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Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the Full Committee’s oversight hearing to examine the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) plan to comply with President Trump’s recent executive order to expand housing for veterans struggling with homelessness by establishing the National Center for Warrior Independence at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center campus. Last year, Chairman Bost released a statement on a Congressionally Mandated Report (CMR) regarding shortfalls in the delivery of services to veterans in the West Los Angeles region.

The Committee will come to order.

Without objection, the Chair may declare a recess at any time.

Good morning.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here to discuss the future of the West L.A. V.A. Campus.

Over a century ago, the West L.A. V.A. Campus was created with a clear mission: to serve our nation's veterans in California.

That promise has not been fully kept.

For years, and through multiple administrations, members of this Committee, have raised concerns about how this land has been managed.

Those concerns were not imaginary. They were documented, raised repeatedly, and, in many cases, ignored.

The Biden Administration made decisions that prioritized outside interests over veterans, even while veterans were sleeping outside the gates of this very campus.

Last year, the Trump administration reversed the decades-old status quo, stating that the current leases on this V.A. campus do not principally benefit veterans.

The latest Congressionally Mandated report shows that V.A. is being significantly underpaid for renting land intended to be used to benefit veterans.

Time and time again, the holders of these leases and contracts have failed to uphold their end of the bargain with V.A.

We have seen first-hand that homeless veterans living on the campus do not have the services to help them successfully get out of homelessness and back on track.

Today we will examine these previous agreements and contracts to ensure that they are putting veterans first.

Oversight does not mean standing in the way. It means making sure the Department has the tools, authority, and direction to fix what has been broken.

I applaud Secretary Collins and the Trump Administration for putting in the hard work to try to make sense of years of inaction that let many of these agreement benefit oil companies, a private school, and a public school’s baseball team over veterans.

Rather than defending prior decisions, Secretary Collins is actively reexamining them and bringing accountability where it was previously lacking. That shift in posture is critical if we are serious about correcting course at West L.A.

It has taken new leadership willing to confront these challenges directly to begin addressing what has become a long-standing failure at this location.

Veterans are always at the top of my and that of my colleagues mind, and I want to ensure that those using this land have the same mindset.

I fully support the intent of the Administration’s vision for the National Center for Warrior Independence to effectively lift veterans who are struggling out of homelessness.

However, any pathway forward related to this new center should not move forward without clear and specific statutory authorization.

Congress must ensure that new initiatives, especially at this scale, are properly authorized, structured, and aligned with Congressional intent.

I understand that many entities operating on this campus were required to sign nondisclosure agreements related to these projects. Since this is federal property intended to serve veterans, transparency should be a priority, not an option.

If agreements, planning decisions, or delays are hiding behind N.D.A’s, the Committee will demand answers.

Oversight requires visibility. The American taxpayers and our veterans deserve to know how the land is being used and why progress has been so slow.

Finally, I did want to mention that I am happy to see the oversight plan from V.A. that shows how the Department will comply with President Trump’s Executive Order to transform this campus.

However, this report was 248 days delayed. The Department owes this Committee a clear path forward.

I look forward to working in a bipartisan way with Secretary Collins to course correct West L.A.

With that, I welcome our witnesses and look forward to your testimony.

I now recognize Ranking Member Takano for his opening comments.