To: Members of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
From: National Taxpayers Union
Date: March 26, 2026
Subject: NTU’s Views Regarding the March 26 Subcommittee Markup
I. Introduction
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union, the nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, we write to express our opposition to two bills slated for consideration before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on March 26, 2026. In light of this year’s estimated $1.8 trillion federal budget deficit and our overall federal debt of $39 trillion, NTU requests that the Committee more carefully consider the interests of taxpayers and fully offset the cost of proposals to expand veterans’ benefits, without relying on budgetary gimmicks.
II. Legislation NTU Opposes at March 26 Markup
H.R. 1004: Love Lives On Act of 2025
While this bill intends to fix a well-known issue regarding veterans benefits, allowing for the preservation of benefits for surviving spouses of fallen members of the Armed Forces or veterans after they remarry, it likely comes with a price tag to taxpayers high enough to merit further discussion on appropriate levels of support going forward. While veteran advocates for this legislation estimate that this legislation would cost taxpayers approximately $2 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not estimated the fiscal impact of this bill. However, rough estimates of marriage rates, the number of current survivors, and the average per-survivor benefits cost to VA indicate that the cost could approach $4 billion over 10 years. This level of cost uncertainty should signify the need to have a CBO score in hand prior to legislative consideration.
H.R. 5339: Susan E. Lukas 9/11 Servicemember Fairness Act
This legislation would expand the “presumption of service connection” for veterans who served at the Pentagon in the months after the September 11 terrorist attack on the complex and who are diagnosed later in life with any of a variety of diseases, including cancer, asthma, COPD, and any sort of skin disease. Even if a connection between the late onset of this disease in a veteran to the 9/11 attack cannot be proved, this legislation would make the federal government responsible for care regarding these conditions. While the attack was horrible, and the clean up needed afterwards difficult and extensive, it is concerning that this bill would make taxpayers responsible for the long term health care of affected veterans for diseases that are quite common among all older Americans. Without further study, including a full cost estimate from CBO, it would be difficult for the government to differentiate disease onset from breathing toxic fumes or particles at the Pentagon after 9/11 or from, for example, eating too many fried foods or not exercising enough. Without this additional information, it seems premature for the Subcommittee to consider this legislation further.
III. Conclusion
Overall spending at the Department of Veterans Affairs has grown by over 500% in the last 20 years, from $60 billion in 2004 to $326 billion in 2024. This rate of growth is unsustainable in today’s federal budget context. All taxpayers, including those who have served our country in uniform, deserve that a closer examination of proposed increased spending is made before taxpayers are asked to open their checkbooks further. In this context, we oppose these bills in their current form, and urge the Subcommittee to include a sustainable way to pay for these measures in future versions of the bill. Should you have any questions about the recommendations in this memo, please do not hesitate to reach out to David Timmons (dtimmons@ntu.org).