United States House Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Committee information

• Date created: 1946
• Members: Twenty-eight during the 116th Congress (2019–2021)
• Subcommittees: Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs; Economic Opportunity; Health; Oversight and Investigations; Technology Modernization.

Role

The United States House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has oversight over nearly all government agencies and services for veterans of the military. These services commence when the veteran leaves active duty and includes assistance readjusting to civilian life after deployment through training and education. The compensation paid to veterans, including pensions paid for both retirement and disability purposes, is also subject to this committee’s oversight.

The committee also has jurisdiction over other benefits provided to veterans, including medical care, and helps to oversee the hospitals, facilities, and staff that provide this health care. Other benefits paid to service members, such as life insurance related to military service, are also part of the committee’s oversight responsibilities. In addition, the committee has jurisdiction over American cemeteries that are the final resting place of veterans of any conflict or war, both in this country and overseas, with the exception of those that are under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior.

In conjunction with these oversight responsibilities, the committee is tasked with reviewing all legislation related to veterans’ affairs. Committee members also recommend and promote new legislation to address the needs and concerns of America’s veterans. The committee oversees the operation of agencies and programs that provide services to former military personnel, including the G.I. Bill, which provides for education for discharged military service members, and veterans’ hospitals.

The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is one of twenty-one standing committees in the House of Representatives. A standing committee is one that exists permanently despite changes in Congress. The other types of committees are select committees, established for a short time to deal with a specific matter; joint committees, which are select committees that include members from both the House and the Senate; and conference committees, which are joint committees formed when the House and the Senate have approved different versions of the same bill and need to resolve the differences for the bill to be passed.

The committee process has existed since the early days of Congress’s existence. It was intended to help the members of Congress address a variety of issues more quickly and efficiently by having smaller groups specialize in particular areas and report to the rest of the House. In the middle of the twentieth century, Congress streamlined the committee process and created many of the committees that exist in contemporary times, including the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The reorganization process allowed the standing committees to create subcommittees to focus on specific issues. The establishment of these subcommittees is at the discretion of the committee leadership and can include both standing subcommittees and select committees. The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs had five subcommittees during the 115th Congress (2017–2019).

History

The committee that became the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs originated as an 1813 committee called the Pensions and Revolutionary Claims Committee. This committee was established to address issues related to pensions for those who fought during the American Revolution (1775–1783). Almost as soon as the war ended, those who were injured to the point of being unable to work were granted pensions. Over the course of several years, Congress provided for several types of pensions to be paid to the war’s veterans. Some officers and their spouses received half pay for life; this was later changed to half pay for seven years for those who were still serving at the end of the conflict. Still later, those who were very poor were awarded pensions as well. The last known veteran to receive benefits died in 1869.

In 1825, Congress established a revised version of the committee called the Committee on Revolutionary Claims. This committee made the various recommendations on the changes to benefits for the war’s veterans and their widows, including occasionally eliminating or changing the rules to qualify, for nearly fifty years. In 1873, after the death of all known Revolutionary War veterans and nearly all of their eligible widows, this committee was reformed as the War Claims Commission and dealt the claims of veterans of the American Civil War (1861–1865).

A second committee formed in 1825 was called the Committee on Military Pensions, which addressed the pensions of veterans from other conflicts. This became the Committee on Pensions in 1880. In addition, the House of Representatives formed a committee called the Invalid Pensions Committee on January 10, 1831. This committee was charged with matters related to pensions for those who were disabled or made invalids by combat. Within several decades, another committee related to veterans’ affairs was formed. This was the Committee on World War Veterans’ Legislation. Formed on January 14, 1924, in the aftermath of World War I (1914–1918), the committee was intended to deal with veterans from multiple conflicts but continued to deal with claims from Civil War veterans for several more decades.

In 1946, Congress recognized that the growing number of committees that had been formed created an unwieldy and inefficient system. An effort to revise this system was overseen by the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress under the direction of Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., a Wisconsin Republican, and Representative Almer “Mike” Monroney, a Democrat from Oklahoma. The committee proposed several reforms, with the primary change being to streamline the committee process. On August 2, 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed into the law the bill proposed by the Joint Committee and approved by Congress. Among other things, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 reduced the number of standing committees in the House from forty-eight to nineteen and reduced the thirty-three Senate standing committees to fifteen.

The three House of Representative committees related to veterans that existed at that time—the Committee on Pensions, the Invalid Pensions Committee, and the World War Veterans Committee—were all combined into the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. This committee also absorbed all the functions and issues under the jurisdiction of these three committees. It was charged with oversight responsibility for health care for veterans, education programs and vocational counseling and support, programs to help reintegrate veterans into civilian life, and pensions and other financial benefits.

Subcommittees

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 limited the number of standing committees but did not restrict how many subcommittees each standing committee could form. These subcommittees are each focused on specific aspects of the larger committee’s function and provide direction to the full committee before it advises and guides the rest of the House. The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs had five subcommittees during the 115th Congress. They included the subcommittees on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs; Economic Opportunity; Health; Oversight and Investigations; and Technology Modernization. Each subcommittee is made up of members of the larger standing committee as well as others at the direction and discretion of the committee chairperson. The committee chairperson is selected from the members of the committee who are part of the political party that holds the majority in the House of Representatives for that Congress. For instance, in the 116th Congress (2019–2021), Democrats earned the majority of seats in the House of Representatives. Therefore, all House committees, including the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, was assigned to Democrats. One member of the minority party will hold a secondary leadership role and be known as the ranking member.

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs

The Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs holds legislative, investigative, and oversight authority over the pensions and regular compensation of veterans of all American wars. Other benefits overseen by this committee include life insurance and survivors benefits for the families of fallen service members and disability compensation for those injured as a result of military service.

The subcommittee also oversees most of the cemeteries where American service members can be or are buried and has oversight for decisions related to who can be buried in national cemeteries. This includes Arlington National Cemetery and overseas cemeteries that are the final resting place for many American service members.

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity

The Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity oversees legislative and investigative matters related to training and continuing education for veterans. This includes training provided through the G.I. Bill. Known officially as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the G.I. Bill was passed to provide resources to help the service members who returned from World War II (1939-1945) to reintegrate into society. Resources could be used to attend college or trade school or to start a business. Originally, the bill also helped to establish hospitals to help injured veterans and provided low-interest mortgages to help them afford homes. The original provisions of the law were extended and revised several times to adjust to the needs of veterans of new conflicts and of peacetime service, including a 2017 revision known as the Forever G.I. Bill that extended some benefits to help veterans of the twenty-first century. This subcommittee also has oversight for several veterans’ housing programs and other programs aimed at helping veterans readjust to civilian life after service.

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health

The Subcommittee on Health has full oversight and legislative jurisdiction over the government agency known as the Veterans Health Administration, or VHA. The VHA includes nearly two hundred hospitals and more than one thousand outpatient care facilities dedicated to the health care needs of veterans. It is the largest integrated health care system in America and provides care to more than nine million American veterans. This includes care for those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and includes suicide prevention services and services for veterans in need of guide and service animals.

The subcommittee oversees all aspects of this care, from the type and quality of the services that are provided to the advanced training of the staff. The VHA also conducts significant research and development of new technology and techniques, which also falls under the subcommittee’s oversight. In addition, the subcommittee oversees the construction and remodeling of VHA facilities.

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on Oversight and Investigations

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations oversees matters related to the care and benefits of veterans at the discretion of the leadership of the main committee. This oversight can extend to all aspects of the VHA and other federal agencies involved in providing services to veterans. This oversight can include matters of fraud, negligence, or other matters that could affect the care of veterans or their benefits.

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization

The Subcommittee on Technology Modernization was approved on July 12, 2018. It was created to oversee the updating and improvement of the computer systems and technology used to maintain veterans’ records, especially those related to health care. The subcommittee formed after the signing of a $10-billion contract by the VHA to design a system that could efficiently handle all veterans’ medical records in a cost-effective manner. The system would help to expedite health care and protect privacy. However, with a change of leadership in the larger committee as a result of the 2018 midterm elections, the committee’s fate became uncertain.

Bibliography

Austin, Jeannette Holland. “Revolutionary War 1776–1783: Pensions.” American Revolution.org, www.americanrevolution.org/pension.php. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.

“G.I. Bill.” History, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/gi-bill#section‗6. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.

“Guide to House Records: Chapter 6: Revolutionary Claims 1825–1873.” National Archives, www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/house/chapter-06-revolutionary-claims.html. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.

“House Committee on Veterans Affairs.” U.S. House of Representatives, veterans.house.gov/about. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.

“House VA Panel Establishes Technology Modernization Subcommittee.” MeriTalk, 12 July 2018, www.meritalk.com/articles/house-va-panel-establishes-technology-modernization-subcommittee/. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.

How Congress Works. 5th ed., Congressional Quarterly Press, 2013.

“The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.” History, Art and Archives U.S. House of Representatives, history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Legislative-Reorganization-Act-of-1946/. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.

“Veterans Health Administration.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, www.va.gov/health/aboutvha.asp. Accessed 23 Jan. 2019.