⚡NIMITZ NEWS FLASH⚡

“Legislative Presentation of Disabled American Veterans & Multi VSOs: Military Officers Association of America, Blue Star Families, Vietnam Veterans of America, National Congress of American Indians, Service Women's Action Network, Gold Star Wives of America, Inc., and Black Veterans Project”

Joint House & Senate Veterans Affairs Committees Hearing

February 24, 2026 (recording here)

HEARING INFORMATION

Witnesses & Written Testimony (linked) (Panel One):

• Coleman Nee: National Commander, Disabled American Veterans

• Barry Jesinoski: National Adjutant, Disabled American Veterans

• Bryan "Cody" VanBoxel: Executive Director, National Headquarters, Disabled American Veterans

• Jim Marszalek: Executive Director, Washington Headquarters, Disabled American Veterans

• Scott Hope: National Service Director, Disabled American Veterans

• Jon Retzer: National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans

• John Kleindienst: National Director of Voluntary Service, Disabled American Veterans

• Ron Minter: National Caregiver Support Program Director, Disabled American Veterans

• Melissa Pierce: Auxiliary National Commander, Disabled American Veterans

Witnesses & Written Testimony (linked) (Panel Two):

• Brian T. Kelly: President and Chief Executive Officer, Military Officers Association of America

• Lindsay Knight: Chief Impact Officer, Blue Star Families

• Tom Burke: National President, Vietnam Veterans of America

• Larry Wright, Jr.: Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians

• Rita Graham: Policy Director, Service Women's Action Network

• Barbara Burt: Legislative Liaison, Greater Boston Chapter and New England Region, National Board Member, Gold Star Wives of America, Inc.

• Richard Brookshire: Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Black Veterans Project

TOP-LINES TO SHOW YOU ARE IN THE KNOW

1. Confusion and lack of transparency around recent VA rulemaking have shaken trust. Veterans expect to be consulted, not blindsided.

2. There is broad agreement that community care can work, but only if providers meet VA-level training standards, especially for mental health, TBI, toxic exposure, and women veterans.

3. Suicide prevention isn’t just about crisis response; it’s about upstream, family-based intervention and making sure staffing and stability at the VA don’t slip.

4. Survivors and caregivers are still struggling financially, and there’s strong bipartisan momentum to fix DIC inequities and finally pass the Major Richard Star Act.

5. From transition gaps to unaccredited “claim sharks,” veterans are still falling through cracks that better coordination, oversight, and accountability could fix.

PARTY LINE PERSPECTIVES

OPENING STATEMENTS FROM THE COMMITTEES

• Acting Chairwoman Nancy Mace reflected on her personal connection to veterans and shared her commitment to supporting disabled veterans and survivors. She highlighted legislation to increase benefits for severely disabled veterans and survivors, expand access to community care through the Veterans’ ACCESS Act (H.R. 740), and reauthorize and modernize VA programs, including improvements to the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). She pledged that House Republicans would continue fighting to ensure veterans received timely health care, reliable benefits, and meaningful economic relief.

• Ranking Member Mark Takano expressed concern over recent instability within the VA and strongly criticized the interim final rule regarding disability ratings impacted by medication. He called on VA Secretary Doug Collins to rescind the rule immediately. The Ranking Member then argued that VA leadership had failed to adequately consult Congress or the veteran community on major reorganizations and warned against aligning VA with for-profit health care models. He also advocated for the passage of the Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 2102), the Caring for Survivors Act (H.R. 2055), the Love Lives On Act (H.R. 1004), and the GUARD VA Benefits Act (H.R. 1732), while condemning claim sharks and urging Congress to fully fund veterans’ benefits without forcing veterans to bear the cost.

• Chairman Jerry Moran spoke on the importance of collaboration between Congress and veteran service organizations (VSOs) to strengthen the VA. He stated that veterans were defined not by their challenges but by their leadership, skills, and contributions to their communities. The Chairman explained that he and Ranking Member Blumenthal had introduced the National Veterans Strategy Act (S. 3726) to better coordinate federal, state, and local efforts on behalf of veterans. He appreciated the advocacy of VSOs and looked forward to discussing how legislative priorities could further advance veterans’ long-term stability, health, and opportunity.

• Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal praised VSOs for successfully pushing back against proposed cuts to VA disability benefits tied to medication use and urged Secretary Collins to formally rescind the interim final rule. He called for bipartisan action to pass the Major Richard Star Act (S. 1032) and argued that veterans’ benefits were earned, not charity. The Ranking Member criticized congressional dysfunction and underlined the need to overcome partisan gridlock to deliver results for veterans. He also voiced concern about reductions in VA staffing and health care capacity, warning that administrative actions threatening care required scrutiny and reversal.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS (PANEL ONE)

• Mr. Coleman Nee presented Disabled American Veterans’ (DAV’s) 2026 legislative priorities, asserting that the VA stood at a defining crossroads between dismantlement and meaningful reform. He argued that privatizing or fragmenting the VA would weaken the only health care system specifically designed for veterans and warned that such efforts could irreversibly erode its capacity. Mr. Nee called for reforms to improve claims processing, strengthen presumptive policies for toxic exposures, expand mental health services, support caregivers and survivors, protect funding from budget cuts, and ensure veterans were not penalized for taking necessary medications. He urged Congress to preserve and modernize the VA as a moral obligation and national commitment to those who had served.

• Chairwoman Mace inquired about alternative therapies and technologies that could have supported veterans’ recovery and healing. Mr. Nee said he had believed in alternative and naturalistic therapies based on his own experience. Mr. Jon Retzer added that DAV had supported research into alternative options, including psychedelics and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for post-traumatic stress disorder, and he noted the importance of menopause research for women veterans.

• Ranking Member Takano asked Mr. Nee how he would have characterized the past year’s information flow between the VA and the VSO community. Mr. Nee replied that outcomes had improved when VSOs maintained active working partnerships with the VA. Mr. Jim Marszalek stated that earlier involvement by VSOs could have prevented recent controversies, referenced the prior week’s events as an example, and said he had been cautiously optimistic because of assurances from Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence and an upcoming meeting to improve collaboration.

• Ranking Member Takano then asked whether DAV had supported survivor-focused bills such as the Love Lives On Act and the Caring for Survivors Act. Mr. Retzer confirmed that DAV supported those bills, as well as the Major Richard Star Act, and sought parity for veterans and survivors. Mr. Nee agreed that veteran and survivor benefits had been earned and should be paid by the general public rather than by veterans. He then stated that veterans should never bear the cost of the Major Richard Star Act, adding that DAV has always opposed reductions in benefits or services for injured or ill veterans.

• Ranking Member Blumenthal questioned whether expanding community care exclusively could endanger the quality and availability of VA care if resources shift away from the VA. Mr. Nee responded that DAV does not favor shifting all resources to community care and argued that coordinated care works best when information from community providers flows back into VA medical records. He agreed that VA-like standards and data requirements should apply to community care.

• Ranking Member Blumenthal asked whether Congress should commit to repairing and upgrading the VA’s aging infrastructure and filling essential staffing vacancies. Mr. Retzer emphasized DAV’s support for balancing community care with strengthening VA infrastructure and internal capacity.

• Rep. Morgan Luttrell argued that despite decades of significant VA spending on suicide prevention, the veteran suicide rate had continued to rise. He urged broader support for research into alternative treatments such as psychedelics, said he and two other members of Congress had been working with multiple agencies to move research forward, and called for an “all hands” push to accelerate progress.

• Rep. Chris Pappas asked Mr. Nee to discuss dental coverage as a priority and how expanding access could support “treating the whole veteran.” Mr. Nee replied that dental care is essential to overall health outcomes and employment, cited long lines for dental services at homeless stand downs, and said dental care is a part of health care.

• Rep. Pappas then asked what Congress could have done to shorten wait times for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and improve support for survivors. Mr. Scott Hope offered DAV’s support for strengthening DIC and aligning benefits with comparable federal programs, while committing to defend existing benefits and advocate for future improvements.

• Rep. Kimberlyn King-Hinds questioned what metrics Congress should have monitored to improve access without hollowing out VA facilities and when expanding community care might have weakened the VA’s internal capacity. Mr. Retzer said that Congress needed to review access standards and tailor approaches for rural and remote veterans and women veterans, and he suggested strengthening community-based outpatient clinics rather than relying solely on a hospital-centered model.

• Rep. King-Hinds asked about the greatest risk to the VA’s long-term viability if Congress changed nothing over the next five years. Mr. Retzer claimed that the key risk would be the lack of mandatory funding to keep the system strong.

• Chairwoman Mace asserted her support for plant-based therapy legislation and claimed the success rates for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation had been extremely high, while access had remained limited. She urged continued advocacy from VSOs.

• Ranking Member Takano inquired about whether or not DAV members had reported negative impacts on their health care due to VA staffing shortages. Mr. Nee replied that staffing shortages had been a serious issue for veterans who relied solely on VA care and indicated that many attendees had raised their hands to show they had experienced problems.

• Ranking Member Takano asked whether members had raised concerns about community care, and Mr. Nee said he had heard anecdotes about providers not understanding military service and making insensitive comments. The Ranking Member followed up with whether the training and preparedness gap between community and VA providers is significant and whether training requirements should be enforced through community care agreements. Mr. Nee agreed and said that community providers should receive training comparable to VA standards, including on suicide prevention, medications, and opioid-related practices.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS (PANEL TWO)

• Mr. Brian Kelly stated that the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) had represented more than 356,000 members advocating for the earned benefits of more than 22 million servicemembers, veterans, families, and survivors. He praised progress on the Veteran Caregiver Reeducation, Reemployment, and Retirement Act (H.R. 2148 & S. 879) and urged continued support to advance it. Mr. Kelly argued that the GUARD VA Benefits Act was necessary to stop unaccredited, for-profit actors from charging veterans for claims assistance outside VA oversight and to restore accountability without limiting access to accredited help. He also supported the TAP Promotion Act (H.R. 1845) as a way to strengthen transition outreach, improve consistency, and ensure servicemembers and families received accurate information before separation, framing this “life-cycle” approach as essential to the all-volunteer force.

• Ms. Lindsay Knight presented Blue Star Families’ 2026 priorities and described the organization’s research-driven approach, scale, and veteran-family membership base. She urged Congress to extend the VA-funded Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Program (SSPG Fox SPGP) for at least three more years and pursue long-term authorization for successful initiatives, citing outcomes from Blue Star Support Circles that had improved participants’ confidence, intervention skills, and safe firearm storage practices. Ms. Knight cited a Department of Defense report stating that 146 military family members, including 93 active-duty spouses, had died by suicide in 2023, and she argued that family- and community-based interventions had been critical. She also supported the Building Readiness and Integration for Dependents Going to Civilian Environments Act to extend transition support to military families through a pilot program and urged passage of the Major Richard Star Act, noting it could advance if brought to the floor.

• Mr. Tom Burke framed Vietnam Veterans of America’s mission around preventing one generation of veterans from abandoning another. He argued that Vietnam veterans forced the recognition of invisible wounds and toxic exposure harms and warned that the nation must not repeat past abandonment. Mr. Burke identified the organization’s top priority as full accounting for prisoners of war and those missing in action, calling it a sacred obligation tied to trust and opposing budget reductions for recovery and accountability efforts. He also demanded urgency on toxic exposure impacts and criticized using veterans as political leverage, emphasizing that delays and diffusion of responsibility had cost veterans their lives through suicide, homelessness, and transition failures.

• Mr. Larry Wright, Jr. of the National Congress of American Indians testified on Native veterans’ historic and continued service and urged stronger support across health care, housing, food security, and other resources. Mr. Wright emphasized that many Native veterans relied on the Indian Health Service (IHS) due to distance from VA facilities and asked Congress to ensure advanced appropriations for IHS comparable to the VA. He also supported improving the Native American Direct Loan Program and Tribal HUD-VASH, urged ending hiring barriers so the VA could provide outreach and technical assistance, opposed recent changes that removed SNAP work-requirement exemptions for veterans, and advocated for continued support for the VA Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs.

• Ms. Rita Graham, on behalf of the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), highlighted three priorities focused on women veterans. First, she urged closing gender-based research gaps under PACT Act implementation, particularly by improving tracking and gender-disaggregated reporting on reproductive and infertility outcomes linked to toxic exposures. Second, she called for restoring comprehensive reproductive health care access after the VA’s December 2025 policy reversal related to rape and incest and argued that no veteran should have lost bodily autonomy because of service. Finally, Ms. Graham advocated for protecting evidence-based policies on women serving in ground combat units and encouraged oversight to ensure decisions remained grounded in research, while welcoming the VA’s reversal of the medication-related interim final rule and calling for more transparency on future regulatory changes.

• Ms. Barbara Burt testified on behalf of Gold Star Wives of America and described her experience as a widow, claiming that DIC had been intended to prevent economic collapse after a service-connected death but had remained inadequate. She shared that surviving spouses often faced financial insecurity after years of caregiving and sacrifice and described everyday hardships tied to low DIC payments, including difficult choices between basic necessities and medical needs. Ms. Burt urged action on legislation to increase DIC levels, including the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act (H.R. 6047) as an initial step, and the Caring for Survivors Act. She also supported the Justice for ALS Veterans Act (H.R. 1685 & S. 749, the Love Lives On Act, and the Service-Connected Suicide Compensation Act (H.R. 2264) to ease the burdens of proof for grieving spouses.

• Mr. Richard Brookshire testified that Black Veterans Project had pursued reparative justice for Black veterans and military families who were denied or obstructed from accessing GI Bill-related and VA benefits due to systemic racial inequities. He cited research and litigation efforts, including FOIA-driven data disclosures and a planned class action, as mechanisms to expose and address disparities in disability benefits. Mr. Brookshire criticized the elimination of internal equity-focused capacity at the VA and argued that anti-DEI narratives and policy shifts had created confusion, fear, and new risks, including through unregulated artificial intelligence and rule changes. He warned that privatization pressures and attempts to redefine eligibility threatened equal access to earned benefits and urged Congress to pursue accountability, rebuild trust, and ensure all veterans were respected and protected regardless of identity.

• Chairwoman Mace asked what barriers within the transition process prevent veterans from accessing and understanding their benefits. Mr. Kelly said that TAP compresses a large amount of information into a short period, with most servicemembers focusing primarily on disability claims while overlooking other earned benefits such as education, housing, and health care. He added that insufficient follow-up connections and trusted guidance leave veterans vulnerable to for-profit “sharks.” Mr. Kelly stated that barriers could be reduced by strengthening oversight through measures like the GUARD VA Benefits Act and ensuring trusted VSOs are integrated into the transition process to provide continuity.

• Chairwoman Mace then asked how the VA could be more efficient in delivering benefits to veterans and their families, particularly women veterans. Ms. Graham replied that improved data collection and gender-disaggregated reporting are critical so the VA can better understand and address systemic issues affecting women veterans. She underscored that better research and clearer insight into benefit gaps would improve accountability and service delivery.

• Sen. Tammy Duckworth criticized the interim final rule on disability compensation and asked why it was inappropriate to use that rulemaking process without consulting VSOs. Mr. Kelly responded that greater transparency and consultation would have allowed VSOs to provide input that might have prevented confusion and anxiety across the veteran community. Mr. Wright held that consultation is especially important for tribal communities and should have included the VA Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs in keeping with trust and treaty responsibilities. Ms. Graham said that interim rulemaking without consultation reflected a broader pattern that had affected women veterans, including reproductive health policy changes, and she argued that excluding VSOs undermined trust and harmed minority veterans.

• Ranking Member Takano asked Ms. Graham how important it was to overturn the VA’s rule restricting abortion access. Ms. Graham answered that it was critically important because women veterans should not lose access to reproductive health care that male veterans did not face limits on, and she described the policy as insulting and harmful. She added that women veterans require trauma-informed reproductive care and warned that restricting access could lead to worsened health outcomes.

• Ranking Member Takano asked Mr. Wright about the implementation of the Dole Act and its impact on tribal veteran outreach. Mr. Wright replied that Indian Country was grateful for the law and its expansion of homeownership opportunities, but he noted continued needs in programs such as the Native American Direct Loan Program and HUD-VASH. He indicated that further improvements and sustained support were necessary to maximize impact.

• Ranking Member Takano then turned to Mr. Brookshire to discuss the impact of closing the VA’s Office of Equity Assurance. Mr. Brookshire stated the closure impaired the VA’s ability to track disparities and act on findings related to inequities in benefits administration. He added that the increasing use of artificial intelligence without proper oversight risked exacerbating racial bias and said there was a need for stronger guardrails and transparency regarding veteran data usage.

• Ranking Member Blumenthal outlined a “wish list” for the President’s State of the Union, including the passage of the Major Richard Star Act, restoration of VA staffing and contracts, full program funding, rescission of the interim final rule, and reversal of the reproductive health restriction. Mr. Burke responded that while evaluation of disability ratings in light of medication had historical precedent, the manner in which the interim rule had been introduced had created confusion and concern. He reiterated that veterans should not be blindsided by regulatory action without clear communication and opportunity for input.

• Rep. Luttrell asked how to improve information transfer from the Department of Defense (DOD) to the VA during transition and how to better address homelessness before servicemembers separated. Mr. Brookshire reported that a disproportionate number of homeless veterans had received other-than-honorable discharges, which limited benefit access, and he noted that Black servicemembers had been overrepresented in such discharges. He suggested that systemic racial disparities within military justice processes had contributed to downstream barriers in VA eligibility.

• Ranking Member Takano spotlighted his EVEST Act (H.R. 5416), which would automatically enroll separating servicemembers into VA care unless they opted out, arguing that early enrollment during transition is critical. He also stressed the need to address unjust other-than-honorable discharges, which had contributed to homelessness and the denial of services. Mr. Takano thanked the VSOs for their testimony and reiterated the importance of addressing inequities in transition and benefit access.

• Ranking Member Blumenthal underlined the importance of transparency and criticized delays in receiving requested information from the VA, arguing that veterans deserved prompt and accurate communication.

• Chairwoman Mace reflected on her family’s military service and sacrifice, and she urged continued bipartisan collaboration and advocacy on behalf of veterans.

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