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▶ 0:17:26there he is I see it morning committee come to order first off I want to welcome uh both the new members and the returning members to the committee for the Veterans Affairs um for the 119th Congress organizational meeting and before we get started I want to uh extend uh the
▶ 0:17:56entire committee's support to the ranking member ton miss brownley when she gets here that their constituents in Southern California for what they're suffering through um when a tragedy like this happens we something that we've never seen um know our prayers are with you and any anything we can do uh we're we're there for you and we want to thank uh and we're all thinking of all the uh California delegation um I have a grandson
▶ 0:18:26that has an apartment there he has left that coming to the events there this week and his dad told him to get all of his belongings out of the house that were I valuable but he just got out of the Marine Corps and he said I don't know if you know this or not I'm just got out of the Marine Corp and I don't have anything valuable um but he he's right there in the middle of it as well so you are in our prayers for those of you that don't know my name is Mike Bost and it is an honor to serve as chairman of this committee and I
▶ 0:18:56um am I'm an in listed Marine uh veteran uh from deep southern Illinois this is my sixth term in Congress and I've been honored to serve on the Veterans Affairs committee the entire time that I've been here I come from a military family with a long history of service my son is continuing that tradition through his service in the Marine Corps my grandson as I just said was recently uh got out of the Corp after four
▶ 0:19:26years uh after leaving military service I returned home to run a family small business I was also involved and I was a full-time firefighter for a while and served many years in the Illinois uh General Assembly um but I do want to welcome each and every one of you to the committee this is a very special place serve very few Americans will have the opportunity in their lifetime to create change for the men and women who have
▶ 0:19:57served this nation here we get to do that every day I'm committed to continuing to maintain the bipartisan nature of this committee as we serve our nation's veterans I've enjoyed meeting with many of you already and I look forward to a chance to meet with all of you at some shortly uh each of you bring a very unique perspective to the table and I'm sure that each of you will take the role on this committee as seriously
▶ 0:20:28as as as you as you should and as you can as we fulfill the commitment we have made to our veterans and their families and I don't take this responsibility that we have in this lightly and I refuse to let veterans let the veterans down which is why I'm excited to get organized and move forward with our agenda for veterans uh this Congress as such
▶ 0:20:58the this morning we will begin the op adoption of the committee rules approval of Vice chairs and subcommittee chairs and ranking members and approval of subcommittee assignments and approval of committee staff and approval of oversight plan finally I also want to congratulate my friend Mark Tano on his election and to continue being the ranking member of this committee Mark and I have served together for many years and I know that he shares my commitment to
▶ 0:21:28working hard and getting real things done in a bipartisan way for the men and women that we serve here and I want to now recognize uh the ranking member uh Mark Tano for his opening comments well well thank you Mr chairman I I thank you for your kind uh opening words and um the your prayers uh we need your prayers now and we'll need your prayers going into the future uh my own father uh who lives about 10 minutes from me
▶ 0:21:58uh had his power cut off uh I'm not sure if he's been able to move back yet riversiders are not in imminent danger U approximate danger we did have a fire breakout that took uh two or three hours to put out but our firefighters from our area are supporting the effort uh and all of Southern California subject to uh these very dangerous winds and we're on edge uh but let me just bring something up that
▶ 0:22:28really shouldn't be partisan or political and it's not uh I have voted for every disaster relief Aid and supplemental never have put conditions on this uh when I see a disaster happen in Louisiana I don't see louisianans I see Americans when it a hurricane barrels through North Carolina I don't see North Carolinians I see Americans when I see a hurricane moving through Florida same thing I just ask that uh that all
▶ 0:22:59members remember that we're all Americans uh California has the largest population of veterans the lava um has had many employees uh who have had their homes uh in danger and this is a time for us to come together and uh so I'll need more than your prayers I'll need I'll need your help uh going forward so that is my plea to you and that's how you can help help us in California as we're fighting these fires our Democratic
▶ 0:23:29caucus met yesterday and organized and I'm pleased to say that we uh are that we could welcome SE seven returning members and three new members to the committee our new members include representative Maxine Dexter I should say dror representative Maxine dox Dexter medical she's a medical doctor of Oregon Dr Dexter has a depth of experience working in healthcare as a lung and critical care physician and as chair of the board Board of Northwest Permanente
▶ 0:24:00one of the largest health care providers in the Pacific Northwest Dr Dexter comes to Congress from the Oregon House of Representatives where she championed bills to address the housing and homelessness crisis protect rep Reproductive Rights expand addiction treatment services and combat violence gun violence we're grateful for the Insight Dr Dexter will share with this committee so welcome Dr Dexter uh representative herb Conway Jr also a medical doctor of New
▶ 0:24:30York of New Jersey Dr Conway is an Air Force veteran and served as captain of the medical Corps at Maguire Air Force Base he later practiced medicine in Primary Care settings before transitioning to Academia he served as the assemblyman for the for New Jersey's 7eventh legislative district for 25 years in addition to being a doctor a veteran and a state legislator Dr Conway also earned his law degree at Ruckers law school we welcome
▶ 0:25:00the breadth of experience and service Dr Conway brings to this committee representative Kelly Morrison MD also a medical doctor of Minnesota rounding out our Trifecta of HVAC Democratic physicians Dr Morrison practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology for more than 20 years and joins us after serving in the Minnesota Legislature for six years she has a track record uh of tackling complex issues including lowering the price of prescription
▶ 0:25:31drugs addressing the opioid crisis strengthening Med Mental Health Care Mental Health support in schools and supporting veterans seniors and caregivers Dr Morrison's husband served as an Army Ranger and I look forward to her sharing her professional and personal experience with the committee I'm also pleased to welcome our seven returning Democratic members Representatives brownle papis sheras McCormack macgarvey Ramirez uh bazinsky and Kennedy and I look forward to our continued service
▶ 0:26:01together we still have unfinished work to do as we strive to honor our nation's veterans this committee has always served as an example of how we can come together and to accomplish great things so that we can fulfill our promise to the men and women uh who serve our country and chairman boss to me as a as a personal uh as a personal sentiment I want to express it's been wonderful time that we've had we certainly have had we certainly have strongly held views and we have our refences uh but we have
▶ 0:26:31sincerely striven to find common ground where we can and we have and I look forward to doing the same in this next Congress I thank you and you'll back thank you um so the agenda uh for our business meeting and all other documents are in the packet that's in front of each one of you and so let's get started the first item of business will be consideration of the proposed committee rules for the 119th Congress the proposed changes in the rules have
▶ 0:27:01already been sent to the members on both sides of the aisle and are before you now my staff reached out to ranking member Tano staff and December regarding uh proposed changes to the rules which for most purposes are technical in nature however there are two substantive changes compared to last Congress the rules uh were modified in conjunction with the house rules to allow the committee to take votes electronically when possible it will be a great
▶ 0:27:31Advantage if you're serving in any other the other committees understanding how fast this allows the process to move the rules also were updated related to the truth in testin amony form these fors provide basic information about the witness and the organizations they represent as many of you are aware recently after the law B Banning Tik Tock uh in the United States was enacted several veteran Ser service organizations that have now testify regularly at this committee entered into
▶ 0:28:01a non-disclosure agreements with Tik Tock and received grant money to promote their veteran voices initiatives we as Congress had enough of a concern about the tick talk ban uh in last Congress and I remain concerned about the threat that Tik Tock poses first because of the data collection and sharing with the Chinese government and second because of the opportunity for propaganda our committee rules have been
▶ 0:28:31updated to require the witness to closure disclosure funding that comes from entities associated with foreign adversaries such as Tik Tock additionally and at the request of the minority we have added disclosure requirement for funding for uh entities associated with countries of concern as identified by the state department and I believe these are thoughtful changes to the committee
▶ 0:29:02rules that members should support uh are there any amendments to the proposed committee rules Mr chairman I have an amendment at the desk the clerk's your report Amendment to the committee on better text was circulated in advance and as I ask a unanimous consent that reading be be dispensed with hearing no objection so ordered the ranking member is now recognized for five minutes to in support of his Amendment thank you Mr chairman in The Same Spirit of transparency that led the
▶ 0:29:32majority to require witnesses to disclose foreign contributions to their organizations my Amendment would require those who are asked to testify before this committee to disclose Financial contributions received from any One Source in the prior fiscal year that is greater than 10% of that witnesses that witness organization's operating budget in an effort to prevent uh disclosures from becoming overly burdensome
▶ 0:30:02the 10% requirement will avoid organizations having to list numerous small dollar donations from everyday Americans who truly support the mission of the organization and aren't using it to buy influence I will also remind my colleagues that the rules of the committee already contain a caveat that the disclosure requirement only applies if the funding is related to the subject matter of the hearing so this will avoid organizations needing to disclose
▶ 0:30:32every donation every time they appear before the committee accordingly compliance with this new requirement should be simple and straightforward the goal here is to increase transparency into the circumstances that may influence the organizations that we rely on to inform our policymaking under house rules non-governmental Witnesses are required to fill out truth and testimony forms which are meant to inform the public
▶ 0:31:02in Congress about any potential conflicts of interest a witness may have these forms already collect information regarding Federal funding that Witnesses and organizations receive through grants contracts it is logical to extend the disclosure requirement to funding from outside sources so that we have a clear view of the financial incentives that drive an organization's policy positions
▶ 0:31:33on matters on which they are testifying before the committee we need to ensure that the testimony we receive promotes the interest of veterans over over private interests which gets me to the most important justification for this amendment veterans deserve to know who is funding or otherwise exerting influence on the organizations outside VA that provide them services or purport to represent their interests I think we can all agree
▶ 0:32:03that there is too much dark money in politics and it has no place on this committee where we have the responsibility to improve the lives of those who served now considering that my colleagues on this committee raised concerns that the Chinese government was using Tik Tock grants as a means to influence policy this amendment would ensure that we are aware of other Financial motivations or entanglements of witnesses before the committee the purpose is not to Target veteran service organizations or
▶ 0:32:34the nonprofits that we have relied on for decades to guide our policymaking but as the veteran space becomes increasingly profitable for private Enterprise we have a responsibility to ensure that we know whose interests are being represented before us now my Amendment does not force approval or disapproval of these Witnesses but it does ensure our committee and the public are f fully informed about the financial influences on the organizations that testify before us
▶ 0:33:04it brings transparency and accountability to our work to use a phrase from my colleagues across the aisle this amendment will help us drain the swamp I urge your support on this reasonable and Common Sense approach um and I I yeld I yeld back I now recognize myself for 5 minutes unfortunately I must oppose the amendment as it's unnecessary the current rules change
▶ 0:33:35it is intended to address a real current threat from a adversary it is designed to ensure that members are aware of funding received by a witness appearing before us that is from an entity or country identified as a posing threat to the United States it will ensure our members are full F aware if a foreign adversary is somehow influencing the testimony of the witness this proposed amendment
▶ 0:34:05would require witnesses to disclose fun disclose funding not required under the house rules this language is required requiring disclosure of disclosure of money received from private citizens and entities within the United States who pose no threat to our country the proposed rule change is designed to play politic political games and many deter and may deter Witnesses from testifying I urge all members to reject this amendment and the amendment
▶ 0:34:36to uh that I feel is is political in nature is there any other discussion on the ranking members Amendment Dr Miller Meeks uh thank you Mr chair just very briefly why wouldn't we also then require if we would required this that any organization nonprofit who presents before us if the primary source of uh funding is from the government why wouldn't we want to know that also doesn't that present a conflict of interest I.E they may not be
▶ 0:35:06uh addressing the interest of that veteran in their Community but the interest of the VA uh and then that would impair our oversight function thank you I yell back thank you any any others okay the question occurs on the Tano Amendment to the rules package all those in favor say I opposed no I'm to glad you're with me in the opinion of the chair
▶ 0:35:36the Nays have it um and the amendment is not to is there any other F further discussion on the proposed rules if not I now recognize general burkeman for a motion to approve the resolution adopt adopting the proposed rules for the 119th Congress chairman I move that the committee approved the resolution to adopt the committee rules for the 119th all those in favor say I I all those oppose
▶ 0:36:06no the opinion chair the eyes have it the rules of this committee are adopted our next item of business is considering the resolution to designate the committee Vice chair and subcommittee chairs under the res under the resolution Miss rwagon will serve as Vice chair of the full committee Mr trell will serve as the chairman of the subcommittee on disability assistance and Memorial Affairs Mr van Orton will serve
▶ 0:36:36as the chairman of the subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Dr Miller Meeks will serve as chairwoman of the subcommittee on health Miss kiggins will serve as chairwoman of the subcommittee on oversight and investigation and Mr Barrett will serve as a chairman of the subcommittee on technology um mod modern mod oranization I thank these capable members who have agreed to take on the demanding leadership responsibilities of chairing these subcommittees and I look forward to
▶ 0:37:06working with them I would also like to thank Miss rwagon for agreeing to serve as Vice chair of the committee I now recognize general burkeman for a motion to adopt the resolution Mr chairman I move that the committee approved the resolution to designate the vice chair and subcommittee chairs also all those in favor will say say I I oppose nay in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it and the resolution is adopted the next
▶ 0:37:37uh resolution before the committee is the designating of the ranking minority members of the subcommittee I now recognize the ranking member Mr Tano to offer the resolution thank you uh thank you Mr chairman I offer resolution to approve the vice ranking member uh and subcommittee ranking members and also I wanted to inform you that we've elected uh
▶ 0:38:07uh as Vice ranking member um representative herb Conway of New Jersey uh and the following ranking members of the subcommittees representative Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky the subcommittee on disability uh assistance and Memorial Affairs representative Chris papus of New Hampshire uh the ranking member of subcommittee on Economic Opportunity representative Julia brownley of California to be the ranking member on the subcommittee on health representative Delia Ramirez
▶ 0:38:38of Illinois uh to be the ranking member of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations representative Nikki binski of Illinois uh to be the sub the ranking member of the subcommittee on modernization and now recognize rep Dr Conway uh for a motion to adopt the resolution designating the ranking uh minority members I I move that the committee adopt resolution approving ranking members of the subcommittee
▶ 0:39:08all those in favor will say I I I oppose nay opinion chair the highs have it and the resolution is adopted our next resolution for consideration designates the majority members of the subcommittees the list is before the members and I now recognize General burkeman for a motion to adopt the resolution designating the majority members of the subcommittees Mr chairman I move that the committee approved
▶ 0:39:39the resolution um naming the members of the subc committies all those in favor will say I I those oppos nay an opinion chair the eyes have it and the resolution is adopted the next resolution for consideration offered by m Mr Tano designates the minority members of the subcommittee ranking member Tano is recognized for comments he may have thank you Mr chairman um I offer a resolution to approve the Democratic subcommittee
▶ 0:40:09membership for the 119th Congress I now recognize Dr Conway for a motion to approve the resolution designating the minority members of the subcommittee I move that the committee adopt resolution approving minority subcommittee assignments and ratios all those in favor would say I I oppose no the opinion chair the eyes have it and the resolution is adopted when we will now consider the resolution approving the committee staff
▶ 0:40:39the list is before the members and the committee has a highly and I'm going to say this clearly the committee has a high qualified experienced and knowledgeable staff you will all find that out if you don't know it already many of whom are elves Mr Tano and I are confident that our staffs will be very responsible to the committee and non-committee members alike and their and their staffs
▶ 0:41:10to serve them and their veterans constituents well Mr Tano is recognized for a motion to adopt the resolution approving the committee staff uh Mr chairman I move that the committee adopt the resolution approving committee staff all those in favor will say I I those opposed no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it and the resolution is adopted we will now consider authorizing the oversight plan for the 119th Congress
▶ 0:41:40the text of this plan was sent to all members it lays out a comprehensive strategy to oversee the care and benefits being provided by the VA to our nation's veterans I think this document lays out a great vision for our commit committee to complete its oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs is there any discussion of the oversite seeing none I now recognize
▶ 0:42:10general burkeman for a motion to approve the resolution adopting the proposed authorization and oversight plan of the 119th Congress Mr chairman I move that the committee approve the committee authorization and oversight plan for the 119th Congress all those in favor will say I I all those opposed no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it and the authoriz authorization and oversight plan is approved thank you that now concludes our business of
▶ 0:42:40today's meeting Mr chairman yes rank member uh pursuant to Clause two house rule 11 I give notice of intent to file minority supplemental additional or dissenting views on the committee authorization and oversight plan for the 119 Congress without I want to thank all the members for their attendance today and I look forward to working with you and here in the Congress ahead of us because we're going to serve this nation well we're going to serve our veterans well now I ask unanimous consent that all staff and member
▶ 0:43:10staff may make any Technical and conforming amendments and that all members shall have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on today's organizational meeting hearing no objection the meeting is now adjourned that was nice my grandson remember where we're from okay so everybody cares like
▶ 0:43:42just when his dad asked and he said should I bring should I bring my pistol and I said are you out of your mind I said do you not know what week you're coming out for well you know we had a trump supporter from Arizona who came to the rally in Cella which is not
▶ 0:44:12far and we have might the