On the recordSeptember 14, 2016
As this body works to find ways to ensure that the VA is meeting the needs of the veteran community, we must ensure that we do not rob them of critical tools which have already helped the VA to address its claims backlog. This amendment, based on Representative Sean Patrick Maloney's standalone legislation, the Disabled Veterans Red Tape Reduction Act, ensures that the VA has one more tool in its toolkit in order to meet its mission. It accomplishes this by allowing veterans to have their medical examinations done by physicians outside the VA system to help process veterans' disability claims faster. In the past, we have been able to work across party lines in order to keep in place this essential tool the VA needs to address the backlog. This important authority is due to expire at the end of the year; and without timely action from Congress, the VA would be even more overburdened. This program works; that is why we need it. The fact that Congress would otherwise let this expire, when our VA system is already overburdened, is just unconscionable. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
