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Source: Congress.gov
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All right. Good morning. The quorum being present, the Committee on Veterans Affairs will come to order. We're meeting this morning to mark up 18 important bills pending before this committee. And I'm going to keep my remarks short to leave plenty of time for discussion on each of these bills and amendments that are going to be before us. However, I would be remiss if I didn't highlight the disappointment I have right now with the amendments to many of these bills that were filed. It's kind of, in our committee rules, the majority is required to provide the text of the bills will be marked up within 48 business hours of the markup. We have followed those rules. And we gave the minority a list of the bills that would be considered a full 120 hours ahead of today's markup. For multiple Congresses, we've had a gentleman's agreement that any amendment would be filed within 24 hours of the start of markup. That time was yesterday at 1015 in the morning. And at that time, we had only seven of the 40 total amendments that the minority has filed. We even received over a dozen amendments after closing of business hours last night. Now I'm going to do what the ranking member did at markup when he was chairman. I'm not going to do when he was chairman and prevent members from offering those amendments. So all amendments will be allowed to be here and be presented. That was improper when it was done then, and it's improper to do it now. What a disappointment, but frankly, Unfortunately, that's the way it was handled last night. Everybody needs to know that. There are really only three bills that could be viewed as partisan. But instead of working with us in good faith to fix the issues these bills seek to address, they have broken the agreement and filed serious amendments to tie up the staff members' time and no goal of accomplishment or anything else that they're trying to achieve.
While this is certainly well within their right and I understand that the levers they have and they are limited, it is disappointing. However, that is not how this committee normally operates or has operated in the past. I've always tried to do my best to act in good faith, and when we are able to do so on behalf of the men and women who served on this dais, I hope we can return to that practice. I now yield to Ranking Member for his opening statement.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk. The clerk will report. Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. I ask unanimous consent that all further readings of the amendment in the nature of substitute be dispensed with. I ask that it be considered based text for the purpose of this markup and without objection. So ordered. I now recognize Representative Barrett for five minutes to explain his amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The amendment in the nature of a substitute would reauthorize the CHIP-IN for Veterans Act for five more years and would expand it to include minor construction and non-recurring maintenance. CHIP-IN authorities have already delivered faster, lower cost infrastructure improvements by empowering local communities to partner with VA to get this done. By opening up chip-in authorities to minor construction and non-recurring maintenance, we would fix broken HVAC systems, upgrade safety features, and keep facilities running without waiting years for major construction funding.
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