[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2864-S2865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            VA MISSION Bill

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I come briefly to the floor to encourage 
all Members of the Senate to vote for the VA MISSION bill. It is long 
overdue, a lot of hard work went into it, and it had a great vote on 
cloture of 91 to 4.
  I am sure we will have an outstanding vote today because it is a vote 
for our veterans, for the promises we made to them for better quality 
healthcare and a better VA. It would not have happened if it were not 
for a lot of people, but one of the most key persons in making sure 
this bipartisan bill passes with the overwhelming margin it deserves is 
Jon Tester, my ranking member on the committee. We worked together hand 
in hand for about 3 years. We had enough pitfalls to want to quit many 
times but never did because we knew the ultimate goal was to meet our 
veterans' needs.
  Today, when we adopt this bill, and later on this month when it is 
signed, it will be because of the hard work of a lot of people but none 
more important than Jon Tester from Montana.
  I thank my ranking member for encouraging everyone to vote for the 
bill, and I thank the Presiding Officer at this time.
  I yield to the ranking member.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I thank the chairman of the Veterans' 
Affairs Committee, Senator Isakson, for the leadership he has shown 
from the get-go. From the moment he took the gavel in the Senate 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, he has been wanting to work together in a 
bipartisan way, put aside our differences, and get things done.
  This VA MISSION Act had a great vote yesterday, and people might say:

[[Page S2865]]

Well, gee, this is just another one of those slam-dunk bills. It is 
not. We would not be here today if it wasn't for Chairman Isakson and 
the great work he has done on this bill.
  I also thank the entire Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. I thank 
the leadership of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. I thank the 38 
veterans service organizations that offered their support for this 
bill. I said many times during the hearings, we will take our cues from 
the veterans. This is exactly what the entire Senate, hopefully, will 
do in a minute or two with this bill, is take our cues from the people 
who serve this country in the military. This is a big win for them. 
They are also going to put a lot of pressure on the VA to deliver for 
them, but, nonetheless, this is one of those rare times when the Senate 
and House have done their job and done it in a bipartisan way, worked 
together, and worked for the benefit of the veterans of this country.
  I also thank my staff, Tony McClain, Dahlia Melendrez, and Jon Coen 
for their great work.
  In a brief review, what this bill does is scrap the Choice Program 
and all the community care programs and puts them into one program 
where the veteran and the doctor control where to seek care, whether it 
is within the VA or the private sector. It strengthens the VA and helps 
build capacity in the VA in two ways, with a loan repayment program for 
our employees, and it incentivizes medical residencies within the VA. 
It also improves rural healthcare in States where I come from in 
Montana by deploying mobile health teams and by expanding telehealth.
  Finally, this bill expands the caregiver program to veterans of all 
eras--something Senator Murray has worked on for years and years. I was 
there when Senator Murray came up to the chairman of the committee on a 
previous bill and said to Chairman Isakson: We really need this 
caregiver bill in. Chairman Isakson said: We are not going to forget 
about you, Patty. We are going to make sure this is taken care of. He 
lived up to his promise to her, and he lived up to those veterans who 
have a family member who takes care of them at home, where people don't 
even know what is going on. They don't even know what is happening. 
Sometimes these folks have to quit their job to take care of a veteran 
at home who needs help. So the caregiver program is a very important 
part of this bill.
  It happened because we worked together. When I go home to Montana 
people ask: How come you guys can't work together? We kind of broke the 
mold a little bit, and we worked together in a bipartisan way. We put 
aside politics, and we did what was right for our country and our 
veterans.
  Hopefully, we will get a strong vote out of this bill when it is 
brought up for passage, and we can get it to the President for his 
signature.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Montgomery 
nomination?
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake) and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. 
McCain).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth) 
is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 74, nays 23, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 105 Ex.]

                                YEAS--74

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Scott
     Shelby
     Smith
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--23

     Blumenthal
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Markey
     Merkley
     Murray
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Duckworth
     Flake
     McCain
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________