Grace Meng: “This amendment would require the VA Secretary to establish a program encouraging members of our Armed Forces serving as…”

“This amendment would require the VA Secretary to establish a program encouraging members of our Armed Forces serving as health professionals to pursue jobs with the Veterans Health Administration upon discharge or separation from the military. As we all know, the VHA has existing shortages of health professionals. We also know that our servicemen and -women sometimes have difficulty transitioning back to civilian life after serving. What would be better than having a servicemember with healthcare training and experience transition into employment with the VHA serving their brothers and sisters? Mr. Chair, I believe that everyone wins with this amendment. This program would be completely optional to participate in, would help reduce staffing shortages at the VHA, and would provide job opportunities to recently discharged servicemembers. I urge support for this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.”