V
9 plain-English definitions of the agencies, programs, laws and procedures that come up in bills and votes.
AI-AssistedWritten with AI from official sources. The official record always prevails. How we use AI.- VA Home Loan
- Program
A mortgage made by a private lender and partly guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which lets eligible veterans and service members buy a home, often with no down payment.
In Bills:H.R. 1815
- Veterans Benefits AdministrationVBA
- Agency
The part of the VA that handles benefits such as disability compensation, pensions, the GI Bill, home loans and vocational rehabilitation.
In Bills:H.R. 1823
- Veterans Community Care ProgramVCCP
- Program
The VA program, created by the MISSION Act of 2018, that pays for eligible veterans to see private doctors and other community providers, for example when VA care involves long waits or drives.
In Bills:H.R. 9237
- Veterans Health AdministrationVHA
- Agency
The part of the VA that runs its health care system, the largest integrated health care system in the country, with medical centers and clinics nationwide.
- Veto
- Congress
The president's rejection of a bill passed by Congress, returned with a message giving the reasons. Congress can override a veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
- Veto Override
- Congress
A vote by Congress to make a vetoed bill law anyway. It takes two-thirds of the members voting in both the House and the Senate, recorded by name.
- Violence Against Women ActVAWA
- Law
A 1994 law, renewed several times, that funds programs to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.
- Voice Vote
- Congress
A vote where members call out aye or no together and the presiding officer judges which side is louder. It records no names, so it does not show how individual members voted.
- Voting Rights ActVRA
- Law
The 1965 law that bans racial discrimination in voting, including practices that deny or dilute the votes of racial and language minorities.