[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 63 (Thursday, April 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S4748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RURAL VETERANS HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Ms. SNOWE. Madam President, I am a proud cosponsor of the Rural 
Veterans Health Care Improvement Act. Increasing access to veterans' 
health care facilities is essential to recognizing the realities that 
exist on the ground today, not only for veterans living in rural areas 
of my home State of Maine, but for the millions of veterans living in 
remote areas across our broad land. I applaud Senator Salazar for 
introducing this legislation at a time when so many of our veterans 
receive their health care through the VA and nearly half of today's 
active duty military servicemembers and tomorrow's veteran population 
list rural communities as their homes of record. Once again, I commend 
Senator Salazar for his continuing resoluteness and advocacy for our 
veterans.
  Our legislation will work to expand upon the Veterans Benefits, 
Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, which passed the 
Senate with my support at the end of the 109th Congress. Under that 
legislation, the Veterans Affairs Office of Rural Health was created in 
order to enhance access to VA medical facilities for veterans living in 
geographically remote areas.
  First off, our newly proposed legislation tasks the Office of Rural 
Health with developing demonstration projects that would broaden the 
access to health care in rural areas by way of partnership between the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services, and the Department of Health and Human Services at access 
hospitals and community health centers. Second, this bill calls on the 
Office of Rural Health to establish between one and five Centers for 
Excellence to be based at VA medical centers to research ways to 
improve health care for rural veterans.
  While increased outpatient care services in Maine and other 
underserved areas is a good step forward, it is only half of the 
equation. Veterans must also be able to get to the facilities, and 
while programs such as the Disabled American Veterans Transportation 
Network are to be commended, they simply cannot take care of all the 
transportation needs of all the patients who require VA health care.
  Therefore, our legislation would task the Director of the Office of 
Rural Health to create a program that would provide grants of up to 
$50,000 to veterans' service organizations and State veterans' service 
officers to assist veterans with innovative travel options to VA 
medical centers. Additionally, this legislation directly addresses the 
inequitable travel reimbursements currently provided to veterans for 
their travel expenses to VA medical facilities, an issue which I have 
brought up to the VA Secretary Jim Nicholson in the past. Under current 
law, veterans with a disability of 30 percent or more are entitled to 
11 cents per mile, a rate that has not changed since 1977. In order to 
put an end to this unjust practice, our legislation would provide 
critical assistance to veterans traveling long distances to VA health 
care facilities by reimbursing them at the Federal rate of 48.5 cents 
per mile.
  Establishing new facilities and transportation networks in Maine, as 
enumerated within the provisions of our legislation, would give rural 
veterans better access to the veteran health care system and deliver on 
the promise America has made to our men and women in uniform. But as 
rural veterans will tell you, there is a long way to go, and we must 
redouble our efforts to ensure that the VA secures the necessary 
resources for all rural regions across Maine and throughout the Nation.
  Furthermore, I have nothing but the utmost respect for those brave 
Americans who served in uniform with honor, courage, and distinction. 
The obligation our Nation holds for its veterans is enormous, and it is 
an obligation that must be fulfilled every day, by invoking the 
indelible words of President John F. Kennedy, who stated:

       As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the 
     highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by 
     them.

  Undoubtedly, these words still speak truth today, at a time when over 
600,000 courageous men and women have returned from combat in both Iraq 
and Afghanistan. It is now up to Congress to do everything in its power 
to answer our veterans' call, to ensure that they receive the benefits 
that they rightly earned and rightly deserve. I strongly urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation. Our veterans deserve nothing 
less.
  Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.

                          ____________________