Jeff Denham

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: At the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following: Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act…

I think every member of this committee, I think every Member of Congress is going to be looking at their local VA centers and wanting to know the truth on what's happening in their communities.

I am convinced that the drought will change the agricultural landscape of California, the number one ag state in the nation.

It is the responsibility of this committee to ensure that the VA is meeting the mission requirement.

A bill to reinstate an annual report on the capacity of the VA to provide for specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of disabled veterans.

Thank you, Chairman Benishek, Ranking Member Brownley, and thank you to the panel as supporters of H.R. 4198, the Appropriate Care for Disabled Veterans Act.

Telling a disabled veteran that has come back from serving in our military that they may have to wait because we do not know is not an acceptable answer.

I am pleased that this legislation has the support of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans.

With this bill we have the opportunity to restore and modernize that reporting requirement so that this committee and our partners in the VSO community maintain a thorough understanding of the VA's ability to provide specialized care…

I would like to thank the witnesses for coming before us today and I look forward to their testimony.

This bill is very simple. Just as an example, currently, at the Oakland Regional office of the Veterans Benefits Administration, which serves the veterans in my district, there are over 20,000 pending claims.

Our goal with this legislation is simple: to uphold the promises we've made to our veterans by ending the backlog and getting them the benefits they have earned and deserve.

This bill will help remove that hurdle from the benefits claims process.

Currently at the Oakland Regional Office of the Veterans Benefits Administration, which serves the veterans in my district, there are over 20,000 pending claims.

The bill will end redundant Department of Veterans Affairs claims processing practices and allow veterans in my district to receive their benefits more rapidly.

Two years ago, the House passed legislation seeking to address the imbalance in the State's water system, and it was only met with criticism and dismissal.

If California had its priorities right, we would be building water storage instead of a train that may never come.

You have to show us what you are for. If you are having an emergency here and you disagree with an approach, then either introduce a bill of your own or show us what you are for.

It is certainly alarming that you wouldn't be focusing on all water bills, certainly in an emergency, where the State has declared an emergency.

We can't wait any longer. We are now in that place that we did not want to be, and I believe there is a better opportunity.

More than 14 million seniors nationwide depend on Medicare Advantage plans for their health care needs. In two of the counties that I represent in California's Central Valley, over 60,000 seniors are enrolled in Medicare Advantage. The…

The combined effects of these payment cuts and the new health insurance tax are already being felt through cancelled plans, reduced benefits and increased copays.

I want to thank Rep. Jeff Denham for his bill, H.R. 4201, which would enable Medicare Advantage plans to inform potential enrollees of how Obamacare's cuts to the program may impact their choices of plans.

This is straightforward legislation. It will serve to inform the more than 14 million seniors currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage about how the Affordable Care Act is affecting the healthcare plans that they rely on every day.

Did the 111th Congress really mean to cut Medicare Advantage in order to subsidize the Affordable Care Act?