Senator questioned VA Secretary Denis McDonough to ensure the VA’s budget request improves services to veterans in Arizona and across the country
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema chaired an Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs hearing examining the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Fiscal Year 2025 budget and Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations projects requests – ensuring the provisions accomplish the subcommittee’s goal of delivering solutions for Arizona servicemembers and veterans.
Sinema, Chair of the Subcommittee, pressed VA Secretary Denis McDonough about how the budget and appropriations requests fulfill the VA’s obligation to provide for the men and women who have fought and sacrificed to keep Arizona and America safe and ensure they have the medical care and benefits they have earned.
“This Committee has an obligation to deliver results for the Arizonans who answered the call to serve and protected our entire nation, and we need the VA’s commitment that this budget ensures Arizona veterans have access to the care and benefits they’ve earned,” said Sinema.
During the hearing, Sinema examined how the VA’s budget and project requests achieve its obligation to improve services for veterans in Arizona and across the country.
Sinema questioned Secretary McDonough about the VA’s decision to request fewer dollars in discretionary funding for VA health care – including for rural health programs – than in years past. The Senator focused on ensuring all veterans, especially those in Arizona, have access to VA healthcare or community care to receive the treatment they need.
A member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Sinema has recently introduced multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation to improve VA care for Arizona veterans – including the SCHEDULES Act to improve VA wait times, the PAPR Act to simplify the patient reimbursement process for veterans, and the Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act to strengthen support for family caregivers of veterans.
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