Rep. Bruce Braley missed 79% VA committee meetings

A claim about out raising funds for re-election instead of showing up at Veterans Affairs Committee meetings turned out to not be true, but the fact remains Braley missed 79% of the meetings. It is also true, but hardly ever reported, that most miss these meetings. CSPAN covers them. You can see the empty chairs in session after session. If you want to know why things have hit crisis levels over and over again, that is the biggest reason behind it. Politicians don't show up when veterans need them. Until reporters jump all over a story, they don't even bother to know what they are supposed to be in control of. Every veteran suffering, fighting for care they earned, can thank members of congress for their ambivalence.

Ad says Bruce Braley was raising money during a veterans affairs hearing
Tampa Bay Times
PolitiFact.com
July 25, 2014

A new ad from Concerned Veterans for America says Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, skipped 79 percent of veterans affairs committee hearings.

Attackers say U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, skipped an important Veterans Affairs Committee hearing to raise money for his campaign, but Braley says that’s not true.

Braley "skipped an astonishing 79 percent of veterans affairs committee hearings. He even skipped an important VA reform hearing to attend three fundraisers," says the television ad from Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group with funding linked to the Koch brothers.

Braley is running against Republican Joni Ernst for the U.S. Senate seat held by Tom Harkin, and veterans affairs are in the news because of delayed access to health care.

We looked at whether Braley skipped 79 percent of veterans affairs committee hearings. We rated that Mostly True, because Braley did miss close to that amount.

However, Braley said he did not skip a hearing to raise money, so we’re checking that claim here.

Our ruling

An ad said Braley "skipped an important VA reform hearing to attend three fundraisers."

He had three fundraisers the same day, but none overlapped with the veterans affairs committee hearing. He was counted as present at an oversight hearing about Fast and Furious that happened at the same time.

We rate this claim Mostly False.
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