Senator Hassan Meets with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Nominee Doug Collins

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan today met with former Congressman Doug Collins, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator Hassan will participate in a hearing on Rep. Collins’s nomination.

“Representative Collins and I had a constructive conversation about the importance of ensuring that veterans in New Hampshire and across the country get the full health care and benefits that they have earned and deserve. In our meeting, I stressed the importance of continuing to forge bipartisan progress to improve the VA and deliver meaningful results for veterans, including by investing in VA infrastructure in New Hampshire and building on progress that we have made through the bipartisan PACT Act and other recent legislation. We also discussed the need for us to continue to strengthen mental health care services for veterans and to make sure that rural veterans have reliable access to quality, prompt care and services,” said Senator Hassan. “My father was a World War II veteran, and he instilled in me the importance of honoring service and sacrifice. I deeply appreciate Representative Collins’s service to our country in uniform, including during his deployment to Iraq. I look forward to hearing more from him during his confirmation hearing, and I will continue to work with members of both parties on additional ways to support and honor the heroes who have helped keep America safe, secure, and free.”

As a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator Hassan has led bipartisan efforts to support service members, veterans, and their families. Senator Hassan helped develop and pass the bipartisan PACT Act into law to help veterans secure the benefits and care that they have earned. Senator Hassan also helped create and fund the 988 suicide hotline, which has a specified veterans crisis line, as well as helped pass into law bipartisan legislation to strengthen the Solid Start program, which contacts every veteran three times by phone in the first year after they leave active duty service to check in and help connect them to VA programs and benefits. Congress also recently passed the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, bipartisan legislation that Senator Hassan helped introduce which, among other measures, expands home care services for veterans.

Senator Hassan has also met with several of President-elect Trump’s other nominees, including Homeland Security Secretary nominee Governor Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent, and U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer.

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