Annie Kuster

So at the risk of sounding overly lawyerly, I want to follow the benefit, if I could, on behalf of the veterans and the taxpayers.

The VA plays a vital role in our national health care delivery system.

I hope I convince my colleagues to support my request to put more money in, to not be borrowing or leveraging in this way, to be very clear that we need to pay for transporting and picking up and storing foods.

And so the work that we do that leverages, that makes sure that we are encouraging, as you do, incredible private work, as well as our responsibility to change a variety of systems so that people really have the supports that they need to…

And I make this statement at every hearing because until it is resolved, it hurts me every day to remind all of my colleagues and everyone who comes before this Committee that New Mexico is still one of the hungriest states in the country.

I thank Ranking Member Kaptur. I rise today to speak about the importance of the funding of the Office of Public Participation within the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known fondly to us as the FERC, an office that has never been…

Today I rise to discuss bipartisan efforts to improve the work our Nation does to care for our veterans. Next week we will be honoring those who gave their lives for this country on Memorial Day. We will commemorate the lives and the…

What is going to happen to the existing hospital? What happens to the Denver facility?

I think it is very, very effective.

This included the Jason Simcakoski PROMISE Act, a bill that Congressman Coffman and I championed, which will help improve opioid prescription practices at the VA all across the country.

When do you expect that a veteran will walk through those doors and get some kind of help?

They have managed to bring down the use of opiates by 50 percent.

Are we going to make any gains in optometry?

I just want to join my colleagues in my sympathy for the family of Noah Harter.

As Members of Congress, just last week we passed 18 bills in the House of Representatives to address the opioid epidemic.

I think our appropriation is $1.6 billion at this point, billion with a 'B'.

So let's just fast forward. Let's take five years. Finally, we have a new facility. What do you expect will happen with the Denver facility?

I think that is something for your administration to stay on top of, to make sure that your physicians are using that on a regular basis because it will help us to identify sooner in the process people with drug seeking behavior.

I am concerned about several of the Drug Enforcement Agency's findings in its investigations of the Denver VA Medical Center's handling of prescription medication.

And what about the tracking? Walk me through the tracking for when the package arrives...

We now consume more opiates in the United States, 75 percent of the opiates produced in the world.

There was a bill in the package that will make the prescription drug monitoring interstate.

After $1.6 billion, can we get a few years out of this one?

So there are no cost savings from here on out?

I was impressed. There were several Members of Congress who have a background in pharmacy, and they were very forthcoming that substance use disorder is undiscerning in terms of who it chooses.