy to funding for veterans.

She voted for at least four pro-veteran bills that became law.

Congresswoman Boebert cosponsored H.J. Res 44, which protects millions of veterans and gun owners by nullifying the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF’s) unconstitutional pistol brace ban rule.

She transferred $2 million from Health and Human Services General Department Management for the purchase and implementation of telehealth services to improve health care coordination for rural veterans between rural providers and the Department of Veterans Affairs

Congresswoman Boebert helped lead a successful pressure campaign to restart Honor Flight Services for our veterans visiting their memorials in Washington D.C. 

She redirected funding to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals from VA bureaucracy to reduce its backlog and process veterans’ claims more quickly.

Congresswoman Boebert redirected funding from VA bureaucracy to VA IT systems to assist with reducing the veterans’ disability claims backlog.

She voted for the Veterans Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act that became law to provide a 3.8% COLA increase for our nation’s heroes through a $4.9 billion increase annually for veteran’s benefits.

Other background on H.R. 8580 courtesy of the House Appropriations Committee

The FY25 MilCon-VA Appropriations Act honors our commitment to our nation’s veterans by fully funding health care and benefits programs, bolsters our national security through robust funding for the Indo-Pacific region, and reins in the woke ideology pushed by the Biden Administration.

• The bill provides a total of $378.6 billion in overall funding, including $147.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Defense (Military Construction and Family Housing), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and related agencies, and $231.1 billion for mandatory programs, namely medical care for toxic exposure.
  • Military Construction and Housing - $17.9 billion, $412 million above the FY25 President’s Budget Request, including $1.1 billion for 11 barracks projects, $1.1 billion for investments in the Indo-Pacific region, and $2 billion for Military Family Housing.
  • VA - $337.4 billion, $75.5 million above the FY25 President’s Budget Request and $30.2 billion above the FY24 enacted level, including $112.6 billion for medical care.

Key Takeaways

• Honors our commitment to veterans by:
  • Fully funding veterans’ health care programs.
  • Fully funding veterans’ benefits and VA programs.
• Bolsters our national security by:
  • Providing robust funding for the Indo-Pacific region, fully funding projects in Guam, and increasing resources for INDOPACOM to improve the Department of Defense posture in the region.
  • 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.
• Focuses the Executive Branch on its core responsibilities by:
  • Reaffirming the political limits outlined in the Hatch Act, particularly those of lobbying Congress and using official resources for political purposes.
  • Prohibiting the use of funds to promote or advance critical race theory.
  • Prohibiting the implementation, administration, or enforcement of the Biden Administration’s executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Supports American values and principles by:
  • Prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used for abortion, using Hyde language which includes exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.
  • Protecting the 2^nd Amendment rights of veterans, preventing VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge’s consent.
  • Prohibiting VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens.

A summary of the bill, before adoption of amendments, is available here.

Bill text, before adoption of amendments, is available here.

Bill report is available here