The standing Committee on Veterans' Affairs in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

oversees agencies, reviews current legislation, and recommends new

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

s or amendments concerning U.S. military veterans. Jurisdiction includes retiring and disability

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

, education (including the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

), vocational training, medical care, and home

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

guarantees. The committee oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), veterans'

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

s, and veterans'

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

, except cemeteries under the

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

. Veterans and other interested people may be surprised to learn that the Veterans' Affairs Committee does not have legislative jurisdiction over the following issues: * Tax status of veterans benefits and contributions to Veterans Service Organizations (

Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

); * Military retiree issues, including COLA's and disability pay ( Committee on Armed Services); * CHAMPUS and Tri-Care ( Committee on Armed Services); * Survivor Benefit Program ( Committee on Armed Services); * Veterans Preference in Federal civil service hiring practice ( Committee on Government Reform and Oversight); * Congressional charters for veterans service organizations ( Committee on Judiciary); * Immigration issues relating to veterans ( Committee on Judiciary); and * Issues dealing with

Prisoners of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

(POWs) and service members missing in action (MIAs) ( Committee on Armed Services) The committee was created by Section 121(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (

Public Law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...

79-601), which authorized a standing committee of 27 members.

Past and current chairs

The chairs of the committee: * 1947–1948:

Edith Nourse Rogers Edith Rogers (née Nourse; March 19, 1881 – September 10, 1960) was an American social welfare volunteer and politician who served in the United States Congress. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts. Until 2012, ...

(R-MA) * 1949–1952: John Elliott Rankin (D-MS) * 1953–1954: Edith Nourse Rogers (R-MA) * 1955–1972:

Olin E. Teague Olin Earl "Tiger" Teague (April 6, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was a World War II veteran and congressional representative for Texas's 6th congressional district for 32 years, from 1946 to 1978. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Bi ...

(D-TX) * 1973–1974:

William Jennings Bryan Dorn William Jennings Bryan Dorn (April 14, 1916 – August 13, 2005) was a United States politician from South Carolina who represented the western part of the state in the United States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949 and from 1951 to 197 ...

(D-SC) * 1975–1980: Herbert Ray Roberts (D-TX) * 1981–1994:

Gillespie V. Montgomery Gillespie V. "Sonny" Montgomery (August 5, 1920 – May 12, 2006) was an American soldier and politician from Mississippi who served in the Mississippi Senate and U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1997. He was also a retired major gener ...

(D-MS) * 1995–2001: Bob Stump (R-AZ) * 2001–2004: Chris Smith (R-NJ) * 2005–2007:

Steve Buyer Stephen Earle Buyer ( ; born November 26, 1958) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for , and previously the , serving from 1993 until 2011. On July 25, 2022, Buyer was arrested and charged with insider trading ...

(R-IN) * 2007–2011: Bob Filner (D-CA) * 2011–2017: Jeff Miller (R-FL) * 2017–2019: Phil Roe (R-TN) * 2019–present:

Mark Takano Mark Allan Takano ( ; born December 10, 1960) is an American politician and academic who has been the United States representative for California's 41st congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Takano became the first ...

(D-CA)

Members, 117th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (D), (R), (D), (R) According to committee members' official online biographies, ten (Banks, Bergman, Brown, Ellzey, Gallego, Lamb, Luria, Miller-Meeks, Nehls and Sablan) of the thirty-one members are veterans.

Subcommittees

Past committee rosters

116th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (D) According to committee members' official online biographies, thirteen (Banks, Bergman, Bost, Cisneros, Dunn, Lamb, Luria, Peterson, Roe, Rose, Sablan, Steube, Watkins) of the twenty-eight members are veterans. ;Subcommittees

115th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (D), (R), (D), (D) According to committee members' official online biographies, eleven (Banks, Bergman, Bost, Coffman, Dunn, Higgins, Lamb, Roe, Sablan, Walz, Wenstrup) of the twenty-five members are veterans.

114th Congress

Resolutions electing Republican members: (Chairs)
Resolutions electing Democratic members: , , and

References

External links

House Committee on Veterans' AffairsArchive

House Veterans' Affairs Committee
Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.
United States Department of Veterans' Affairs

http://www.va.gov/index.htm House Veterans' Affairs Committee Hearings and Meetings Videos] * Active legislation passing through the Committee on Veterans' Affairs can be foun
here
{{United States congressional committees 1947 establishments in Washington, D.C. Committees of the United States House of Representatives Military-related organizations Organizations established in 1947 Veterans' affairs in the United States