Washington - House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (HVAC) Subcommittee on Health Ranking Member Jack Bergman, HVAC Ranking Member Mike Bost, and 40 Republican colleagues sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis R. McDonough, expressing grave concern with his intent to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to offer gender transition surgeries, while thousands of Veterans, including those suffering from toxic exposure, still are unable to receive the care and benefits they've earned.
Rep. Jack Bergman, Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. General said, "The VA should not be prioritizing and paying for gender transition surgeries while thousands of Veterans with toxic exposures get ignored and pushed to the back of the line, or while other Veterans are still facing wait times for care. The VA's continued failure to prioritize Veterans who truly need help while politicizing the Department is unacceptable and must be stopped."
Ranking Member Mike Bost said, "I am proud to join General Bergman and dozens of our colleagues in calling on VA to put first things first in caring for veterans. Millions of veterans are suffering from toxic exposure, a sluggish economy, skyrocketing inflation, limited access to care, and other real problems. VA should be laser-focused on helping those veterans, not on wasting taxpayer money paying for the Biden Administration’s liberal wish list. I again call on VA to stop putting the culture wars before the men and women who fought the real wars.”
Joining Rep. Bergman and Ranking Member Bost were Reps: Jim Banks, Greg Murphy, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Madison Cawthorn, Chip Roy, Tracey Mann, Barry Moore, Troy Nehls, Matt Rosendale, Nancy Mace, Steve Scalise, Jeff Duncan, Lisa McClain, Vern Buchanan, Brian Mast, Michael Guest, Doug Lamborn, Ralph Norman, Vicky Hartzler, Tim Burchett, Debbie Lesko, Lauren Boebert, Neal Dunn, Gus Bilirakis, Brian Babin, Diana Harshbarger, Stephanie Bice, Doug LaMalfa, Andy Harris, Jason Smith, Ron Estes, Kevin Hern, Brad Wenstrup, Glenn Grothman, Tim Walberg, Bruce Westerman, Jodey Arrington, Michael Cloud, Ben Cline, and Steve Womack.
The letter stated in part, "We write to express our grave concern about your intent to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to offer gender transition surgery to our nation’s veterans. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to reverse your decision.
"Like you, we are deeply committed to the men and women who serve. Many of us have served ourselves. We want every veteran to feel welcome, respected, and safe in all instances, especially when seeking the care and benefits they have earned. That is why we have supported, and will continue to support, efforts to address the high rates of harassment and discrimination in your Department. That is also why we have committed ourselves to improving the access and quality of the services that VA provides and to addressing the most important issues facing veterans, caregivers, survivors, and beneficiaries."
Read the full letter here.
