[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 128 (Friday, July 28, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H6525-H6528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF S. 114, DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
                         BONUS TRANSPARENCY ACT

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on 
Rules, I call up House Resolution 480 and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 480

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider in the House the bill (S. 114) to amend 
     title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report regarding 
     performance awards and bonuses awarded to certain high-level 
     employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. All points 
     of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the report 
     of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution shall 
     be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be 
     considered as read. All points of order against provisions in 
     the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall 
     be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any 
     further amendment thereto, to final passage without 
     intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally 
     divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs; and (2) one 
     motion to recommit with or without instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia is recognized for 
1 hour.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, 
I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. 
Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the 
purpose of debate only.


                             General Leave

  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H. Res. 480, currently under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to bring this rule 
forward on behalf of the Rules Committee. The rule provides for 
consideration of S. 114, the Department of Veterans Affairs Bonus 
Transparency Act.
  The rule provides for 1 hour of debate, equally divided between the 
chairman and ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. The 
rule also provides for a motion to recommit.
  Mr. Speaker, we can all agree that our Nation's veterans are heroes. 
They deserve our support, gratitude, and recognition, and they deserve 
to have the promises we as a nation have made to them fulfilled. 
Unfortunately, far too often, we fall short of keeping those promises.

[[Page H6526]]

  Everyone remembers the scandals that shook the Department of Veterans 
Affairs a few years ago, highlighting critical problems around the 
country and the need for greater accountability. In the wake of these 
crises of mismanagement and wrongdoing, Congress created the Veterans 
Choice Program in 2014 to provide veterans with better options to seek 
out timely, appropriate care from providers in their communities rather 
than wade through the outrageous lines, excessive wait times, and 
subpar medical care at Veterans Health Administration facilities.
  The Choice Program isn't perfect, and my colleagues and I are working 
to fix that, but it has been a meaningful start and a path to quicker, 
more convenient care for our Nation's veterans. Without congressional 
action today, we risk leaving our heroes without Choice. That is not a 
risk I am willing to take.
  VA Secretary Shulkin has estimated that more than 1 million veterans 
in the VA system use some Choice care, and that number is expected to 
increase this year. In fact, today, more than 30 percent of the VA 
appointments are made with private sector providers that have the 
capacity to relieve some of the burden on our servicemembers and the VA 
clinics. This year alone, more than 18 million appointments with 
private doctors have been authorized by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs.
  If we fail to take action, these veterans will lose their ability to 
receive prompt care from Choice providers. We would be flooding the VA 
medical facilities with more patients, even as we know that many 
facilities are still overburdened and, in some cases, underperforming.
  Let me be clear: This is not a doomsday prediction. This is not a 
Henny Penny moment or Hail Mary effort to pass an obscure bill. If 
Congress refuses to act today, the Choice Program will expire on August 
15.
  Chairman Roe has worked diligently to ensure that this does not 
happen. In the Senate, my friend and fellow Georgian, Senator Johnny 
Isakson, serves as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. He, 
too, has worked tirelessly to ensure our veterans continue to receive 
care by safeguarding the viability of the Choice Program.
  I have to say, the two chairmen, Chairman Roe and Chairman Isakson, 
the body is really at a favor having those two men working, and the 
ranking members working alongside of them, in this process. So we are 
continuing to look forward to this bill passing, and many more things 
to come.
  When we understand this, Mr. Speaker, I firmly believe that Chairman 
Roe and Chairman Isakson, along with their respective ranking member 
counterparts, Mr. Walz and Mr. Tester, are committed to making the 
existing system work better for veterans.
  I also know that the Choice Program needs reform. However, we can't 
improve a program that doesn't exist. We must first protect what is 
good in hopes of making it better.
  Today's underlying bill provides additional funds to extend the 
Choice Program for 6 months and provide a critical $2.1 billion 
infusion of funds while we move forward with thoughtful, sustainable 
reforms.
  I have proposed ideas to make those reforms, including the Expanding 
Access to Choice Act, which prevents bureaucracy at the VA from 
derailing a functioning Choice program. I authored that bill as a 
direct response to concerns that were raised by my constituents in 
northeast Georgia.
  I am sure that many Members here today have similar experiences and 
have heard similar stories from their neighbors, and I am confident 
many Members want to fix this program. By supporting the rule and the 
underlying bill today, we are taking a step towards making that happen.
  Secretary Shulkin told the Veterans' Affairs Committee that, without 
additional funding, veterans would wait longer to receive the 
healthcare that they deserve. That statement should elicit one thing 
from this body, Mr. Speaker, and that is action.
  Yet there are those who would rather we shuffle down the road of 
inaction than stand for our veterans today, Mr. Speaker. There are some 
who claim Choice represents a move towards privatization and who have 
opposed the Choice Program from the beginning.
  Let me set the record straight: We are not talking about privatizing 
the VA today. We are talking about sustaining a program that currently 
serves hundreds of thousands--if not millions--of veterans across 
the country. This bill is not about privatization. It is about 
breathing 6 months' more life into a program that enables veterans to 
access care more efficiently and effectively.

  This is not the time for partisan maneuvers. Our veterans--their very 
lives--are on the line, and we owe it to them to vote to move forward 
so that they receive the care we have promised them.
  Mr. Speaker, I am currently in the Air Force Reserve, and I have 
completed a tour earlier in Iraq. I have witnessed our Armed Forces' 
display of heroism, and I believe their actions deserve recognition. 
This bill doesn't repay the debt or gratitude we owe our veterans, but 
it brings us closer to fulfilling our promises by meeting their needs.
  The underlying bill authorizes multiple major medical facility 
leases, including a lease for a facility in Pike County, Georgia. In 
addition, S. 114 enhances the recruitment, retention, and training of 
the VA workforce through a number of measures, including encouraging 
servicemembers with health-related occupational specialties to seek 
employment at the Veterans Health Administration and expanding hiring 
authority in the case of severe shortages of qualified healthcare 
personnel candidates.
  Mr. Speaker, preserving the Choice Program and the access to 
community care options that it provides is critical. I agree that we 
can make this program better, but we have to provide a path to do that.
  Already, I have heard from veterans in my district who say clinics 
are raising concerns about the availability of funds for Choice. We 
must address this issue today, and we must uphold our promises to 
America's veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  For me, this morning, July 28, could be the beginning of a new spirit 
in the House of Representatives because of what happened last night in 
the Senate. Since we are talking about healthcare for veterans, I want 
to just take a moment to talk about healthcare for all Americans.
  Last night, we saw a remarkable thing happen. We have had a poisonous 
atmosphere around healthcare in the United States for the past 7 years. 
We are the last industrial country on the planet to provide healthcare 
for the people who count on us for that kind of help and support. We 
can now give that up.
  I hope we can take the majority leader at his word that he sees no 
further use in trying to beat this bill to death and that we can work 
together to improve it and get on to other things which we are so in 
need of.
  But I do want to say that I appreciate very much the votes last 
night. I think Senator McCain showed, once again, that he is America's 
hero. And Senators Murkowski and Collins certainly are heroines of mine 
and I think let us know that women in positions of power can be counted 
on.
  So, yesterday, in the Rules Committee, the majority passed a martial 
law rule granting themselves fast-track authority so they could get 
anything through, which I think scared even the Senate.
  I read some news reports claiming this was a major victory. It was 
not a victory for either side fighting viciously over how we want 
healthcare to be given to our citizens, but it was certainly a victory 
for the American people, hundreds of whom stood last night here on the 
Capitol Grounds outside of the Senate begging to be able to continue 
their healthcare.
  Imagine somebody with cancer, going through all of the pain and agony 
they have to go through, and wondering every day what in the world we 
are going to do here. Are they going to be left without healthcare, 
left without care that they can afford?
  So I think, without a doubt, this is a good morning for all of us who 
are in the Congress of the United States to get together and to do 
better work. And I know of no agency, frankly, that

[[Page H6527]]

needs more attention than the Veterans Administration.
  My personal experience with them has been somewhat like Whack-a-Mole: 
we think we have something settled and then suddenly we don't. We have 
to be advocates for every veteran in our district, directly to the VA, 
personally, oftentimes simply to get the most simple kind of treatment 
done for our veterans.
  It is my wholehearted wish, and has been for some time, that we will 
get the Veterans Administration out of the building business, where 
they are abysmal failures, and let them concentrate on healthcare for 
veterans, which is their number one issue.
  I am very pleased--and let me echo what my colleague, Mr. Collins, 
said--with leadership both in the House and the Senate running the 
Veterans' Affairs Committees now. Dr. Roe has been an exemplary friend 
to all of us and understands exactly what we are doing.
  So I think this is important, as Mr. Collins has pointed out. 
Veterans Choice has not been very popular in my district. It is so 
complicated and so complex that it takes a lot of hand-holding even to 
use it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Mitchell).
  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. Speaker, I am here to support House Resolution 480 
that allows for consideration of the Veterans Choice Act.
  For a while there, I was confused. I wasn't sure what we were talking 
about there. I thought we were here talking about the Veterans Choice 
Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support the Veterans Choice Act. Our 
veterans selflessly answer the call to protect our families, our 
communities, and all that we hold dear. We can never repay our veterans 
for that sacrifice. But our country, this government, made our veterans 
a promise to care for them. Mr. Speaker, if we do not act today, we 
will breach that promise by denying healthcare benefits to those 
veterans who access it through the Choice Program.
  This bill will provide $2 billion for the Choice Program. Without 
this step, the Choice fund will be depleted by mid-August. VA Secretary 
Shulkin has made it clear that community programs are unable to care 
for veterans who need them if the Choice Program is eliminated.
  Sometimes it astonishes me how it is that we wait until the last 
minute here to address problems like this.
  Millions of America's veterans rely on the Choice Program. That is 
millions of promises we break if we fail to pass this legislation 
today. We cannot allow these funds to run out and leave our veterans 
without access to care.
  Contrary to critics, today's debate is not about whether to privatize 
the VA. Secretary Shulkin has openly said numerous times that he has no 
plans to privatize the Veterans Administration.
  Beyond that, today's debate is about people. It is about veterans who 
already use the Choice Program who would lose access to care if we do 
not pass this legislation. It is about allowing veterans choice.

                              {time}  0930

  Let's not play politics with our veterans. Over the course of the 
week, the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act has been improved with 
amendments. It would improve the hiring at the VA by enhancing 
recruitment, retention, and training of the VA workforce, but to those 
who continue to have concerns about veterans' choice, I ask we not let 
perfect be the enemy of good.
  I have learned in life nothing is ever perfect. Lord knows I have 
learned that in business. I have certainly found that to be true about 
legislation during my short time here in Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, the clock is ticking. We must not allow it to run out 
and default on the promises we made to veterans. We need to act today.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support the underlying bill we will be 
voting on today. I wish I were able to say that more often.
  The bill will fund the Department of Veterans Affairs Choice Program 
for 6 months and authorize a number of leases for major medical 
facilities throughout the country, and I echo its major importance.
  The next rule we will be considering contains martial law authority 
that will allow the majority to bring up any bill they want with hardly 
any notice at all, and I hope we will not use that.
  It has been a long week. Let's end it on a bipartisan note with a 
strong vote in support of this bill before us to help veterans across 
America.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I would just again reiterate the point of the discussion that this is 
something we need to take up today. This is not about the peripheral 
discussions going on concerning Choice, privatization, and other things 
that have derailed this discussion. I want to see this move forward so 
we can continue to have viable discussions on Choice, but I would also 
be remiss, Mr. Speaker, if I did not at least address the discussion. 
The gentlewoman from New York, who I have the greatest respect for, has 
her opinion; I have mine as well.
  I do not believe what happened last night in the Senate was, in her 
words, heroic. I believe it was basically a failure. It was a failure 
of process. What happened last night was not anything except the 
stopping of a process that could have included Democrats and 
Republicans in a conference committee, and it was chosen not to move 
forward. That is the reason we come to this place, is to move forward.
  I think when we look at this, the disaster that is ObamaCare, and the 
reasons that we are now keeping it, and that the healthcare measure has 
failed, it brings the question to my mind, for the ones who have been 
helped, and I have never, from this podium or anywhere else, denied 
that there were many with preexisting conditions and other issues who 
found help, but, if we remember the promise, the promise was to cover 
all uninsured. It came nowhere close. The promise was, you can keep 
your doctor if you liked him, you can keep your plan if you liked it. 
The promise was that your premiums would go down, and the premiums have 
gone up.
  So for all the supporters, then come to maybe my district or other 
districts and address those people who have lost their insurance, 
address those people whose premiums have gone up, address the people 
like the young lady in Chicago who did get on the ObamaCare exchanges, 
had a premium that was subsidized, but when she realized that she 
couldn't afford the deductible, she said: I might as well have not had 
it.
  It is one thing to discuss this in grand terms, it is another to see 
the result in our system. To talk about the nominal positives against 
the crushing negatives is not a victory.
  So I think we move forward. Today, we have a chance to move forward 
on Choice, today we have a chance to move forward and look ahead, but I 
at least say, from this Member's perspective, I don't forget. I 
understand what I have heard for 7 years.
  It has been said many times that the current bill is actually gaining 
in popularity. Well, I just simply point you to the only polls that 
have really mattered over the last 7 years, and those are elections, 
and every time there was an election and this issue was up, ObamaCare 
lost. I am not sure how you can continue to support, with any kind of a 
straight face, that kind of abject failure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

[[Page H6528]]

  

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