Gus Bilirakis: “I appreciate Mrs. Walorski doing an outstanding job with this bill. The chairman and the ranking member are champions of…”

“I appreciate Mrs. Walorski doing an outstanding job with this bill. The chairman and the ranking member are champions of veterans. Again, I rise today in support of H.R. 467, the VA Scheduling Accountability Act, because all veterans deserve timely access to quality health care. In 2014, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee uncovered the use of unauthorized waiting lists at the Phoenix VA healthcare system in Phoenix, Arizona. As a result of these waiting lists, no less than 40 veterans died while waiting for care. This is unacceptable. It is heartbreaking and completely, as I said, unacceptable. These are true American heroes, and we cannot allow something like this to ever happen again. Our investigations found that noncompliance with the VA's scheduling policies was a widespread and systematic problem. This bill today requires that all VA medical center directors certify each year that their facility is in compliance with the scheduling directive. If a VA medical center is found noncompliant, H.R. 476 will hold those leaders accountable. Our bill makes certain that those who fail in their duty to serve our veterans will not be receiving bonuses or awards anytime soon. Lack of oversight, lack of accountability, and lack of transparency led to the 2014 wait-times crisis. The VA Scheduling Accountability Act will help ensure those mistakes are not repeated, and improve access to timely care for our Nation's heroes. Again, I thank the sponsor of the bill, Mrs.…”