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]
^ abcdefgBernie Sanders is an Independent, but caucuses with Democrats on the committee.
^Kyrsten Sinema is formally an independent but caucuses with the Democrats.
^Angus King is formally an independent but caucuses with the Democrats.
Referencesedit
^ abcd"About: United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs". United States Senate. Retrieved April 7, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^"United States Veteran Affair's Committee Member List". United States Veteran's Affairs. January 3, 2021. from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
^"U.S. Senate: Committee on Veterans' Affairs". www.senate.gov. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
^"Committee on Veterans' Affairs Members, 2015-2016". Ballotpedia.
External linksedit
United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs (Archive)
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.
December 12, 2023
united, states, senate, committee, veterans, affairs, deals, with, oversight, united, states, veterans, problems, issues, senate, veterans, affairs, committeestanding, committeeactive, united, states, senate118th, congresshistoryformedoctober, 1970leadershipch. The United States Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs deals with oversight of United States veterans problems and issues Senate Veterans Affairs CommitteeStanding committeeActive United States Senate118th CongressHistoryFormedOctober 26 1970LeadershipChairJon Tester D Since February 3 2021Ranking memberJerry Moran R Since February 3 2021StructureSeats19 membersPolitical partiesMajority 10 Democratic 7 Independent 3 Minority 9 Republican 9 JurisdictionOversight authorityDepartment of Veterans AffairsHouse counterpartHouse Committee on Veterans AffairsWebsitewww wbr veterans wbr senate wbr gov Contents 1 Description 2 Members 118th Congress 3 Chairs of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs 1971 present 4 Historical committee rosters 4 1 117th Congress 4 2 116th Congress 4 3 115th Congress 4 4 114th Congress 4 5 113th Congress 4 6 112th Congress 4 7 111th Congress 4 8 110th Congress 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksDescription editThe 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 118th Congress editMajority 2 Minority 3 Jon Tester Montana Chairman Patty Murray Washington Bernie Sanders Vermont a Sherrod Brown Ohio Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Mazie Hirono Hawaii Joe Manchin West Virginia Kyrsten Sinema Arizona b Maggie Hassan New Hampshire Angus King Maine c Jerry Moran Kansas Ranking Member John Boozman Arkansas Bill Cassidy Louisiana Mike Rounds South Dakota Thom Tillis North Carolina Dan Sullivan Alaska Marsha Blackburn Tennessee Kevin Cramer North Dakota Tommy Tuberville AlabamaAccording to committee members official online biographies two of the eighteen members are veterans Richard Blumenthal and Dan Sullivan Chairs of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs 1971 present editName Party State YearsVance Hartke Democratic Indiana 1971 1977Alan Cranston Democratic California 1977 1981Alan K Simpson Republican Wyoming 1981 1985Frank Murkowski Republican Alaska 1985 1987Alan Cranston Democratic California 1987 1993Jay Rockefeller Democratic West Virginia 1993 1995Alan K Simpson Republican Wyoming 1995 1997Arlen Specter Republican Pennsylvania 1997 2001Jay Rockefeller Democratic West Virginia 2001 2003Arlen Specter Republican Pennsylvania 2003 2005Larry Craig Republican Idaho 2005 2007Daniel Akaka Democratic Hawaii 2007 2011Patty Murray Democratic Washington 2011 2013Bernie Sanders Independent Vermont 2013 2015Johnny Isakson Republican Georgia 2015 2019Jerry Moran Republican Kansas 2020 2021Jon Tester Democratic Montana 2021 presentHistorical committee rosters edit117th Congress edit Majority MinorityJon Tester Montana Chair Patty Murray Washington Bernie Sanders Vermont a Sherrod Brown Ohio Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Mazie Hirono Hawaii Joe Manchin West Virginia Kyrsten Sinema Arizona Maggie Hassan New Hampshire Jerry Moran Kansas Ranking Member John Boozman Arkansas Bill Cassidy Louisiana Mike Rounds South Dakota Thom Tillis North Carolina Dan Sullivan Alaska Marsha Blackburn Tennessee Kevin Cramer North Dakota Tommy Tuberville AlabamaSource 4 116th Congress edit Majority MinorityJohnny Isakson Georgia Chair until December 31 2019 Jerry Moran Kansas Chair from January 6 2020 John Boozman Arkansas Bill Cassidy Louisiana Mike Rounds South Dakota Thom Tillis North Carolina Dan Sullivan Alaska Marsha Blackburn Tennessee Kevin Cramer North Dakota Kelly Loeffler Georgia from January 6 2020 Jon Tester Montana Ranking Member Patty Murray Washington Bernie Sanders Vermont a Sherrod Brown Ohio Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Mazie Hirono Hawaii Joe Manchin West Virginia Kyrsten Sinema Arizona115th Congress edit Majority MinorityJohnny Isakson Georgia Chair Jerry Moran Kansas John Boozman Arkansas Bill Cassidy Louisiana Mike Rounds South Dakota Thom Tillis North Carolina Dan Sullivan Alaska Jon Tester Montana Ranking Member Patty Murray Washington Bernie Sanders Vermont a Sherrod Brown Ohio Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Mazie Hirono Hawaii Joe Manchin West VirginiaSource 5 114th Congress edit Majority MinorityJohnny Isakson Georgia Chair Jerry Moran Kansas John Boozman Arkansas Dean Heller Nevada Bill Cassidy Louisiana Mike Rounds South Dakota Thom Tillis North Carolina Dan Sullivan Alaska Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Ranking Member Patty Murray Washington Bernie Sanders Vermont Sherrod Brown Ohio Jon Tester Montana Mazie Hirono Hawaii Joe Manchin West VirginiaSource 6 113th Congress edit Majority MinorityBernie Sanders Vermont Chairman Jay Rockefeller West Virginia Patty Murray Washington Sherrod Brown Ohio Jon Tester Montana Mark Begich Alaska Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Mazie Hirono Hawaii Richard Burr North Carolina Ranking Member Johnny Isakson Georgia Mike Johanns Nebraska Jerry Moran Kansas John Boozman Arkansas Dean Heller NevadaSource 2013 Congressional Record Vol 159 Page S296 to 297 112th Congress edit Majority MinorityPatty Murray Washington Chair Bernie Sanders Vermont a Jay Rockefeller West Virginia Sherrod Brown Ohio Jon Tester Montana Mark Begich Alaska Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Mazie Hirono Hawaii Richard Burr North Carolina Ranking Member Johnny Isakson Georgia Mike Johanns Nebraska Jerry Moran Kansas John Boozman Arkansas Dean Heller NevadaSource 2011 Congressional Record Vol 157 Page S557 111th Congress edit Majority MinorityDaniel Akaka Hawaii Chairman Jay Rockefeller West Virginia Patty Murray Washington Bernie Sanders Vermont a Sherrod Brown Ohio Jim Webb Virginia Jon Tester Montana Mark Begich Alaska Roland Burris Illinois until November 29 2010 Arlen Specter Pennsylvania Richard Burr North Carolina Ranking Member Johnny Isakson Georgia Roger Wicker Mississippi Mike Johanns Nebraska Scott Brown Massachusetts Lindsey Graham South CarolinaSource 2009 Congressional Record Vol 155 Page S5168 and 2010 Congressional Record Vol 156 Page S970 110th Congress edit Majority MinorityDaniel Akaka Chairman Hawaii Jay Rockefeller West Virginia Patty Murray Washington Bernie Sanders Vermont a Sherrod Brown Ohio Jim Webb Virginia Jon Tester Montana Richard Burr Ranking Member North Carolina Arlen Specter Pennsylvania Johnny Isakson Georgia Lindsey Graham South Carolina Roger Wicker Mississippi Mike Johanns NebraskaSee also editList of current United States Senate committees United States House Committee on Veterans Affairs United States Department of Veterans AffairsNotes edit a b c d e f g Bernie Sanders is an Independent but caucuses with Democrats on the committee Kyrsten Sinema is formally an independent but caucuses with the Democrats Angus King is formally an independent but caucuses with the Democrats References edit a b c d About United States Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs United States Senate Retrieved April 7 2017 nbsp This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain S Res 30 118th Congress S Res 31 118th Congress United States Veteran Affair s Committee Member List United States Veteran s Affairs January 3 2021 Archived from the original on October 5 2021 Retrieved October 5 2021 U S Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs www senate gov Retrieved January 8 2017 Committee on Veterans Affairs Members 2015 2016 Ballotpedia External links editUnited States Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Archive Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Legislation activity and reports Congress gov Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title United States Senate Committee on Veterans 27 Affairs amp oldid 1187366611, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
