Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
The United States Senate maintains 16 permanent Committees to monitor issues of national importance. One of these permanent Committees is the Committee on Veterans Affairs, which has been in charge of veterans’ issues since 1970.
The Committee on Veterans Affairs was created over 40 years ago with the purpose of consolidating the responsibilities for veterans into a single committee. Before this Committee was created, senators from the Committees on Finance, Labor, and other areas tried to manage multiple areas of veteran needs. Now, all veterans’ issues are overseen by the same Committee.
Who is on the Committee and What Does it Do?
There are a total of 14 senators on the Committee for the 113th Congress. The Chairman is Bernard Sanders, and the Ranking Member is Richard Burr. The Committee consists of 6 republicans, 7 democrats, and 1 independent member. Two of the 14 Committee members are veterans themselves.
The role of the Committee is to monitor on-going government operations, such as the administration of the VA. The committee also identifies veterans’ issues suitable for the legislature to review, investigates and gathers information, and evaluates problems with the VA, and then recommends courses of action to the Senate.
For more information or to contact a Committee member, visit the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs website.
