On the recordJune 3, 2014
as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I rise today to introduce the Ensuring Veterans Access to Care Act of 2014. I thank the 16 cosponsors of this legislation, and they are Senators Rockefeller, Begich, Shaheen, Kaine, Reed, Merkley, Casey, Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Heinrich, Udall of New Mexico, Schatz, Baldwin, Wyden, Hirono, and Leahy. It is safe to say there is broad bipartisan agreement among all of us that every veteran in this country who enters the VA health care system deserves high-quality care and deserves that care in a timely manner. Overall, talking to veterans in Vermont and, in fact, throughout this country, talking to the veterans service organizations who represent their interests and reading independent studies, they all confirm that by and large, once veterans get into the VA health care system, the system is, in fact, quite good. However, it has become clear--and I think all of us are aware of what has happened in the last month--that while quality is generally good, there are too many veterans throughout this country waiting too long to access this care. In recent years, the VA has seen a huge increase in its patient load. In fact, in the last 4 years, 2 million new veterans have come into the system, many of them with very complicated health care cases, including TBI, post-traumatic stress disorder, and many of the needs that older veterans and older people generally have.…
