At Thursday's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) questioned VA Sec. Doug Collins.
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00:00Representative Mays.
00:02Representative Mays.
00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:04I would like to thank the Ranking Member and Secretary Collins.
00:07Welcome.
00:08I look forward to working with you as we refocus the VA on what is always meant to do,
00:13serve veterans and not push social experiments.
00:16For the past four years, veterans took a backseat to identity politics, gender ideology, DEI dogma.
00:22Every dollar wasted on the woke agenda was a dollar stolen from real care for real heroes.
00:28President Trump has given you a clear mandate, in the circus, restore the mission.
00:33So let's talk biological reality, something the last administration ignored.
00:37President Trump has made it clear there are two sexes, male and female.
00:40They're assigned at birth, they can't be changed, and taxpayers should not put the bill for surgical or chemical mutilation.
00:47How is the VA implementing President Trump's directives to restore biological reality and end taxpayer-funded sex changes?
00:54By doing exactly what the EO has called for, we're no longer doing that.
01:00We've stopped care.
01:01If they were currently in hormonal treatment, or they're coming off of it from DOD,
01:05they're going to continue that because there is some health issues associated with that,
01:08so that's not being taken care of.
01:10But we're not starting, and we're also not getting into sex change operations.
01:14Those are just not something that the VA is going to be doing.
01:16Yeah, what we do, what these people do to themselves or doctors is, it's crazy, and it harms them physically and mentally.
01:25What steps has the VA taken to redirect money previously spent on gender ideology back toward actual veteran care?
01:31Well, I think what we're redirecting money back is to our, you know, paralyzed veterans, amputees, moving the monies to where it can be best spent.
01:39And again, I think that's the overall function of everything that we do is making sure that our health care system has,
01:44is just my priorities is making sure our veterans have the benefits that they've earned.
01:48DEI is out, equal opportunity is in, equity, politics, and racial discrimination disguised as virtue and virtue signaling have no place to the VA.
01:57How many DEI-related contracts has the VA canceled, and what was the price tag on those savings?
02:03There were a number of contracts, and the total value that we saw on those contracts was about $6.1 million.
02:09And how has that freed up resources to be reallocated to improve veteran care?
02:13As we said, it went back toward allocation toward community care and prosthetics, as we were looking for that.
02:19As an animal lover, I applaud the VA for ending painful, unnecessary experiments on dogs and cats.
02:24This was a bold step under President Trump, and Congress has since required the VA to phase out primate testing by 2026.
02:31What's the current status on phasing out animal testing, particularly on primates?
02:35We're on track to make sure that that directive is met.
02:38In fact, in some instances, we may be even able to meet that goal sooner.
02:42Is the VA exploring any innovative non-animal research methods to replace outdated and inhumane testing on animals?
02:48Yes, we're always looking for ways to make the research as valuable to those that it needed.
02:53And also, again, we're in an area in which prosthetics and that kind of information with amputees is something very central to the VA.
03:01So it is something we're looking at.
03:04And then what can other agencies learn from the VA's leadership in ending these cruel and obsolete animal experiments, do you think?
03:10Well, I think, you know, judging from the reaction to Congress, also what the president has also stated and laid out, I think is just following the rules as we go forward here.
03:18Thanks to your leadership and President Trump's direction, the VA is finally being restored to its rightful purpose, delivering world-class care to those who serve their country.
03:27I look forward to continuing this mission with you.
03:30We wish you a lot of luck and many blessings to get the job done, and we believe in you.
03:36I yield back, Mr. Chairman.