[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 136 (Wednesday, December 27, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11854-S11855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       VETERANS BENEFITS, HEALTHCARE, AND INFORMATION ACT OF 2006

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, as ranking member of the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs, I urge my colleagues to support our veterans, 
current servicemembers, and their families by supporting S. 3421, an 
omnibus veterans measure entitled Veterans Benefits, Healthcare, and 
Information Technology Act of 2006.
  This measure is a compromise agreement between the House Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs and the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and is 
based on several pieces of legislation. Like all compromises, no one 
got all he or she wanted, but in the end, I believe that it represents 
a good package of provisions. This legislation would improve and expand 
a wide variety of services to our veterans, and includes provisions 
relating to veterans benefits, health care, and information technology 
matters for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Of particular 
importance are provisions to enhance mental health and readjustment 
services for veterans returning to civilian life, to improve long-term 
care services for aging veterans, and to modify the State veterans' 
home program.
  At the outset, I note my dissatisfaction with the undue haste with 
which the legislative package, the bill itself and the accompanying 
explanatory statement that my colleague, the committee chairman, 
Senator Craig, will include at the end of his remarks, was assembled.
  Because of the way this legislation was negotiated, we were not able 
to reach final agreement on its contents until Wednesday morning, just 
two days ago. At that time, the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs 
Committee for the first time agreed to negotiate on a particular 
provision passed by the House relating to a construction project in 
South Carolina. As a consequence of his belated agreement to enter into 
discussions, we were able to arrive at a compromise, a result that we 
could have achieved in September.
  Because the final agreement was reached so late in the session, staff 
of the two committees and from the two Offices of Legislative Counsel, 
worked many long hours trying to accomplish the nearly impossible task 
of assembling the bill, which is over 160 pages, and then drafting an 
explanatory statement on the legislation.
  In the best of times, such a process can easily take a week or more. 
We were forced to try to do it all in just 2 days. It is near certainty 
that this haste has led to the inclusion of errors in both the 
legislation and the explanatory statement, errors which could have been 
caught and remedied had there been sufficient time. This is certainly 
no way to do our business and, to the extent it will be in our power, 
we will not legislate this way in the future.
  That said, the bill is now before the Senate, and I will touch on 
some of the key provisions.
  The Department of Veterans Affairs has been tasked with meeting the 
needs of those who serve in the military, with a particular emphasis on 
those injured during their service. A number of provisions in the 
compromise agreement are intended to help VA fulfill that obligation.
  Often, the types of injuries endured in combat are invisible in 
nature. We must make sure that returning servicemembers receive the 
readjustment and mental health care services they need for a seamless 
reintegration to civilian life. Provisions in the compromise agreement 
seek to do just that by establishing VA systemwide guidelines for 
screening primary care patients for potential mental health issues, as 
well as appropriately training clinicians to carry out mental health 
consultations. Identifying the need for assistance is the first step; 
this measure also provides for the next step by ensuring that VA has 
the capacity to furnish mental health services at every VA community-
based outpatient clinic.
  Because veterans often seek readjustment counseling and other mental 
health care in their own communities, it is imperative that VA's 
veterans centers are able to provide needed services. The compromise 
agreement contains provisions, derived from S. 716, legislation I 
introduced which cleared the Senate nearly a year ago, which would 
authorize resources needed by

[[Page S11855]]

veterans centers to carry out their long standing mission of helping 
veterans. These provisions would also help ensure that VA has 
sufficiently trained outreach workers to encourage veterans to seek 
assistance. Veterans centers provide veterans with a safe place to turn 
for readjustment counseling or assistance; they make over 100,000 
referrals a year for benefits and VA medical services. In addition to 
providing counseling services to veterans, family members too can find 
solace at veterans centers. This legislation would clarify that parents 
of those servicemembers who have died would be eligible to receive 
bereavement counseling at veterans centers.
  The compromise agreement also addresses the goal of encouraging and 
supporting alternatives to institutional long-term care. It includes 
provisions derived from S. 2753, a bill I introduced, that was designed 
to promote assistance to those who look after veterans, especially in 
noninstitutional, home-based settings. The relevant provision in the 
compromise agreement would authorize VA to carry out a pilot program to 
assist family members who care for their disabled loved ones. 
Caregivers, particularly those who live in rural and geographically 
remote areas, would receive a helping hand through services such as 
adult day care and respite care.
  Furthermore, the compromise agreement seeks to ensure more 
appropriate payment for the cost of long-term care provided to certain 
seriously disabled veterans who are receiving care in State veterans' 
homes. In January 2006, the committee held field hearings in my home 
State of Hawaii. Tom Driskill, the president and CEO of Hawaii Health 
Systems Corporation, testified about the soon-to-be-built State home in 
Hilo. He said, ``The synergy of a combined Federal and State funding of 
the home has been the catalyst for making this dream a reality.'' The 
adjustments this legislation would make to the current cost-sharing 
arrangement between VA and the States, which are derived from S. 2762, 
legislation I introduced, will help ensure high quality care in State 
homes not only in Hawaii, but across the entire Nation.

  Currently, care is provided at no cost to the veteran when VA 
provides institutional, long-term care services to those with service-
connected disabilities rated 70 percent or higher in a VA nursing home 
or a private nursing care facility with which VA contracts. However, 
when the care is provided in a State veterans' home, VA pays only a per 
diem to the State, which then may bill the veteran for the remaining 
costs. This measure would provide for the same payment to State 
veterans' homes that is provided to community nursing homes.
  This compromise agreement also includes a provision from a bill I 
introduced, S. 1537, that would authorize VA to designate at least two 
Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence and six Parkinson's Disease 
Research, Education and Clinical Centers. VA centers of excellence have 
been the model of innovation in the delivery of highly specialized 
health care and research for chronic disease in the veteran population. 
Providing a statutory basis for these centers will ensure continued 
research and development of progressive treatments to help reduce 
symptoms and improve the quality of life for veterans battling with 
these neurological diseases. This provision is especially significant 
as it will be part of Congressman Lane Evans' legislative legacy, as 
ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. It is 
fitting that we pay tribute to his service through this measure. I 
thank my good friend and colleague for his leadership on this issue and 
for his service to our great Nation, as a marine and in Congress.
  The compromise agreement includes a provision that would allow VA to 
extend its State Cemetery Grants Program to tribal organizations. This 
change, derived from my bill, S. 2659, would allow for the 
establishment, expansion, and improvement of veterans cemeteries on 
trust lands. If enacted, it will enable veterans living on trust lands 
to have an option for burial much closer to their family members and 
other loved ones.
  Another provision in the compromise would authorize VA to provide 
home loan guarantees to veterans who want to use their home loan 
eligibility to purchase stock in a cooperative housing corporation. 
Under current law, VA is authorized to guarantee loans for eligible 
veterans and their survivors to build or buy a home, including 
residential condominiums. In many large cities, housing cooperatives 
make up a large percentage of available affordable housing. This 
provision, derived originally from legislation introduced by Senator 
Schumer, would give veterans greater housing choice by allowing them to 
use their hard-earned benefits to buy shares in a housing cooperative.
  In response to the concerns of some individuals, the provisions in 
the compromise agreement related to allowing veterans and other 
claimants to hire attorneys to represent them before VA have been 
modified from what originally passed the Senate earlier this year, so 
as to allow individuals to hire attorneys only after a notice of 
disagreement has been filed in a case. This change should result in 
there being no impact on the claims adjudication system until after VA 
renders its first final decision. Currently, veterans are prohibited 
from retaining counsel until after the Board of Veterans' Appeals 
renders a final decision.
  Additionally, I am pleased that we were able to reach a compromise on 
information security matters. I remain committed to ensuring that VA 
takes aggressive action to protect our veterans' personal information, 
and in the event of a data breach, that they provide the affected 
veterans with appropriate identity and credit protection services.
  I also express my satisfaction at our success in maintaining the 
provisions in current law which prohibit the use of appropriated VA 
health care funds for conducting public and private cost comparison 
studies. This prohibition protects veterans by precluding the use of 
scarce health care dollars for other purposes and protects VA employees 
from efforts to privatize their duties.
  This legislation is appropriate and needed at a time when our 
service-members are in harm's way. We must always remember the 
sacrifices that our servicemembers, both past and present, have made on 
behalf of this great Nation, and we must do our part to respond to 
their service by remaining strong in our support of veterans services.
  I am proud that our committee continues its tradition of 
bipartisanship. The effort that produced the final version of this 
legislation, vital to the continued provision of quality health care 
and benefits to our Nation's veterans, is just the latest example of 
that spirit. I thank Senator Craig for his leadership and for his 
cooperation and assistance. I also thank the staff of the majority, 
especially Bill Cahill, Jon Towers, Amanda Meredith, Helen Walker, and 
Lupe Wissel, as well as those on the Democratic staff, Kim Lipsky, 
Alexandra Sardegna, Dahlia Melendrez, Ted Pusey, Michelle Moreno, and 
Bill Brew for their hard work on this legislation.
  At this time, Mr. President, I would like to take the opportunity to 
wish my warmest aloha to Senator Jim Jeffords, who is retiring after 32 
years in Congress. The Committee on Veterans' Affairs will be losing 
one of its finest and most esteemed members. A veteran himself, Senator 
Jeffords has been a strong voice and advocate for veterans. I thank 
Senator Jeffords for his service. He will truly be missed.
  I urge my colleagues to support this compromise agreement on behalf 
of America's veterans and their families.

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