[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H4032-H4034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           WHOLE VETERAN ACT

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2359) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit 
to Congress a report on the Department of Veterans Affairs advancing of 
whole health transformation, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2359

       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 ``Whole Veteran Act''.

     SEC. 2. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ADVANCING OF 
                   WHOLE HEALTH TRANSFORMATION.

       (a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs memorandum dated February 
     12, 2019, on the subject of Advancing Whole Health 
     Transformation Across Veterans Health Administration.
       (b) Matters Included.--The report under subsection (a) 
     shall include the following:
       (1) An analysis of the accessibility and availability of 
     each of the following services at medical facilities of the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs (including community based 
     outpatient clinics, vet centers, and community living 
     centers):
       (A) Massage.
       (B) Chiropractic services.
       (C) Whole health clinician services.
       (D) Whole health coaching.
       (E) Acupuncture.
       (F) Healing touch.
       (G) Whole health group services.
       (H) Guided imagery.
       (I) Meditation.
       (J) Hypnosis.
       (K) Yoga.
       (L) Tai chi or Qi gong.
       (M) Equine assisted therapy.
       (N) Any other service the Secretary determines appropriate.
       (2) An assessment of the health outcomes derived from the 
     services specified in paragraph (1).
       (3) An assessment of the resources required to expand such 
     services to the entire Veterans Health Administration.
       (4) A plan to provide the services referred to in paragraph 
     (1) to veterans who reside in a geographic area where no 
     community-based outpatient clinic, medical center, Vet 
     Center, or community living center is located.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David P. 
Roe) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and insert extraneous material on H.R. 2359.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, before I begin my comments on H.R. 2359, let me 
acknowledge the centennial year of women's suffrage and the wonderful 
yellow roses we are wearing in acknowledgment of that centennial year. 
Happy 100th year to women's suffrage in America.
  Madam Speaker, American healthcare systems are grappling with the 
need to redesign the delivery of care model to better meet the needs of 
veterans struggling with mental health conditions.
  Two decades of increased social isolation, economic inequality, and 
prohibitive healthcare costs have seen an increased use of 
complementary and alternative medicine such as health coaching, 
chiropractic services, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, and equine 
therapy.
  The Veterans Health Administration is one of the first healthcare 
systems to redesign care with a focus on maintaining patient well-being 
and early intervention, rather than a system designed to treat 
conditions and diseases only after they have occurred.
  This redesign, VA's whole health transformation, will accommodate the 
veteran population and their unique needs while empowering veterans to 
control their health and well-being.
  By improving well-being, veterans build resiliency that assists in 
the early intervention and identification of mental healthcare symptoms 
that, left untreated, can advance to the point of crisis. In 2017, VA 
launched the whole health transformation program at 18 flagship sites, 
with positive early outcomes.
  According to a February 2019 memo on VA's whole health 
transformation, VA plans to expand the full program to an additional 18 
sites by summer 2019, and 140 medical centers have elements of this 
program.
  The pace, efficacy, and reach of the whole health program are not 
known to Congress. H.R. 2359, as amended, offered by Congressman Lamb, 
requires the delivery of a report on VA's whole health transformation. 
It will contain an analysis of the accessibility of critical services 
so that Congress can better inform its efforts to ensure veterans are 
treated as whole people and not just episodes of care. This is 
particularly true for socially isolated veterans and veterans living 
far away from a VA facility.
  A two-pronged strategy is needed to effectively address the veteran 
suicide public health crisis. The second prong is treating those 
veterans in crisis and making treatment more accessible. The first 
prong must address the complex set of social determinants that can lead 
to a crisis.
  Early interventions in mental healthcare can prevent veterans from 
falling into crisis and having suicidal ideations. This legislation 
falls under the first prong of the strategy, which will support 
creating opportunities for early, pre-crisis intervention.
  Congress must understand how VA has rolled out the initial expansion 
outcomes and the resources needed to continue the whole health program. 
This body must do everything in its power to reduce the number of 
veteran suicides in this country because this is a sustained, 
prolonged, and frustrating national public health crisis.
  Sadly, over the weekend, yet another veteran died by suicide at a VA 
Hospital.
  This bill is the first of five measures we will consider today to 
address mental healthcare and suicide prevention efforts at VA. Our 
work, however, does not end today. We will write more legislation. We 
will hold more bipartisan hearings.
  In fact, a hearing right this very moment, this afternoon, with the 
Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel and our Health 
Subcommittee brought VA and DOD to the same table to help end this 
crisis. It is a joint hearing through this joint subcommittee between 
the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee.
  We will do whatever it takes to end these tragic incidents of 
suicide. I am fully committed to this effort. Losing 20 veterans a day 
is unacceptable.
  I will be voting ``yes'' on this critical piece of legislation, and I 
call on every Member of this body to do the same and help reduce 
veteran suicide.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much 
time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to associate my comments with the 
chairman's comments about women's suffrage 100th anniversary today.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2359, as amended, the

[[Page H4033]]

Whole Veteran Act. This bill would require the Department of Veterans 
Affairs to submit a report to Congress on the implementation of the 
whole health initiative and include information in the report about the 
availability of a number of complementary and alternative treatments 
like meditation, acupuncture, yoga, and equine therapy.

  VA's whole health initiative is a component of Secretary Wilkie's 
plan to transform the Veterans Health Administration into a more 
innovative, holistic, and veteran-centric healthcare system that puts 
veteran patients in the driver's seat.
  I support the Secretary in that effort wholeheartedly, and I look 
forward to seeing how it will yield improved outcomes and satisfaction 
among veterans across the country.
  The dissemination of best practices and complementary and alternative 
approaches to pain management is particularly important, given the 
ongoing opioid crisis that continues to plague our Nation.
  I thank Congressman Conor Lamb from Pennsylvania for sponsoring this 
bill and Congressman Barr from Kentucky for improving it with his 
tireless advocacy for equine therapy. I encourage all Members to join 
me in supporting it.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Lamb), my good friend, the vice chairman of the House 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the author of H.R. 2359.
  Mr. LAMB. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Whole Veteran 
Act. I thank the chairman of the Veterans Affairs' Committee, Mr. 
Takano, and the ranking member, Dr. Roe, for their support for this 
act, along with all members of our committee.
  This is a bipartisan bill with a bipartisan goal, which simply is to 
reform and continue to improve VA healthcare. Our bill will do that in 
two very important ways.
  First, we aim to make the VA a leader in the future of healthcare. 
Many doctors have looked at how America's healthcare system is too 
expensive and too reliant on prescription drugs. It turns out that not 
all doctors think that the best way to deal with chronic pain, PTSD, or 
depression is to simply hand out more pills.

                              {time}  1530

  In fact, we believe that the future of healthcare is going to involve 
a mix of old and new methods of treatment.
  In the future, patients who are suffering will get access to yoga, 
acupuncture, or meditation before they are ever exposed to these 
addictive drugs. This is safer and it is also cheaper, and we believe 
that, in the long-run, it is going to be better.
  The NIH, which is the government's gold standard when it comes to 
research, has looked at these treatments and found that yoga is 
effective for back pain, that acupuncture is highly effective for 
chronic conditions like osteoarthritis, and study after study has 
documented the benefits of meditation and healthy eating when it comes 
to anxiety, when it comes to stress, when it comes to chronic pain and 
all of the drivers of the suicide crisis that we are seeing today. In 
the right combination, these treatments will allow us all to spend less 
on healthcare and to feel better in the future.
  But perhaps, Madam Speaker, the most important part of our bill is 
that it gives veterans more real choices and greater power to manage 
their own healthcare.
  I visited a Whole Health Clinic here in Washington, D.C., and the 
veterans who were partaking in that clinic, they like it because they 
get to pick which treatments work well for them based on how it makes 
them feel. They pick the teachers they like and they go to the classes, 
where they meet other veterans who they get to know and spend time 
with, and it keeps them coming back.
  One of the greatest challenges is how we keep people coming back to 
the VA for treatment once they have got it.
  To stop veteran suicide once and for all, one of the most important 
things we have to do is go out and get all the veterans who are living 
in isolation and not using the VA for care.
  Thirteen of the 20 veterans who are committing suicide every day are 
outside of the VA's reach. We have got to find them, and we have got to 
give them a reason to come back. This is what the whole health program 
does. It gives our veterans a reason to come back and stay in the VA 
that they didn't have before.
  We don't know right now which parts of the whole health program work 
the best and which ones still need more work. Our bill will start to 
answer that question. But we do know one thing, which is that there is 
no time to lose.
  Veterans serve this country because they want to prevent the 
suffering of others, and now too many of them are suffering themselves. 
We owe it to them to try anything that will work.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I have no further 
speakers at this time. I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Ryan), my good friend and cosponsor of H.R. 2359.
  Mr. RYAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the chair for yielding. I thank 
Congressman Lamb for his leadership on this bill. I thank Congressman 
Roe for his leadership on this. I want to also thank Chairwoman Debbie 
Wasserman Schultz on our appropriations bill. We continue to invest 
into the whole veteran.
  I think it has been articulated here that we want the VA system to be 
the most innovative system that we have, and I believe that the Whole 
Veteran Act is a step in that direction.
  I have been researching and writing about some of these integrative 
health techniques around meditation, around yoga, around nutrition, 
around having health coaches, and to watch these vets transform after 
years and years and years of suffering is the most touching, the most 
inspirational thing we can do.
  I have been in yoga classes where the teacher is a vet who, just 
years before, was kicking down doors in Iraq. Double amputee, and he is 
teaching yoga to veterans, and they are healing from post-traumatic 
stress.
  This, to me, is what the government is all about. How do we get these 
government programs, these government facilities on the cutting edge, 
not just in healthcare, but all across the board? That is what this act 
is doing. It is going to save us money.
  The default position for vets should not be how many prescription 
drugs can we get them on.
  This is going to save us money. This is getting these vets their 
lives back. This is reconnecting them to their families, to their kids, 
to their spouses, to their communities. This is the most inspirational 
thing happening in government today.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank Tracy Gaudet, who is leading patient-
centered care in the VA. She has been plugging away at this for years. 
This is a step in the right direction.
  Madam Speaker, I can't thank the chairman enough. I hope we continue 
to go down this road.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. RYAN. Madam Speaker, I know the Secretary of the VA. We have 
disagreements with him, but he, himself, has testified before our 
committee talking about these programs and about the importance of 
these programs.
  If you want to be inspired, go sit in a meditation class with a 
Vietnam vet who has been traumatized for years and listen to them tell 
you about how these practices have healed them and have fixed their 
problems and reconnected them back to their families.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank everybody for their leadership on 
this, and we will continue to try to support it from the appropriations 
side.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I, too, want to encourage all Members to support this.
  We, in 2003, spent about $2 billion on mental health and PTSD 
treatment at the VA; in this year's budget, it is $8.5 billion. And we 
have not moved the needle at all on the number of veterans committing 
suicide.

  So I think this is a great idea to see if we can use an alternative 
treatment to help lower this way-too-high rate and help.

[[Page H4034]]

  When you think about 20 people a day dying of suicide, by their own 
hands, it is heartbreaking. So I encourage all Members to vote for 
this.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I also would like to take this moment to 
ask my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 2359, as amended.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2359, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________