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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

oversees agencies, reviews current legislation, and recommends new bills 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), vocational training,

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practi ...

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 ...

guarantees. The committee oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), veterans' hospitals, and veterans' cemeteries, except cemeteries under the Secretary of the Interior. 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); * 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 The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in ...

); * 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 Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, e ...

(MIAs) ( Committee on Armed Services) The committee was created by Section 121(a) of the

Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (also known as the Congressional Reorganization Act, ch. 753, , enacted August 2, 1946) was the most comprehensive reorganization of the United States Congress in history to that date. Background The n ...

(

Public Law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a State (polity), state, between Separation of powers, different branches of governments, as well as relationship ...

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 John Elliott Rankin (March 29, 1882 – November 26, 1960) was a Democratic politician from Mississippi who served sixteen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1921 to 1953. He was co-author of the bill for the Tennessee Valley ...

(D-MS) * 1953–1954: Edith Nourse Rogers (R-MA) * 1955–1972: Olin E. Teague (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 (D-MS) * 1995–2001:

Bob Stump Robert Lee Stump (April 4, 1927 – June 20, 2003) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Congressman from Arizona. He served as a member from the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1983 and then later a member of the Republican Party unti ...

(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 firs ...

(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