Political Quotes

“I want to thank Chairman Miller for his leadership on this. I rise to oppose the substitute amendment. But I want to express my gratitude to the chairman for the work that he and the Veterans' Affairs Committee have done, all the work they have put into this legislation to prevent another VA catastrophe by making sure that the Choice Act funds we appropriated last year can be used for related veterans' community care expenditures. This bill will ensure that no veterans hospital or care for any veteran will be jeopardized due to the VA's continuing mismanagement of the influx of patients that followed last year's passage of the Choice Act. Once again, Congress is providing the VA with all the resources they require to provide timely, quality care to our veterans and their loved ones. It was only about a month ago that we were informed by the Department that there was a shortfall of the magnitude of almost $3.4 billion, and here we are today remedying this problem. The bill also proposes something that is sorely needed: the consolidation of the myriad programs VA uses to provide care outside their facilities. Veterans are confused. VA employees are confused. Doctors are confused. Reimbursement rates are not standardized. We need to make sure that the non-VA care program is thriving so that patients can get the high-quality care they deserve in their homes, in their home communities, right where they live.…”