Political Quotes

“We rise today to speak about the VA MISSION Act, bipartisan legislation that would make much needed reforms to the VA Choice and VA Community Care programs. Among these reforms, the existing VA Choice program, funded as a mandatory program, will merge with a streamlined Medical Community Care program, funded with discretionary dollars. I commend my colleagues for a job well done. As chairman of the Appropriations Committee, however, I want to express my concern that this legislation authorizes significant discretionary spending for the VA without providing any way to pay for it under the spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act, BCA. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this bill will cost $49 billion over the next 5 years--roughly $10 billion per year. Without relief from the caps plus an anticipated return to sequestration levels in 2020, this $49 billion could come at the expense of existing programs, including those at the VA. I am also concerned that the underlying bill only provides funding for the VA Choice program through May of 2019, with no funding plan for the new program which is expected to come online in fiscal year 2019. These problems are not insurmountable. They do, however, require funding above and beyond what was contemplated in both the caps deal and the BCA. Fortunately, there is existing law and ample precedent for adjusting spending caps to reflect changes resulting from a shift in mandatory spending to discretionary spending.…”