[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 9, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2490-S2491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Unanimous Consent Request

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I intend to ask for a unanimous consent 
agreement in regard to this issue of our care and the well-being of our 
veterans.
  I would indicate that, to my knowledge, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs has 1,500 fewer employees today than it did at the beginning of 
the year.
  While there is conversation and talk and, in fact, a stated goal 
about the sizing of the Department, those steps, either because they 
are not yet ready at the Department of Veterans Affairs to take those 
steps, the evaluations and understanding of what is necessary for the 
right-sizing of the workforce, haven't been completed or courts have 
put in place a stay against any reductions in the workforce. Today, we 
are 1,550 fewer employees at the Department than we were at the 
beginning of the year.
  I would also remind my colleagues that in the last administration, 
late in the budget request by the Biden administration, there was a 
request for the reduction of 10,000 employees at the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
  The goal that we would say in our sense of the Senate is that the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs should make

[[Page S2491]]

certain that staffing levels at the Department of Veterans Affairs meet 
veteran demand to efficiently deliver timely, high-quality healthcare 
benefits; that the Secretary, in close coordination with Congress, with 
veteran service organizations, and other such stakeholders as the 
Secretary would deem necessary, needs to consult with them in reshaping 
the workforce of the Department; and that we should further enhance our 
efforts to reduce veteran suicide and improve veterans' mental care.
  The Secretary should faithfully follow the MISSION Act in allowing 
for care in the community. The Secretary should conduct a comprehensive 
review of policies governing official time to ensure that taxpayer 
dollars are utilized efficiently and that the primary mission of the 
Department of supporting veterans is fully prioritized and that the 
Department's leadership and management should have the ability to act 
swiftly to ensure we remove employees who have engaged in misconduct or 
whose actions and performances fall short in providing high-quality 
care and benefits.
  The Secretary should enhance the efficiency, accountability, and cost 
management in the acquisition programs in the Department.
  We need to make changes at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
this resolution would indicate our support for doing so.
  I would now say, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding 
rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the 
consideration of my resolution, which is at the desk. I further ask 
unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, that the preamble 
be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and 
laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Reserving the right to object, let me first say I 
appreciate the work of my colleague, the chairman of the VA Committee, 
where I am the ranking Democrat. Chairman Moran and I work together in 
a very bipartisan way on a lot of legislation.
  I would like to support his resolution, but we received it only about 
an hour ago, and so I have been unable to check with my colleagues on 
this side as to whether there is any objection among them.
  Second, although I would like to support it, I have to say no, not 
because of something it has but what it lacks, and that is, it fails to 
mention anything about the Trump-Musk assault on the VA and its 
workforce and particularly the negative impacts of those actions on 
veterans' mental health and suicide prevention. It fails to call for 
restoring the VA's skilled professional workforce that is necessary to 
provide sufficient healthcare, particularly mental health care.
  I should also note that prior to Secretary Collins and DOGE, wait 
times for care--before they took over and seized control, wait times 
actually decreased in 2024 while the number of new patient appointments 
increased by 11 percent. So this idea that somehow the VA was wholly 
failing before this administration is exactly the opposite of reality. 
The time to process each claim actually decreased. The VA processed 
116,192 veterans' appeals, representing a 12.5-increase over last 
year's record. Those are claims for disability and compensation. 
Additionally, under the previous administration, veteran homelessness 
reached record lows--a 55.6-percent reduction since 2010.
  The VA also made it easier for veterans to seek mental health care 
while reducing wait times for that care in new appointments.
  Claims that the VA has been placing more barriers for veterans to 
receive care in the VA and through community care are simply untrue. 
Since 2019, the VA has made enormous improvements in customer service 
and has become more welcoming to veterans through historic outreach.
  If we listen to veterans, as I do every weekend because I go home 
every weekend, what I hear is customer satisfaction rising and 
happiness with VA healthcare. Sure, there are criticisms, and we need 
to meet those criticisms. There are shortcomings, and we need to 
improve VA healthcare to address those shortcomings. But VA trust has 
increased to the point of 80.4 percent this year--an alltime record and 
an increase of 25 percent since 2016.
  Let me just say about labor rights and union activities at the VA, 
labor organizing and collective bargaining actually expedite conflict 
resolution. It reduces legal costs. It actually saves money through 
collective bargaining, not to mention the waste, fraud, and abuse that 
it helps the Department uncover and address. Those negotiations have 
allowed the Department to bar criminally bad actors from receiving 
settlement funds and being reinstated.
  There is a lot more to say on this topic, but let me just finish by 
saying that I hope we can work together. I hope the chairman and I can 
work together in a bipartisan way to put together our two resolutions 
and devise one that will pass muster on both sides.
  Because of the shortcomings of this resolution, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Vermont.