[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9882-9883]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          VETERANS HEALTH CARE

  Mr. TESTER. I rise to speak about the care this Nation provides to 
veterans--care that they have earned, the care that we owe them, the 
care that we promised them, and the care that we should never stop 
working to improve.
  I joined the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee when I came to the 
Senate in January of 2007. Soon thereafter I launched a listening tour 
around the great State of Montana to hear what veterans thought about 
the health care they receive.
  Montana has the second-most veterans per capita. We serve our country 
at some of the highest rates in the Nation. We are home to a large 
Native-American population that serves more often than any other 
minority in this country.
  In 2007, the surge in Iraq was in full swing. Veterans had many 
concerns on their minds. But in rural Montana I heard over and over 
from the veterans about how the mileage reimbursement that disabled 
veterans receive to see their doctor at the VA was far too low. In 
fact, it was at 11 cents a mile, hardly enough to even pay for the gas, 
much less the tires, the oil, and the automobile itself.
  That number matters in a State where folks have to drive a couple 
hundred miles across the State to see their doctor.
  So when I came back to Washington I worked with then-Senator Byrd to 
raise that reimbursement rate for the first time in decades. Now more 
veterans can afford to see their doctor, and that is how a 
representative of government should work--identify a problem, write a 
bill to fix it, work with colleagues, hear their concerns, and pass a 
solution into law. That is what we have done here today.
  Today's bill is a good bill that gets at some of the VA's most 
pressing problems. Today's bill addresses many of the transparency, 
accountability, and access-to-care issues that are plaguing the VA. By 
getting rid of incentives to falsify wait times and make it easier to 
remove bad managers, we will hold more folks accountable for the care 
veterans receive. By making it easier to hire medical professionals and 
allowing more veterans to seek care from outside providers, we will 
reduce the bottleneck that forces veterans to wait too long for care.
  I want to be clear about one issue. Once veterans get in the door at 
the VA, they receive incredibly good health care. As a member of the 
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, I continue to travel around Montana 
to talk to veterans. I speak to veterans' groups around the country as 
well.
  They tell me that VA care is some of the best in the Nation. I have 
had wives, husbands, daughters, and sons seek me out to tell me what VA 
is doing right. Additionally, 9 out of 10 veterans report they are 
happy with the care they receive at the VA. That is important to 
remember.
  It isn't all bad news, but the fact is that while the war in 
Afghanistan is winding down, and the war in Iraq has come to a close, 
the struggle for many service men and women continues here at home.
  We went to war after 9/11 to fight against terror, to fight for the 
freedoms that we value in this country, but we didn't think far enough 
down the road. We didn't think about how we could care for our fighting 
men and women when they returned from battle.
  When I joined the Veterans' Affairs Committee, the VA was starting to 
recover from years of neglect. In 2007, as Americans fought in the 
streets of Baghdad, Congress had to pass an emergency budget bill to 
keep the lights on in the VA. Imagine that--fighting two wars, but we 
didn't properly fund the department that cares for our troops when they 
come home.
  With better planning and advance appropriations, we have come a long 
way, but attention spans and new cycles are short.
  The bill we passed today is a good start, but it can't be the end of 
the story. Moving forward, we must make sure that we have all the facts 
because you can't fix a problem if you don't understand it.
  That is why I have already worked with my colleagues to help pass 
legislation out of committee that will free up more resources for the 
inspector general's office of the VA to do its job and to make reports 
from the VA inspector general public and transparent.
  The bill also prohibits the payment of bonuses to VA medical 
directors and senior VA employees until investigations are complete and 
reforms are made. Our message is clear; that is, that veterans come 
first.
  In the 7 years since I held that first veterans listening session 
across Montana, since then we have worked with veterans groups to open 
new veterans centers and community-based out-patient clinics across the 
State of Montana.
  I have helped more veterans get transportation to get to their doctor 
appointments, and I have helped lead the way to expand the use of 
telehealth for rural veterans. We did this while working with the VA 
secretaries from both parties by working across the aisle to write 
commonsense legislation that meets the needs of veterans and their 
families. Not only should improving veterans care be an unrelenting 
focus for this body but it must be a nonpartisan one.
  Improving mental health care for veterans is not a partisan issue. 
Improving veterans' ability to get a good job is not a partisan issue. 
Making sure that veterans get the care they have earned, the care that 
we promised them when they signed up to fight should never be a 
partisan issue.
  Let's keep working together to honor the sacrifices made by our 
fighting men and women, as well as the families who anxiously wait for 
them back home.
  On Saturday morning I will be in Anaconda, MT, kicking off my latest 
veterans listening tour to get more ideas about how we can improve the 
services and care for veterans.
  I know that many of my colleagues are holding similar sessions in 
their States, and I look forward to hearing what ideas they bring back 
so that we can work together to improve veterans health care.
  If this bill is the end of this Congress's work on veterans issues, 
it will be disappointing to me and it will be disappointing to the 
veterans out there who put their lives on the line to defend our 
freedom.
  We have more work to do, and I hope it doesn't require another crisis 
to get it done.

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  I wish to thank Bernie Sanders for his great work on this bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.

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