As Chair of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, and the Representative for Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, one of Rep. Levin’s top priorities is working across the aisle to support veterans, servicemembers, and their families. Rep. Levin believes that everyone who has served our country deserves the highest quality VA services, health care, and economic benefits that we can provide. He has said many times that not a single veteran should go hungry, homeless, or jobless, and that is his primary focus as the leader of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee.

Rep. Levin has introduced dozens of bipartisan bills and amendments to support veterans that have passed the House, including 15 bipartisan bills that have been signed into law. That includes legislation to prioritize economic programs at the VA, expand access to STEM programs for student veterans, help maintain liquidity in the veteran home loan market, improve the Transition Assistance Program for servicemembers returning to civilian life, and much more. His subcommittee is one of the most productive in Congress, with more than 50 bills passing into law since he became Chair.

To properly honor the legacy of US Army CPT Jennifer M. Moreno, a highly decorated combat veteran from San Diego who was killed in action during a 2013 deployment to Afghanistan, Rep. Levin introduced H.R. 3665, which would designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Diego as the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The bill also recommends that a facility within the VA Medical Center in San Diego be named after U.S. Navy CAPT Kathleen M. Bruyere, a longtime San Diego resident who helped shape the military’s policies on sexual discrimination and was instrumental in expanding opportunities for women in the Navy.

Rep. Levin has also focused on delivering results for active duty servicemembers at Camp Pendleton. He has secured more than $250 million in federal funding for much-needed infrastructure projects at Camp Pendleton.

Rep. Levin believes all servicemembers who honorably serve our nation—including guard and reserve forces—should receive benefits that enable them to continue to serve their communities after military service. He introduced the Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act to provide parity in GI Bill benefits for members of the National Guard and Reserve who increasingly conduct similar training and missions as other servicemembers, but do not receive equal benefits.

The first bill Rep. Levin authored as a Member of Congress was the Ensuring Safe Housing for our Military Act, a bipartisan effort to increase accountability and oversight over private housing for military families, which has suffered from serious health, safety, and environmental problems. Many of his proposals were included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and signed into law.

Rep. Levin also sponsored the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, to strengthen and expand a wide range of veterans’ benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. This includes allowing VA to provide more services for homeless veterans, improving the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for servicemembers returning to civilian life, increasing transparency and accountability among educational programs that receive GI Bill funds, and much more. After this bill became law, Rep. Levin went one step further by introducing and passing the THRIVE Act, which makes updates to VA job training and education programs to further serve our veterans.

As Chair of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, Rep. Levin has held field hearings in the district and welcomed constituents to testify in Washington, D.C. He holds regular meetings with local veterans and servicemembers at Camp Pendleton, and he will continue to do so as long as he has the honor to serve them.