Press Releases

Today, Rep. Phil Roe M.D. (R-Tenn.), the Ranking Member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, released the following statement:  

"I am dismayed and deeply disappointed over what happened at today’s markup - something I have not witnessed during my ten-year tenure on the Committee. Two amendments offered in good faith to address serious issues affecting our nation’s veterans were derailed using heavy-handed parliamentary procedures unheard of in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. The Chairman referred to the amendments as 'poison pills.' The first amendment, offered by Congressman Andy Barr from Kentucky, would close a loophole that would allow an individual who has been charged with a sexual or violent crime against a child from caring for a veteran’s child in a VA child care center. The other amendment, offered by Congressman Chip Roy from Texas, would ensure that veterans are not denied, without due process, one of the constitutional rights that they risked their lives for because they are awarded disability benefits. If the Majority believes these amendments are “poisonous” then our politics have sunk to a new low. I cannot imagine two topics less controversial than these. I have been proud to serve on this Committee, under both Democrat and Republican Chairmen, for the entire time that I have served in Congress. Not once have we refused to debate an important issue or played politics with what is in the best interest of America’s veterans. It was beneath us to do so today."