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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the subcommittee’s legislative hearing to discuss potential legislation to strengthen support Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits for veterans and their families, improve access to earned benefits, and ensure that those who served our nation are honored with the dignity they deserve. A full list of the bills on today’s agenda can be found here.

The Subcommittee will come to order.

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

Good afternoon.

Thank you all for joining us today.

We are here to discuss six bills that would strengthen support for veterans and their families, improve access to earned benefits, and ensure that those who served our nation are honored with the dignity they deserve.

The bills before us today would:

• Provide veterans and survivors with a cost-of-living adjustment to help keep pace with inflation;

• Improve efforts to locate and honor veterans whose remains have gone unclaimed;

• Consider whether veterans in natural disaster zones or facing other special circumstances might benefit from processes to speed up their claims;

• Ensure the VA has a sufficient plan to continue burial options for veterans in Hawaii;

• And support local organizations working to identify, recover, and memorialize unclaimed veterans.

The bills before us may seem very different, but they are all rooted in the same principles.

When an American serves this country, our nation makes a promise to them.

Today's bills are about keeping that promise.

H.R. 8552, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2026, would ensure that veterans and survivors receiving certain VA benefits get the same annual adjustment provided to Social Security beneficiaries.

For many families, these benefits help cover everyday necessities.

Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the value of these earned benefits aligns with a veteran’s financial needs.

I am proud to lead this bill with Ranking Member McGarvey.

There are two other bills I want to highlight from Representatives Valadao and Nunn — the Locating Our Unclaimed Veterans Act and the Unclaimed Veterans' Legacy Grant Program Act.

Both bills aim to tackle an important issue: unclaimed veteran remains.

When a veteran passes away with no next of kin to make final arrangements, their remains are classified as unclaimed.

This designation leaves heroes without the recognition they earned through their service.

Representative Nunn’s bill would create a new grant program to support organizations participating in these efforts, strengthen efforts to identify those veterans and ensure a dignified burial is received.

Authorized for the next two years, this program would draw upon the funds from an existing grant program dedicated to organizations who work to memorialize veterans.

The VA would pilot this program, measure its success, and create a future informed request for any additional resources.

Alternatively, Representative Valadao’s bill would help tackle the issue from a secondary avenue.

This legislation would require the V.A. to set up a formal system to receive requests from funeral homes, state governments, and coroners who suspect an individual in their care is a veteran.

It would also require V.A. to develop partnerships with the F.B.I., the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Defense to leverage their data when identifying whether an unclaimed person is a veteran.

Above all else, no veteran should ever be forgotten.

These proposals would support our efforts to ensure that no veteran's service is lost to time or circumstance.

I would also like to mention Representative Self’s bill on our agenda today.

The Department previously informed this Committee in its yearly budget request that all claims and appeals from the 2009 Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund have been processed and fulfilled by the VA.

This money was appropriated by Congress for one singular purpose. I am looking forward to hearing from the VA as to whether it is time to sunset the account and if continued future outreach is planned.

However, due to a prior overestimation of how many claimants would apply, there is still over 55 million taxpayer dollars sitting stagnant in the fund.

Despite rhetoric surrounding the account, the C.B.O. informed this committee that the money in this account cannot be spent elsewhere. The Treasury already assumes that all claims and appeals have been paid out to eligible recipients.

That 55 million dollars is the total money left that can be borrowed if more claims are filed, but it is simply not money sitting in a room at the VA.

Simply put, this bill helps the VA clean up the books.

I want to thank the Members who introduced these bills and the witnesses who have joined us today.

I look forward to hearing their perspectives and discussing how these proposals can better serve veterans, survivors, and their families.

I now yield to Ranking Member McGarvey for his opening remarks.