Gus Bilirakis

The budget request maintains the IG funding as the same as fiscal year 2017.

I have a bill that I filed, HR1994, the Vocational Education and Training Enhancement for Reintegration Assistance Act, called the Veterans' Act.

The sooner the better--so we can get started.

Very productive, as far as I am concerned.

If we really want to prevent suicides we have to get to homeless veterans.

Well, that is good news. What other ways in examples could this benefit the public when natural disasters or terrorist attacks may happen?

This week recognizes National Police Week. I would like to especially highlight the small but significant things officers do for our communities. Police officers in Clearwater, Florida, surprised a 10-year-old robbery victim with lunch…

I recently visited The Next 24, an addiction recovery residential home in New Port Richey, Florida. They do fantastic work to give those impacted by addiction a second chance. After all, the opioid crisis is not only a national epidemic…

While the Veterans Choice Program is by no means perfect--the chairman said this, as well as the ranking member--many of our men and women who wore our Nation's uniform rely on it for increased access to quality health care. I strongly…

In the 21st Century Cures Act, we were able to pass reform language to modernize the Office of Combination Products.

Thank you. Anyone else?

So physicians have to schedule their own appointments?

The OPEN Act has the potential to result in hundreds of new drugs and treatments for individuals with rare diseases.

As you know, combination products are products on the market that have elements of a medical device and a drug, like inhalers and insulin injectors.

Last month my colleague and I, G.K. Butterfield, introduced the OPEN Act for the second time.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. Thanks for allowing me to ask the questions.

I have enjoyed working with my chairman, and, of course, our ranking member, on behalf of our true American heroes over the years, and we have got much more good work to do for our heroes. Mr. Chairman, too often, the VA has failed to hold…

In recent weeks, I held three townhall meetings and a roundtable discussion about health care in my district. Hundreds of constituents attended, and altogether I spent more than 10 hours listening to our folks. The best ideas come from the…

The falsification of wait time data is what led to the 2014 Access Accountability Act and the creation of the Choice Program in the first place.

And they deserve the best health care, the best timely care.

How do you speed up the process? I mean, we advertise the Choice Program when we talk to our constituents, you know, and in a lot of cases, it is not working.

I look forward, Mr. Secretary, to working with you on your role, and I am hopeful that together we can find the right balance, the entire Committee, the VA in providing both VA and community care to our Nation's true American heroes.

As President Trump remarked in his joint address, we must work to bring down the high price of prescription drugs. Too often we have seen the price of lifesaving medication skyrocket due to bad actors taking advantage of monopolies in the…

A couple of years ago Turing Pharmaceuticals took an off-patent drug that treats HIV patients, Daraprim, and raised it by a price of 5000 percent.

I am proud to join my colleague, Congressman Kurt Schrader, to responsibly use the power of the free market to bring lower prices and more drug choices to the market.