DCCC - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

07/17/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/17/2024 14:50

Brian Fitzpatrick’s Republican National Convention Day 3: Making America Weaker By Failing Our Veterans

During the RNC, House Republicans are reminding the public how they are failing our nation's veterans

At today's RNC, Brian Fitzpatrick and House Republicans will try to convince the nation to ignore their record of abandoning America's veterans.

In the first few months of their majority, Fitzpatrick and House Republicans passed a 22% cut to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The cuts would have resulted in:

  • Nearly 81,000 eliminated health service jobs within the VA.

  • 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits.

  • An increase in the disability claims backlog by an estimated 134,000 claims, forcing veterans and their surviving loved ones to wait longer for the benefits they have earned, including pensions, life insurance, GI Bill educational support, and employment services.

  • Severe cuts to housing support, eliminating funding for Housing Choice Vouchers for as many as 50,000 veterans, putting them at greater risk of homelessness.

  • 500 staff eliminated from the National Cemetery Administration, reducing the agency's ability to maintain the final resting places for our veterans and delaying the opening of new national cemeteries that would serve nearly 1.6 million veterans and eligible family members.

Brian Fitzpatrick, Donald Trump, and House Republicans' Project 2025 would continue these efforts to abandon veterans by threatening even more cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs and privatizing veterans' health care.

DCCC Spokesperson Aidan Johnson:
"Brian Fitzpatrick and House Republicans have repeatedly abandoned our veterans and fallen in line behind the despicable effort to cut the services and health care owed to them. Pennsylvanians know we must do more to support our veterans, and House Democrats are ready to make good on that promise when we retire Fitzpatrick and retake the majority."