Media Advisories

Today, Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, issued the following statement regarding the Administration’s exemption of all VA accounts from sequestration in 2013:

“For more than a year, the Administration has played politics with America’s veterans and the pending threat of sequester, leading them down one road, then another. Finally today, we have clarity on this issue. As I have said since last August, veterans funding should not be subject to sequestration, and I am pleased the Administration finally agrees.

“Our nation is facing a critical fiscal crisis. We must solve it, but as most have long recognized, the answer is not on the backs of our veterans. These men and women have already sacrificed on behalf of all of us, and they should not be asked to sacrifice more. I am just sorry that the Administration kept veterans twisting in the wind and did not make this easy decision last fall, a decision that was long overdue.

“Transitioning servicemembers and new veterans will still feel the effects of sequester under the Administration’s plan. The Administration must work to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past by leaving these men and women to fend for themselves when they come home and ensuring those programs too will remain untouched.”