On the recordJuly 31, 2014
I first thank everybody who worked on this. I know there are a lot of political conundrums that people find themselves in. We have an August recess. This issue has come up. But I wonder if I could ask a question of the Senator from Oklahoma, who knows so much about these issues. Our staff has looked at the CBO report, and people keep talking about $10 billion on the floor, but the Choice Program is only funded for 3 years. It looks to me as if this bill is really creating an unfunded liability. It is a $250 billion cost over the next decade. I can't verify that based on the CBO numbers that have come out. But as we look at them, it looks as if the Choice Program continues and grows, and the number we are talking about is massive. So I do wish we had more detailed information from CBO, the kind of information we got on the first bill after the fact. For some reason, we are not getting it on this. But it appears to me that if this choice concept continues and we don't do those things to actually wind down and backfill--wind down VA for not providing services to these people because they are seeking it elsewhere--the cost of this could well be $250 billion over the next 10 years unpaid for. I would like for somebody to answer that. I don't know if Senator Coburn or someone else could. But we are not talking about $10 billion is all I am saying. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
