[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1359-S1360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



               VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2023

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I want to thank the body for this.
  So we had a chance to do the right thing here, folks. We did the 
right thing with Josh Jacobs and veterans' benefits. Now we have the 
opportunity to pass the Elizabeth Dole Veterans Programs Improvement 
Act of 2023.
  This legislative package includes five veterans bills that were 
considered and unanimously approved by the Senate Veterans' Affairs 
Committee back in February and delivers on many of our longstanding 
priorities for our veterans and leading veterans services 
organizations. I am going to tell you what it does, and then I am going 
to talk about something specifically.
  It expands home- and community-based support for aging and disabled 
veterans--home- and community-based support.
  Among other provisions, it also helps Native Americans and Alaskan 
Native veterans achieve homeownership by lowering interest rates on VA 
Native American direct loans and reforming this program so it can work 
for our veterans--particularly, our Native veterans.
  The part that I understand that is controversial is that it directs 
the VA to explore medical cannabis as an alternative treatment for 
veterans experiencing chronic pain and symptoms of PTSD.
  Why? So that we--but more, importantly, the veterans--have a better 
understanding of the role medicinal cannabis plays in treating the 
wounds of war.
  The jury is still out on this. This adds a 2-year retrospective study 
that will take place prior to the VA's beginning clinical trials 
outlined in this legislation. It grants the Secretary of the VA 
authority to cancel clinical trials should the VA deem them to be 
unsafe, based on that retrospective study that I just talked about. It 
allows the Secretary the authority to cancel trials in the event that 
it is determined that the trials were exposing participants to 
excessive risk.
  Quite frankly, as I said in my opening, it allows veterans the access 
to relevant information to make informed decisions about their own 
health and will shine light on an understudied topic, which is already 
being used by our veterans nationwide.
  So the real question here is, Do I want our veterans to understand 
the benefits or possibly the nonbenefits of medicinal marijuana or do 
we want to leave them out in the cold, not understanding what is going 
on?
  The truth is, we all understand the impact opioids have had on this 
country, and if, in fact, it shows that medical marijuana or marijuana 
can have impacts that help people in chronic pain, we should know that 
information so we can pass it along to the veterans. It is as simple as 
that. The rest of these bills are absolute no-brainers, and I will tell 
you, I think the cannabis portion of this bill is a no-brainer.
  Today, it is time to put political differences aside and do what is 
right for our veterans.
  Look, don't let the haircut fool you--I did not serve in the 
military. I don't use marijuana. But the truth is, those people who 
think it works for them, they ought to know, and that is what this bill 
does.
  I would encourage a vote for cloture on this bill. It is a good bill. 
It is a bill that the veterans service organizations have fought for 
and want to see happen.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The senior Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed 
to address the Senate for up to 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, the legislation that is before us, the 
Veterans Programs Improvement Act, just came out of the Senate Veterans 
Affairs' Committee. It is S. 326, as amended.
  We are here on a motion for cloture, and this bill will be, as 
amended, a

[[Page S1360]]

combination of bills that are both Republican and Democratic bills, 
including one from the Senator who is presiding today. It includes a 
bill from Senator Rounds of South Dakota dealing with the loan process 
for Native American veterans. It includes a couple of pieces of 
legislation: the RESPECT Act, to help veterans with mental health or 
neurological conditions to get caregiver care; the Elizabeth Dole Act, 
to expand home- and community-based, long-term care programs so that 
veterans have more choices as they age; and the bill of the Presiding 
Officer that provides grants to county veterans service officers for 
outreach to veterans. In addition, it includes what has been perhaps 
the most discussed aspect of this piece of legislation: a bill that 
creates the authorization to allow for medical research for marijuana 
to be conducted--for cannabis to be conducted by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs. But it requires retrospective research to take a look 
at the research that has already been conducted and to go and conduct 
research with veterans who are currently using cannabis. The outcome of 
that study is unknown, but this is an effort to make certain that 
veterans are not doing something that is harmful to them and to make an 
informed decision several years from now about the relationship between 
veterans and cannabis.
  The point I would like to make in my few comments today is that I 
have encouraged my colleagues to offer amendments. There are a lot of 
items that my particularly Republican colleagues--I understand there 
are Democratic colleagues who have amendments. While we have had some 
success this year in amendments coming to the Senate floor, I want to 
make certain that is the opportunity Republican colleagues and 
Democratic colleagues have as this bill--if it proceeds, that we have 
that opportunity.
  I had those conversations with both the majority and the minority, 
and I look forward to enforcing as best I can the capability to make 
certain my colleagues have that opportunity. If that is not the case, I 
reserve the right to then oppose this legislation.
  I yield the floor.

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