[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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