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Today, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.), the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared at the start of the subcommittee’s first legislative hearing to discuss legislation to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veteran Readiness Employment (VR&E) program, protect the VA Home Loan, expand vocational training, and more. A full list of bills on today’s agenda can be found here.

Good morning,

The Subcommittee will come to order.

I welcome the witnesses and Subcommittee Members to today’s hearing.

As I have often said in this Subcommittee, we operate in a nonpartisan way with the ultimate goal of serving those who have served our country.

This legislative hearing continues in that spirit.

We have fourteen important legislative proposals to consider here today. It is important to note that not all of the proposals will move forward in the legislative process.

We hold legislative hearings to learn from VA and other groups about their views on the bill and ensure members are making informed decisions when we do, or do not, mark them up.

We value the insight provided by these stakeholders and agencies as an essential part of this process.

A number of these proposals seek to improve education programs for America’s veterans and ensure that taxpayers dollars are used responsibly.

I specifically want to highlight three of my bills that are on today’s agenda.

My first bill would modernize the requirements for Vet Success on Campus Officers (VSOCs) and allow employees to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree in the relevant field of study instead of a master's degree.

This change would allow VSOCs to service more student veterans on campus.

Another bill that I have is the Restoring the VA Home Loan Program in Perpetuity Act.

This legislation would limit the number of direct loans VA is authorized to purchase back to what VA had traditionally done before the creation of the V.A. Service Purchase Program.

I believe that if we don’t change VASP this program will continue to be a trojan horse on VA’s books that could ruin the VA Home Loan program forever.

I have used my right to a home loan several times. If the Biden version of VASP is allowed to continue, I fear that the home loan will not exist in the future for my fellow veterans.

My bill is a needed change to protect the benefit that has helped so many veterans since 1943.

My final bill would provide an option on the waterfall for veterans going through loss mitigation by establishing a partial claim program.

This program would bring the VA Home Loan Program on par with other programs such as FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.

Many of you have heard me express my frustration with the idea of VA taking responsibility for as many as 60,000 mortgages that would put the American taxpayers on the hook when there are foreclosures to the tune of $16 billion through VASP.

This legislation would allow VA to provide limited assistance and includes mechanisms to encourage repayment as soon as the veterans are able.

I look forward to working with the minority to see if we can find a better way to help these veterans without destroying the VA Home Loan Program.

Additional bills that we will consider would address the VR&E program, adaptive automobile equipment, GI Bill, and homelessness programs at VA.

I have reservations about some of the proposals on the agenda today. The witness testimony and questions from Members will hopefully address some of these issues so we can make informed decisions about whether to move these bills forward in the legislative process.

We look forward to hearing from the Members who have introduced these proposals, as well as our witnesses, on how we can continue to improve these bills and better the lives of our veterans.

I now yield to the Ranking Member for five minutes for his opening remarks.