United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs

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Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. congressional committee The United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs deals with oversight of United States veterans' problems and issues.

Description

The committee was created in 1970 to transfer responsibilities for veterans from the Finance and Labor committees to a single panel. From 1947 to 1970, matters relating to veterans compensation and veterans generally were referred to the Committee on Finance, while matters relating to the vocational rehabilitation, education, medical care, civil relief, and civilian readjustment of veterans were referred to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare.[1]

Congressional legislation affecting veterans changed over the years. For the members of the armed forces and their families in the nation's early wars – the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War and the Spanish–American War – the response of the federal government had been essentially financial. This was clearly the legislative mission of the Senate Committee on Pensions which was created as one of the Senate's original standing committees in 1816 and continued until its termination in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.[1]

During World War I the nature of the congressional response to veterans' needs changed towards a more diversified set of programs. A war risk insurance program, which was referred to the Senate Finance Committee, changed the consideration of veterans benefits in the Senate. The Finance Committee was the Senate standing committee most responsible for veterans programs from 1917 to 1946. After World War II, the Finance Committee handled the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, the GI Bill of Rights, which extended to servicemen and their families, a number of benefits including unemployment assistance, education, vocational training, housing and business loan guarantees, as well as the traditional medical and pension benefits of previous times. Many experts believe this law was one of the most important elements in the expansion of the middle class following World War II.[1]

The Veterans' Affairs Committee had nine members in its initial congress, the 92nd Congress (1971–73). It now has a total of 19 members.[1]

Members, 119th Congress

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Majority[2] Minority[3]
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According to committee members' official online biographies, five (Banks, Blumenthal, Duckworth, Gallego, Sheehy) of the nineteen members are veterans.

Chairs of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 1971–present

Name Party State Years
Template:Party color cell Vance Hartke Democratic Indiana 1971Template:Snd1977
Template:Party color cell Alan Cranston Democratic California 1977Template:Snd1981
Template:Party color cell Alan K. Simpson Republican Wyoming 1981Template:Snd1985
Template:Party color cell Frank Murkowski Republican Alaska 1985Template:Snd1987
Template:Party color cell Alan Cranston Democratic California 1987Template:Snd1993
Template:Party color cell Jay Rockefeller Democratic West Virginia 1993Template:Snd1995
Template:Party color cell Alan K. Simpson Republican Wyoming 1995Template:Snd1997
Template:Party color cell Arlen Specter Republican Pennsylvania 1997Template:Snd2001
Template:Party color cell Jay Rockefeller Democratic West Virginia 2001Template:Snd2003
Template:Party color cell Arlen Specter Republican Pennsylvania 2003Template:Snd2005
Template:Party color cell Larry Craig Republican Idaho 2005Template:Snd2007
Template:Party color cell Daniel Akaka Democratic Hawaii 2007Template:Snd2011
Template:Party color cell Patty Murray Democratic Washington 2011Template:Snd2013
Template:Party color cell Bernie Sanders Independent Vermont 2013Template:Snd2015
Template:Party color cell Johnny Isakson Republican Georgia 2015Template:Snd2019
Template:Party color cell Jerry Moran Republican Kansas 2020Template:Snd2021
Template:Party color cell Jon Tester Democratic Montana 2021Template:Snd2025
Template:Party color cell Jerry Moran Republican Kansas 2025Template:Sndpresent

Historical committee rosters

118th Congress

Majority[4] Minority[5]
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According to committee members' official online biographies, two of the eighteen members are veterans: Richard Blumenthal and Dan Sullivan.

117th Congress

Majority Minority
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Source:[6]

116th Congress

Majority Minority
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115th Congress

Majority Minority
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Source:[7]

114th Congress

Majority Minority
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Source:[8]

113th Congress

Majority Minority
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Source: Template:USCongRec to 297

112th Congress

Majority Minority
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Source: Template:USCongRec

111th Congress

Majority Minority
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Source: Template:USCongRec and Template:USCongRec

110th Congress

Majority Minority
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See also

Notes

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References

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External links

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  1. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Template:PD-notice
  2. ↑ Template:Ordinal-congress/SRes/Template:Replace SRes Template:Replace (119th Congress)
  3. ↑ Template:Ordinal-congress/SRes/Template:Replace SRes Template:Replace (119th Congress)
  4. ↑ Template:Ordinal-congress/SRes/Template:Replace SRes Template:Replace (118th Congress)
  5. ↑ Template:Ordinal-congress/SRes/Template:Replace SRes Template:Replace (118th Congress)
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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