[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H9641-H9643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ENHANCING VETERAN CARE ACT
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (S. 1266) to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
to enter into contracts with nonprofit organizations to investigate
medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 1266
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing Veteran Care
Act''.
SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF MEDICAL CENTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may
contract with a nonprofit organization that accredits health
care organizations and programs in the United States to
investigate a medical center of the Department of Veterans
Affairs to assess and report deficiencies of the facilities
at such medical center.
(b) Authority of Directors.--
(1) In general.--Subject to coordination under paragraph
(2), the Secretary shall delegate the authority under
subsection (a) to contract for an investigation at a medical
center of the Department to the Director of the Veterans
Integrated Service Network in which the medical center is
located or the director of such medical center.
(2) Coordination.--Before entering into a contract under
paragraph (1), the Director of a Veterans Integrated Service
Network or the director of a medical center, as the case may
be, shall notify the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the
Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and
the Comptroller General of the United States for purposes of
coordinating any investigation conducted pursuant to such
contract with any other investigations that may be ongoing.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed--
(1) to prevent the Office of the Inspector General of the
Department of Veterans Affairs from conducting any review,
audit,
[[Page H9642]]
evaluation, or inspection regarding a topic for which an
investigation is conducted under this section; or
(2) to modify the requirement that employees of the
Department assist with any review, audit, evaluation, or
inspection conducted by the Office of the Inspector General
of the Department.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Roe) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 1266, the Enhancing
Veteran Care Act. S. 1266 would authorize the Department of Veterans
Affairs to contract with a nonprofit entity specializing in civilian
accreditation or healthcare evaluation to investigate and assess
deficiencies at VA medical centers and to coordinate any such
investigations with the VA inspector general and the Government
Accountability Office.
This bill is sponsored by Senator James Inhofe from Oklahoma and is
companion legislation to H.R. 42, which is sponsored by my good friend,
Representative Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma's Second District. I am
grateful to both Senator Inhofe and Congressman Mullin for their work
on this legislation.
We are all familiar with the various challenges and scandals that
have plagued VA medical centers across the country since the 2014
systemwide VA access and accountability crisis.
I, along with Ranking Member Walz and other committee members, our
Senate colleagues, Secretary Shulkin, veterans service organizations,
and others, have been working tirelessly to transform the VA healthcare
system into the modern, high-performing healthcare organization that
our veterans deserve.
S. 1266 is in line with those efforts in that it would provide VA an
additional avenue to identify and resolve problems impacting the care
our veterans receive in VA medical facilities.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting
this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, since 2014, the Veterans' Affairs Committee has held
countless hearings focused on VA medical centers that were found to
have covered up wait times or failed to consistently provide high-
quality healthcare to veterans.
Many of these failures were first brought to light by whistleblower
allegations and were later substantiated by Government Accountability
Office studies and VA inspector general investigations. Solutions to
these failures were only uncovered through multiple inspections of
medical centers' facilities, their policies, and their employees.
Congress relies on the hard work of medical inspectors and
investigators at the VA, the OIG, and the GAO to review allegations and
issue recommendations regarding how VA and Congress should work to
correct deficiencies at medical centers and hold VA officials
accountable. With limited resources, the inspector general and the GAO
have completed a staggering number of investigations and reviews that
have led to significant reforms of the VA system. They should be
commended for their excellent work.
{time} 1400
The Enhancing Veteran Care Act gives the Secretary another tool for
developing solutions to problems at VA medical facilities. The VA
Secretary should be able to contract with nonprofit-nongovernmental
medical inspectors or auditors when deemed appropriate.
However, I strongly believe that granting the VA Secretary the
authority to contract with nongovernmental inspectors and auditors
should not result in cuts to the IG's or VA's budgets. We need to
ensure VA inspectors and the VA OIG have the resources to continue
their thorough and timely investigations.
I am also concerned about these nongovernmental organizations not
being required to follow Federal laws that require transparency. I
believe these nongovernmental bodies should be held to the very same
level of transparency as the IG, GAO, and VA investigators, including
requirements to publish their methods for conducting audits and reviews
alongside their findings and recommendations. Without transparency,
Congress and the public will not have the same level of confidence in
their findings.
If we had the opportunity to consider this legislation in committee,
we could have received testimony from VA, the IG, and GAO on this
legislation and done more to address concerns around transparency,
while also ensuring that investigative efforts are not duplicated. I
encourage the chairman to continue his inclusive approach by seeking to
bring all veterans related bills through committee for due
consideration.
However, these concerns will not prevent me from supporting the
Enhancing Veteran Care Act. I trust the Secretary will execute this
authority in a manner that supports and supplements government-led
investigations.
Veterans should have full confidence that they will receive high-
quality healthcare at VA facilities. Rigorous and transparent
investigations and audits will help guarantee these high standards are
met.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Oklahoma (Mr. Mullin), my good friend and sponsor of the House
companion bill, H.R. 42.
Mr. MULLIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Roe for allowing this to
come to the floor and Leader McCarthy for his leadership in bringing
this bill to the floor. I also want to thank my fellow Senators from
Oklahoma, Mr. Inhofe and Mr. Lankford, for their great work in getting
this passed in the Senate.
As the sponsor of H.R. 42, the House companion bill to S. 1266, I
urge my colleagues to support and vote in favor of today's bill.
Nearly a year ago, we debated this bill on the floor and saw it
passed by voice vote. I look forward to another strong response from
the House in sending this bill to the President's desk and it becoming
law.
This bill simply authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to
contract with nonprofit organizations that accredit healthcare
organizations in order to investigate VA medical centers.
This bill would allow the VA to get a second opinion from outside of
the agency in order to get the best information and provide the best
care for our veterans. Just like how patients sometimes need to get a
second opinion on their diagnosis, the VA should not be above bringing
in a second opinion.
Our veterans deserve care equal to the finest civilian hospitals, so
let's bring more transparency to the VA by allowing them to invite the
people who evaluate those private hospitals to take a look at the VA
and make recommendations when problems arise.
This is a commonsense bill that will help improve the care for our
veterans, and I hope all will support it.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
New Hampshire (Ms. Kuster), my good friend and ranking member of the
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of
S. 1266, Enhancing Veteran Care Act.
Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs can contract with
qualified and accredited third-party nonprofits to investigate a VA
medical center for deficiencies in its facility. Only the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, however, is directly capable of authorizing these
third-party investigations.
Unfortunately, this process is needlessly cumbersome and delays the
improvement of medical centers. This bill
[[Page H9643]]
is an important reform because it empowers Veteran Integrated Service
Network directors and VA medical center directors to initiate these
third-party reviews.
The Manchester VA Medical Center in my home State of New Hampshire
currently faces a number of questions regarding the services it
provides and the facilities it manages. While Secretary Shulkin has
initiated reviews of the facility, it took a number of whistleblowers
to put their reputation and jobs on the line to force action.
Legislation like the Enhancing Veteran Care Act could have
streamlined this process and made both the facility and the VISN more
accountable to the needs of veterans in New Hampshire. VA must be
better at assessing its own shortcomings.
Ultimately, veterans in the Granite State and across the country
deserve the highest standard of care.
I thank Senators Inhofe and Lankford for introducing this important
legislation. I thank Senator Shaheen, one of the lead Democratic
cosponsors of the bill, for helping advance this bill through the U.S.
Senate and being attentive to the needs of our Granite State veterans.
I proudly support this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to
support this bill and immediately send it to the President's desk.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in support of
S. 1266, the Enhancing Veteran Care Act, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
This has been a team effort on the Veterans' Affairs Committee to work
to try to improve the care that our veterans and Nation's heroes get
throughout this country. The involvement on both sides of the aisle on
our committee is unprecedented, I think, for a committee working toward
a single goal and purpose.
Many times, we have differences of opinion, but this bill is just
another tool that the VA will be able to use to improve the care that
veterans get.
I received a letter today from a gentleman in New Mexico who had a
very different experience 6 or 7 years ago with the VA. He was even
hesitant to go back. He went back to this VA hospital and had a very
pleasant experience. So I think things are changing for the better, I
think due to the hard work of the leadership at the VA, the people who
work there every day, and this committee.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McClintock). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 1266.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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