The Levin Letter: Keeping Our Promise to Veterans Through Critical Funding
Every year, Congress funds the agencies and programs that touch millions of American lives, including the men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform. The bill that funds the Department of Veterans Affairs, along with military construction projects, is one of the clearest tests of whether Washington keeps its word to those who have served. It funds the facilities where our troops live and train, the infrastructure that supports military families, and the programs that deliver the care and benefits veterans have earned.
As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that writes this bill, I had a direct hand in shaping it. And I am proud to report that we got it done on a bipartisan basis, Republicans and Democrats working side by side to deliver for the people who served.
I represent the Marines and Sailors of Camp Pendleton, some of the most capable, disciplined, and battle-ready Americans this country has ever produced. When Congress funds our military and our veterans, I take that responsibility seriously.
This year’s funding bill makes real progress on two priorities I care deeply about: connecting veterans to the care they have earned, and standing by those who were exposed to toxic chemicals while serving.
Too many veterans are still falling through the cracks. Of the 15.8 million veterans in the United States, fewer than half are enrolled in VA healthcare. Just five million receive disability compensation. Across the board, programs are underused because veterans either do not know they qualify or cannot navigate the paperwork alone.
That is where County Veterans Service Officers come in. CVSOs are local county employees, nationally accredited by the VA, who help veterans prepare, file, and win their claims. They are often the first person to tell a veteran they qualify for healthcare, disability compensation, education benefits, a VA home loan, or job placement help. Roughly 1,700 accredited representatives across 36 states and two Native American Tribes process nearly $43 billion in direct compensation and pension claims each year for veterans, a figure that climbs to almost $86 billion when healthcare and other benefits are included.
On the Appropriations Committee, I fought to include $2 million to launch the Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act, bipartisan legislation I championed that was signed into law in 2024. The funding sets up a grant program to help state and local governments hire and train more CVSOs, the people on the ground connecting veterans to what they have already earned. It is a modest investment with an outsized return.
The bill also delivers critical resources to the Toxic Exposure Fund created under the bipartisan PACT Act, including $53.7 billion to care for veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their service. Prior to my current role on Appropriations, I served on the House Veterans Affairs Committee for six years and helped push the PACT Act across the finish line, the most significant veterans’ healthcare law in three decades. That law extended care to millions of veterans exposed to burn pits and other hazardous substances on duty.
The Toxic Exposure Fund exists for a specific reason: to keep politics out of the way of a promise made. By setting aside dedicated, reliable funding, the Fund ensures that caring for these veterans does not get caught up in the annual budget fights that can delay or shortchange the care they need.
These wins are bipartisan, and they reflect a principle that ought to unite every member of Congress regardless of party: when an American serves this country and puts their life on the line, we owe them more than gratitude. We owe them action. Our veterans deserve the full measure of what was promised, without delay.
By: Rep. Mike Levin
Source: Picket Fence Media