[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 79 (Wednesday, June 21, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1072-E1073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      VETERANS TRAVEL FAIRNESS ACT

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                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 21, 2000

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, a major issue of concern for veterans and 
their families in rural areas all around this nation is the long 
distances they must travel to receive medical care at the VA hospitals. 
The current VA reimbursement rate for privately owned motor vehicle use 
is unreasonable and presents a real hardship for many rural veterans, 
some of whom must travel hundreds of miles to receive care. The issue 
is especially important now, because of the high price of gasoline.
  As many of us know, the cost of driving and maintaining a motor 
vehicle is significant. The travel reimbursement rate developed for 
Federal employees reflects these costs. This rate is the established 
Internal Revenue Service rate, the same, fair rate that we are allowed 
to claim on our income taxes. Currently, the Veterans Affairs travel 
reimbursement rate is only 11 cents per mile, compared to a rate of 
32.5 cents per mile used by Federal employees and the IRS.
  Why should a veteran driving 100 miles across the state for medical 
care be reimbursed only $11.00, when a Federal employee gets $32.50 for 
going the same distance to a meeting in his own car? In fact, 
Department of Veterans Affairs employees themselves get reimbursed at 
the higher rate, while the clients they serve are expected to travel at 
a fraction of the cost. It simply does not make sense for the VA to use 
a different and stingy method to determine reimbursement rates for vets 
that are only one-third what is considered reasonable for Federal 
employees.
  I am introducing this bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to 
provide that the rate of reimbursement for motor vehicle travel 
regulated under the beneficiary travel program of

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the Department of Veterans Affairs be the same as the rate for private 
vehicle reimbursement for Federal employees.
  This is an equity issue and also a matter of respect in the way we 
treat our veterans. Our vets deserve the same travel reimbursement rate 
as Federal employees. Please join me in supporting this bill.

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