Mark Takano: “I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to give praise to the gentleman from Florida, Chairman…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to give praise to the gentleman from Florida, Chairman Miller, for the way in which he has conducted the hearings and conducted the business of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. In no way do we wish to imply that the House has not done its due diligence. As my colleagues have mentioned, the motion before us to instruct the House conferees to accept the bipartisan McCain-Sanders bill--and I want to emphasize it is a bipartisan bill--that passed the Senate by 93 votes, would allow veterans to seek care outside the VA health care system if they face long wait times or if they live far from a VA medical facility. It also allows the VA to hire more doctors and nurses and authorizes leases for 26 new major VA facilities, which I do not believe the House language contains. It improves access to health care for military and sexual assault providers. Finally, it includes several nonhealth-related provisions, such as the provision of in-State tuition for all veterans at public colleges and universities. This is a provision that was authored by my friend, Mr. Miller. The revelation that numerous VA facilities manipulated data with respect to wait times is disturbing. It is even more disturbing to learn that those practices may have resulted in the deaths of dozens of our veterans.…”