On the recordJuly 28, 2015
This amendment carves out of the REINS Act's congressional approval procedures all regulations from the Department of Veterans Affairs that concern the availability of affordable medication and effective healthcare management for veterans. Affordable medication and effective healthcare management for veterans are goals every Member of Congress can support, but every Member of Congress also knows the Department of Veterans Affairs' appalling recent incompetence and negligence in administering its programs. Rather than diminish the Department's accountability to Congress for regulatory decisions concerning veterans' health care, we should increase the Department's accountability. That is precisely what the REINS Act does. Under the legislation, the Department will know that Congress must approve its major regulations concerning affordable medication and effective healthcare management before they go into effect. That provides a powerful incentive for the Department to write the best possible regulations, ones that Congress can easily approve. I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
