[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 177 (Thursday, December 8, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1654-E1655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





   REP. CORRINE BROWN, RANKING MEMBER COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS 
               NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF 114TH CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2016

  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, U.S. Representative Corrine Brown, 
has been a member of the House Veterans Committee for 23 years becoming 
its Ranking Member at the beginning of the 114th Congress. Because of 
my long tenure my work in key policy areas bridges from one Congress to 
the next. With that said, here are a few highlights of my 
accomplishments in the 114th Congress:


                      Restructuring the VA Budget

       I sponsored the Department of Veterans Affairs Budget 
     Planning Reform Act, H.R. 216, which restructures the VA's 
     budget based on how much it costs to deliver services to 
     veterans. It sets down the requirements for knowing what 
     their needs are and then draws up a budget that will meet 
     those needs.
       In its present form, the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     budget process does not provide sufficient information on not 
     only current resource requirements, but also future funding 
     needs. To improve the budget formulation process and by 
     extension, the Committee's understanding of the Departments 
     goals and the resources needed to meet those goals H.R. 216 
     reforms the manner in which the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs (VA) determines, plans for, and delivers health care, 
     benefits and services, by requiring the VA to periodically 
     review and assess veterans' needs, identify a plan of action 
     to meet these changing needs, and align its resource 
     requirements with its current, and future, operations.
       H.R. 216 passed the House on March 24, 2016 by a vote of 
     420-0, and awaits action in the Senate.


               Clearing Logjams In Hospital Construction

       Funding caps, contractor lawsuits and design changes have 
     delayed and even threatened the opening of new VA medical 
     facilities.
       By consistently concentrating on getting hospitals open I 
     helped the Veterans Committee bypass the partisan infighting 
     and legislative stalemates that threatened to shutter new 
     construction projects. I led the effort to garner support 
     among the Democratic Caucus for down-to-the-wire emergency 
     funding necessary to finish new construction projects, while 
     at the same time, working in close coordination with VA 
     Secretary McDonald and the Chairman of the House Veterans 
     Committee to provide necessary assurances that those at the 
     VA responsible for malfeasance in new hospital construction 
     would be held accountable. The funding passed the House 
     September 30, 2015 as part of an omnibus bill to continue to 
     fund the government after a previous continuing resolution 
     expired.


                             choice program

       Veterans cite access to health care, both physical and 
     mental care, as their most important benefit. The Veterans 
     Choice program was enacted by the 113th Congress as a 
     temporary program in the wake of the wait time scandal that 
     was endemic across the VA in 2014. In the first full year 
     after enactment, VA made 1.6 million more appointments than 
     it did the year before. Though she was not the Ranking Member 
     of the Veterans Committee at the time of enactment, she was a 
     conferee and participated fully in the negotiations that led 
     to the program's inception.
       Since I became the Ranking Member, VA has proposed 
     following the current Choice program with a more permanent 
     program and has presented the Committee with a long-term 
     strategy for consolidation of community care programs.
       One of the essential elements is that the plan streamlines 
     eligibility requirements for veterans to receive increased 
     access to care in their communities from non-VA providers. 
     The goals of the new Choice program include making access to 
     community care easier to understand, improving the veterans' 
     experience, clarifying the program for VA staff, and make it 
     easier for community providers to partner with VA, provide 
     seamless connections between VA and community providers and 
     apply best practices from the private sector.
       I have taken a leadership role in three key areas to help 
     in the implementation of the new program:
       1. Encouraging veterans to sign up for care. In opening 
     statements before Full Committees hearings and repeatedly in 
     public forums at home and in Washington, I have expressed 
     frustration that too many veterans don't sign up for the VA 
     care they are entitled to. In order to overcome any doubts 
     about the quality of care veterans may have after the 
     drumbeat of negative news about the VA after the wait time 
     scandals in 2013, I counter the negative images summarizing 
     survey figures indicating that once they are in the system 
     and receiving care, veterans are extremely satisfied with the 
     quality of that care.
       2. Recognizing that there were implementation problems and 
     that unusually close coordination between Congress and the VA 
     would cut through them faster, I called meetings with 
     Democratic House Members and VA Secretary Robert McDonald to 
     allow members to air concerns, prioritize changes that needed 
     to be made, and determine whether legislation would be needed 
     to fix the problems.
       3. The absence of a workable provider agreement proved to 
     be a major logjam in the delivery of Choice Program care. 
     Upon discovering this, I led an effort among House Committee 
     members to put in place a simple two-page provider agreement 
     so more private care doctors could begin delivering services 
     to veterans and be paid in a timely manner.


                                opioids

       Opioid abuse is a rampant problem which cuts across all 
     socioeconomic classes. Recognizing that wounded veterans are 
     at risk for the over prescription of opioids for pain 
     treatment. I advocated for VA to initiate a program of 
     ensuring alternative treatment techniques. In May, 2016, the 
     House passed a bipartisan package of bills to battle 
     America's growing epidemic of painkiller abuse and heroin 
     addiction focusing on opioid addiction, treatment and 
     prevention. An important element was the PROMISE Act, which 
     will help improve VA opioid safety, and provide Veterans with 
     safe, personalized care to deal with their physical and 
     invisible wounds including using alternative treatment 
     techniques. From the beginning, the PROMISE Act is a 
     bipartisan bill. It is currently being conferenced with 
     similar legislation which passed the Senate.


                             women veterans

       I introduced H.R. 1575, which makes permanent a highly 
     successful pilot program to provide counseling in retreat 
     settings for women veterans newly separated from service in 
     the Armed Forces. Women veterans transitioning from active 
     duty experience readjustment issues such as post-traumatic 
     stress disorder (PTSD), military sexual trauma, substance 
     abuse, and homelessness similar to their male counterparts, 
     yet there are indications that military service may affect 
     women differently than men. Research has shown that women 
     exposed to stressful situations like combat or military 
     sexual trauma react differently than their male counterparts, 
     and female veterans commit suicide at nearly six times the 
     rate of other women.
       Ensuring that VA is properly addressing the unique needs of 
     women veterans is an essential component of the Committee's 
     oversight efforts. During the 111th Congress, the Caregivers 
     and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-
     163, 124 Stat. 1130) required VA to conduct, through the 
     Readjustment Counseling Service Vet Center Program (RCS), a 
     pilot program to evaluate the feasibility and advisability of 
     providing reintegration and readjustment services in group 
     retreat settings to women veterans recently separated from 
     service in the Armed Forces after a prolonged deployment. The 
     pilot program ran for two years. Evaluation data was gathered 
     pre-retreat, immediately post-retreat, and 2-month post-
     retreat. Written feedback from the veteran participants 
     immediately after the retreats was unanimously positive for 
     both years and RCS received several letters from participants 
     expressing their gratitude for the opportunity. More 
     importantly, the majority of the women veterans who 
     participated in the retreats showed improvements in their 
     psychological well-being, decreased stress symptoms, improved 
     stress coping skills, and a reduction in the severity of 
     their PTSD symptoms immediately both following the retreat 
     and 2-months post retreat. H.R. 1575 was reported to the 
     House by the Veterans Committee on November 2, 2015, and 
     awaits consideration on the House Floor.
       I cosponsored H.R. 1948, the Veterans' Access to Child Care 
     Act, sponsored by Rep. Julia Brownley, Ranking Member of the 
     Health Subcommittee. It expands and makes permanent a 
     successful pilot which provides drop off child care services 
     for veterans with appointments at a VA medical center. 
     Studies of the four original sites in the pilot showed that 
     the program is extremely popular with veterans, particularly 
     veterans who are grandparents. The program also proved to 
     have been effective in reducing ``no show'' appointments at 
     VA.


                           homeless veterans

       I sponsored H.R. 5407, the Homeless Veterans with Children 
     Reintegration Act. It directs the Secretary of Labor to put 
     homeless veterans with dependent children at the top of the 
     list to receive services through the Homeless Veterans 
     Reintegration Program (HVRP). This program provides grants to 
     local workforce boards, non-profits, and community and faith-
     based organizations to help homeless veterans find jobs.
       HVRP is one of the few nationwide federal programs focusing 
     exclusively on helping homeless veterans reintegrate into the 
     workforce. By making veterans with children the priority to 
     receive the temporary housing and the wrap-around services 
     necessary to support a single working parent with children, 
     it is my hope that vulnerable families will stabilize, move 
     on to permanent housing and employment, and one-by-one, never 
     be forced to spend another night in an unsafe environment. 
     The bill would also require DOL to study access to shelter, 
     safety and other relevant services for homeless veterans with 
     dependent children. This information would help us understand 
     the problem and identify opportunities to resolve issues 
     facing homeless veterans with children. A hearing was held on 
     June 23 in the Committee on

[[Page E1655]]

     Veterans Affairs. Testimony in support of its passage was 
     received from the American Legion Veterans of Foreign Wars, 
     Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America and 
     the Vietnam Veterans of America.


                           Disabled Veterans

       IT Accessibility for Visually Impaired Veterans--In 
     February, 2015, i pushed the VA Secretary to ensure the 
     agency is compliant with laws requiring VA website 
     accessibility for disabled veterans, particularly for 
     visually impaired veterans, and received the George ``Buck'' 
     Gillispie Award from the Blinded American Veterans Foundation 
     in June, 2016.
       Caregivers--In 2010, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus 
     Health Services Act (P.L. 111-163) was enacted to provide 
     comprehensive caregiver support to caregivers of veterans 
     severely injured or disabled after September 11, 2001. I 
     strongly advocated for the enactment of the original program. 
     In the six years since, I have spoken with many caregivers in 
     my district who have benefited from the program, but also 
     heard from caregivers who have given up careers to provide 
     unpaid care for veterans suffering from illness rather than 
     injuries, or who were injured or became ill before 9/11. I 
     strongly favor expanding this highly successful program to 
     provide support for them by cosponsoring H.R. 1969, the 
     Military and Veteran Caregiver Services Improvement Act. The 
     bill has been referred to the Veterans Committee and several 
     other committees continues to push for hearings and has 
     advocated about the need to find the necessary funding by 
     closing tax loopholes and not cutting other VA programs.


       honoring and memorializing veterans and surviving spouses

       I sponsored H.R. 3715, the Final Farewell Act of 2016. It 
     provides for Saturday burials for any eligible veteran or 
     spouse at any of the nation's 134 National Veterans' 
     Cemeteries in light of the preference in certain communities 
     and cultures in the US who, by tradition, hold burial 
     services on Saturdays. This makes it possible for family 
     members to be comforted when they need it most. H.R. 3715 
     passed the House by voice vote on May 23, 2016.
       Introduced H.R. 5059 the Love Lives On Act of 2016, April 
     26, 2016, which allows spouses to continue to receive 
     survival benefits should they remarry, which has been, 
     referred to Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and 
     Memorial Affairs. I am working with Veteran Service 
     Organizations such as the Gold Star Wives of America and 
     Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) to garner the 
     support and find the funding offsets needed to make this bill 
     a priority and move it forward.
       I took the lead in the effort by Members of Congress on the 
     House side for the inclusion in H.R. 4909, the 2017 National 
     Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and H.R. 4974, the 2017 
     Military Construction Appropriations and Veterans Affairs Act 
     of $5 Million (through the Department of Defense) to support 
     the Women in Military Service to America Memorial (WIMSA) at 
     Arlington Cemetery. WIMSA recognizes and honors the service 
     of women in the military throughout the country's history. 
     The 2017 funding is primarily for maintenance and renovation 
     of the Memorial's building, which is in serious disrepair. 
     Funding for the WIMSA's educational programs and exhibitions 
     come from private fundraising. These efforts were successful. 
     H.R. 4909 passed the House on May 26 and is awaiting action 
     in the Senate. H.R. 4974, passed the House on May 19 and the 
     House-Senate Conference Report passed the House June 22.

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