[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15559-15563]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        MILCON-VA APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I wish to speak on the Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill that is now being 
considered. I will start by saying that this is 3601 Gerstner Memorial 
Parkway, Lake Charles, LA. This is the location for the new Lake 
Charles VA clinic--a clinic that has taken 13 years to get approved, a 
clinic that has seen delay after delay, costing veterans access to 
quality health care, a clinic still waiting to be built.
  This is a picture of the current facility in Lake Charles, where 
veterans have to go for their health care while they have waited for 
over 13 years to have the new facility built. This RV and this small 
building are why Congress must advance this MILCON-VA appropriations 
bill and why the President should sign it into law.
  This mobile clinic in Lake Charles--you almost laugh--is the clinic 
for our veterans. It is one of many such clinics in our country and is 
unacceptable. This is something one might see in a documentary about 
developing nations, not the United States of America. This RV, where 
our veterans are treated for serious medical conditions, is connected 
to a waiting room that is triple the size of the square footage of the 
mobile home. That is because the demand for care so greatly exceeds 
this subpar facility's ability to deliver health care to our veterans.
  In the waiting room there is a television set, but it is not plugged 
in and it doesn't have a remote. That is because VA rules say you must 
have a TV

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in the waiting room, but the rules don't stipulate that it must 
function. It sounds like a joke. We have to have a television, but we 
don't say it has to be plugged in.
  This is the current state of the VA, and this is what Congress is 
allowing when we fail to pass this needed legislation.
  I would like to say this is an isolated problem but there are 
veterans all over the country receiving health care under similar 
circumstances. For more than 10 years, our young men and women have 
returned from war in the Middle East. These young veterans are joining 
men and women who have served this Nation in uniform, defending our 
freedom in every corner of the globe. They deserve better than a mobile 
home. They deserve action, and they deserve it now. If we don't pass 
this bill, there will be consequences for people--America's heroes--who 
need help now.
  This is the VA portion, but it is also the military VA construction 
budget. If we fail to act, it will not just be our veterans who are 
hurt; it will also affect our Active-Duty military and our national 
security.
  We know there is a portion of the budget which goes for actually 
protecting our military construction, but what sometimes people forget 
is there is a human face to our military. Gen. Robert Rand recently 
took control of Global Strike, a position that is charged with 
maintaining our nuclear triad and first strike capabilities, but there 
are those in the Air Force who serve under General Rand. He needs the 
resources to maintain our nuclear ability, but without this legislation 
we cannot maintain his combat readiness, which includes basic needs 
such as housing for our soldiers and educating their children.
  I urge my fellow Senators to consider what is included in this 
legislation: family housing, schools, medical facilities for Active-
Duty personnel and their families, and funding for the care of 6.9 
million veterans.
  Let me add something to this. As a doctor, I am glad we also 
specifically provide for groundbreaking hepatitis C treatments and for 
modernizing the VA electronic medical records system.
  The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Military Construction 
and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill by a bipartisan vote of 12 to 
9, with all Republicans and 5 Democrats voting in favor.
  This is common sense. Congress has the duty to pass this legislation 
now, and the President has an obligation to sign it. We must honor our 
commitment to our military and to our veterans.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rounds). The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to support the Military Construction and 
Veterans Affairs appropriations bill.
  Yesterday, Congress sent the President a continuing resolution, a 
bill to prevent a government shutdown. This was necessary to ensure 
that vital resources and services the American people depend on do not 
lapse and in order to avoid harm to jobs and our economy. But as my 
colleagues fully realize, simply putting government on autopilot 
through a continuing resolution is not the responsible way to fund 
government. It locks in last year's priorities, delays the start of 
vital new programs, and allows unneeded programs to continue to be 
funded. We must pass the 12 annual appropriations bills.
  In July of this year, the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which I 
am privileged to serve, reported the last of the 12 bills. This was the 
first time that all 12 of the appropriations bills have been approved 
by the committee, in plenty of time for the Senate to act, since 2009. 
It is past time for the Senate to take up and pass these funding bills 
so that we can go to conference with our House colleagues and send to 
the President annual funding bills that reflect our current priorities 
that benefit the American people.
  In May of this year--in May--the Senate Appropriations Committee 
reported the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill by 
a strong, bipartisan vote of 21 to 9. As a member of the subcommittee 
with jurisdiction over this bill, I know this represented bipartisan 
consensus and hard work. It reflected the leadership of Chairman Kirk 
and Ranking Member Tester.
  This bill provides vital resources for our veterans and our 
servicemembers. We are operating under very challenging budget 
constraints, and I support the negotiations that are going on now. But 
it is long past time for the Senate to take up, debate, amend, and pass 
each of these appropriations bills. We have the opportunity to do that 
just now, and I do not understand those who argue that we should not 
proceed with the normal appropriations process.
  Those who disagree with provisions in this bill will have the 
opportunity to offer amendments to change the bill. But to not even 
allow this vital funding bill for our military and for our veterans to 
come to the Senate floor is an argument that I do not accept nor 
understand.
  We owe it to our Nation's veterans, 127,000 of whom reside in the 
great State of Maine. There are more than 21 million nationwide. We owe 
it to them to move forward with this important bill. These veterans 
answered the call to duty. They shouldered the hardships and sacrifices 
of military service. They have done their jobs. It is time for the 
Senate to do its job. We must fulfill our obligations and affirm a 
larger commitment made long ago to take care of those who have so 
proudly served our Nation--the patriots who have worn our Nation's 
uniform.
  To highlight a few examples of why this bill is so important, let me 
mention that it ensures our veterans have access to critical mental 
health care services. It aims to reduce veteran homelessness--a very 
important issue to me that I have worked on with Senator Jack Reed as a 
member of the HUD and transportation appropriations subcommittee--
another bill that we need to bring to the Senate floor. This bill 
provides funding to pay veterans benefits and includes $270 million for 
the Office of Rural Health, important to the Presiding Officer as well 
as to my State. This office has established the program called the ARCH 
Program, or Access Received Closer to Home. ARCH ensures that rural 
veterans in the pilot States, who often have a difficult time accessing 
the regular VA health system, can receive care closer to where they 
live. This has been a tremendous success in northern Maine, which has 
one of the pilot programs in Caribou, ME, in conjunction with Cary 
Memorial Hospital. This has made such a difference to our veterans.
  I remember one of our veterans telling me about breaking his hip last 
winter in the height of a terrible winter storm. Instead of enduring a 
painful and bumpy ride for more than 4 hours to get to the VA hospital 
in Augusta, he was able, through the ARCH Program, to receive care at 
his local hospital, Cary Memorial in Caribou, ME. He also had the 
benefit of being able to receive care closer to where his family and 
friends were.
  The programs that I just mentioned, like so many that are contained 
within the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill, are essential 
to ensuring that veterans who have placed their lives on the line for 
our continued safety receive the benefits they have earned. This bill 
is essential to providing updated military housing and other 
construction upon which those who are serving today depend.
  It is simply irresponsible for us not to proceed with consideration 
of this and every other appropriations bill. They are ready. They have 
been reported by committee. Let's do our job. We must do our best to 
honor those who serve, and who have served, and who have sacrificed so 
much for our country. Surely--surely--the Senate should do its part. We 
should do our part by promptly passing this important bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I wish to commend the distinguished 
Senator from Maine. She has articulately explained why we need to move 
forward,

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and I want to underscore something that she said.
  For 6 years now, the Senate has abdicated its responsibility to 
appropriate. We have left the prioritization of spending to faceless 
bureaucrats and faceless buildings in Washington, DC. The needs of our 
veterans and soldiers and our country have gone unheeded, while we in 
here have argued about things that are superfluous and actually 
unimportant.
  I came into this Chamber today and listened to the distinguished 
Senator from Nevada, the minority leader, make the following statement: 
He can't understand why the leader would bring forward a ``can't-pass'' 
piece of legislation and not go to something more important.
  I want the Senator from Nevada to go out to Walter Reed Hospital or 
to go to the hospital in Maine or the hospital in Arkansas and tell 
those soldiers, who sacrificed and risked their lives for us, that 
their needs for health care are not more important, or to tell Jim 
Webb, who was a Member of this Senate and passed the GI bill expansion 
a few years ago, that the educational benefits for dependents, 
children, wives, and others are not that important. Tell the people of 
the United States of America that those who protect us, those who have 
sacrificed, those at risk are not more important.
  There is nothing more important than our veterans and our military. 
There is nothing more important in our constitutional responsibility as 
Senators than to appropriate the money of the American people. We are 
abdicating our responsibility. It is professional and political 
malpractice, and it is time it stopped. I get sick and tired of the 
political bantering back and forth when there are things come before us 
that must be done.
  As chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, last Thursday night 
in this Senate we passed unanimously--and it has now passed the House--
a total reform of VA construction, and we fixed the Denver hospital 
problem that has been going on for 6 years in the VA. The Denver 
hospital has had a 428.3 percent cost overrun. That is unconscionable 
and that is wrong. But we finally are fixing it.
  With this bill--if the distinguished minority leader will let us take 
up this important bill, rather than something that is not as 
important--we are going to fix VA construction forever because what 
this does is to say that the VA no longer is in charge of construction 
of hospitals and clinics. The Corps of Engineers is. It is about time 
we had construction management by people who know what they are doing. 
Doctors are good at fixing people, but they are not very good at bricks 
and mortar. We need the bricks and mortar people doing it.
  Secondly, this bill funds mandatory veterans' benefits through 2017. 
We had a threat of a government shutdown yesterday. Fortunately, we 
avoided it, but we have had it in the past, and we could have it again. 
Veterans health care should never be shut down, and we need to continue 
to forward-fund medical benefits so our veterans know--whether or not 
we are foolish and shut down the government--that their health care is 
going to be met.
  As the Presiding Officer knows, in the great State of South Dakota--
and Senator Collins knows from Maine--the biggest complaint we get is 
about the lack of timely responsibility in determining disability 
claims in the VA; right? We have veterans waiting 478 days to get a 
disability claim on an injury they suffered fighting a war for us--478 
days, almost 2 years. That is terribly wrong. This bill fixes that. It 
provides the money for the personnel necessary to expedite disability 
claims so veterans get a timely judgment.
  Now you tell me this, Senator from Nevada: What is more important, 
taking care of these guys taking care of us or just debating on the 
Senate floor a bunch of hot air that means no difference to the 
American people?
  It is time we fished or cut bait. It is time we did what we were 
elected to. It is time we set the priorities. It is time we honored our 
commitment to those who honored their commitment to us, the veterans of 
the United States of America.
  So as chairman of the most bipartisan committee in the Senate, the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee--of which the Presiding Officer is a 
member--we don't have Democratic spats and Republican spats. We talk 
about our veterans. Almost everything we pass out is unanimous. We do 
so because we all agree that--Republican or Democrat, black or white, 
rich or poor, whatever the case might be--we would not be where we are 
today nor would we be what we are today if it weren't for those who 
sacrificed, risked their lives, and, in some cases, died for the people 
of the United States of America while serving in the military.
  So I don't know what the Senator from Nevada thinks is more 
important. But for me, these guys right here are the most important 
thing in the world. And to vote against proceeding to debate this 
important appropriations bill is professional malpractice and wrong. I 
hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will make a commitment to 
those who served us and vote to proceed to the VA-MILCON appropriations 
bill.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, yesterday Congress passed yet another 
short-term continuing resolution. While this avoids a shutdown, it is 
far from ideal. Certainly a shutdown is not good governing. I think all 
of us can agree on that much. I wish to remind my colleagues, though--
particularly those on the other side of the aisle--that continuing 
resolutions are hardly better. While the American people demand that we 
get our financial house in order, Washington continues to pass stopgap 
after stopgap funding bills. Instead of tackling this challenge head-
on, these short-term extensions continue current funding levels and 
prevent us from stopping waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. 
Just like a shutdown, this, too, is no way to govern. There is another 
option. We don't have to choose between a continuing resolution and a 
shutdown. The third choice is the right choice, and that choice is for 
this Chamber to follow regular order and pass all 12 appropriations 
bills.
  We have done our work at the Appropriations Committee. For the first 
time in 6 years, every spending bill has cleared committee--all 12--and 
most of them passed with strong bipartisan support. I commend the 
Appropriations Chairman Cochran and Leader McConnell for their 
leadership to make that happen.
  The full Senate has the responsibility to consider each of these 
bills as well. Leader McConnell is committed to this approach. Our 
caucus is behind it 100 percent. The minority, on the other hand, is 
actively working against it. Committee passage of these 12 bills was no 
easy task. Both sides made compromises. These bills were the product of 
a great deal of give-and-take.
  We worked very hard for months to ensure that these bills reflect the 
spending and policy priorities that are right for our Nation. These 
bills should not simply be left for dead. The President is encouraging 
the Senate Democrats to obstruct the appropriations process because he 
wants more domestic spending for agencies like the EPA and IRS. This is 
not the direction our country needs to go. I hope my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle will reconsider this failed strategy.
  The funding bills show the American people that we share their 
priorities. For instance, the bill before us takes care of our Active 
Military and our veterans when they return home. Clearly this is an 
area of bipartisan agreement. Yet talk of a filibuster remains.
  Here is what the minority is considering filibustering: increases in 
funding for veterans services, military housing and family support, 
hospital and health facilities construction, just to name a few vital 
things in this bill. The bill increases funding in areas where our 
veterans need it most--health care, benefit claims processing, and 
medical research. It also includes funding for projects to ensure 
military readiness and improve the quality of life for military 
families. In light of the numerous

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scandals that have plagued the VA, it includes some strong policy 
reforms such as protection for whistleblowers.
  These are funding and policy priorities for both sides of the aisle. 
That is why this bill passed out of the Appropriations Committee with 
strong bipartisan support. That is why it should move forward without 
resistance on the Senate floor. Yet the minority is threatening a 
filibuster for reasons that have nothing to do with this bill. This is 
all about protecting the President's agenda.
  President Obama wants spending increases across the board. He has 
issued a blanket veto threat for any appropriations bill that does not 
meet his demands. Basically, the President's view is that if such 
agencies don't get more money, then neither should our veterans or 
military families. It is my hope my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle recognize this is out of line with our Nation's priorities.
  The right thing to do is reject the President's call to obstruct so 
we can continue to work together for the good of the country. 
Determining how we allocate taxpayer dollars is our responsibility, not 
the President's. Continuing resolutions have been all too common, while 
they should be a rare exception. We need to reestablish our priority of 
regular order and pass the individual funding bills that are needed to 
keep the government open. We can start that today and by moving the 
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill forward.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, we heard from many Members talking about 
the situation with the appropriations bill, and I would like to add my 
voice to the chorus. For too long uncertainty has hampered our Nation's 
ability to grow our economy and make necessary investments in our 
workforce, our infrastructure, and our technology. It was imperative 
that we avoided an unnecessary and reckless government shutdown this 
week, but that was a short-term patch. Now more than ever we need to 
take longer term actions to move our economy and our Nation forward.
  As the Senator from Arkansas mentioned, earlier this year the 
Appropriations Committee, on which I sit, accomplished something that 
has not been done since 2009. We passed all 12 appropriations bills 
through the full committee. We did so in a fiscally responsible way. We 
did so within the budget caps agreed to by the Congress. Many of us 
voted for those budget caps. We did so with broad-based bipartisan 
support; 9 of the 12 bills had broad-based bipartisan support. These 
bills touch every aspect of government and every facet of our economy. 
From transportation, medical research, energy investments to justice 
programs, these funding bills were robustly debated.
  Knowing all this, why are the Democrats blocking the Senate from 
considering one of these single appropriations bills? Earlier this week 
it was the Defense appropriations. Today it is the MILCON-VA. Why? Why 
are they blocking these same bills that many of them have previously 
voted for in committee and touted to their constituents?
  Last week I had the privilege of traveling across West Virginia with 
VA Secretary McDonald. We heard directly from veterans about their 
challenges and needs. One of the things we discussed was the Greenbrier 
County community-based outpatient clinic that had been closed. 
Secretary McDonald made a commitment, with over 200 veterans that we 
had in the room from that area, that that clinic would reopen quickly, 
but without the certainty of the funding that we have in these bills, 
Secretary McDonald cannot make those assertions across the country. We 
went to the Huntington VA Hospital, where we met with employees and 
veterans--committed individuals who want to see our veterans treated 
the way we want them to be treated, but the advances in medical 
technologies can't move forward without a certainty of what the funding 
levels are.
  These men and women, our brave veterans, deserve our unified support 
and should not be subjected to the gridlock that has been so common in 
these past few years. The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 
bill funds construction and care for facilities and services that 
assist our military veterans. It improves facilities for men and women 
who are willing to sacrifice for our freedoms. I will say, many of our 
VA facilities are challenged with approximately 20 percent of women 
veterans who are coming out. They don't have facilities to adequately 
treat our women veterans. This bill also includes funding for 
construction of State extended-care facilities, which helps construct, 
expand, and remodel nursing home facilities to care for our elderly 
veterans. We know many of our veterans are aging in larger and larger 
numbers.
  Determining our Nation's spending priorities, especially when it 
comes to our veterans, is one of Congress's most important 
responsibilities. Our process can work and our government can function. 
We demonstrated that at the committee level. We need to demonstrate 
that as well today on the floor of the Senate, but make no mistake 
about this, this is not just about process; it is also about progress. 
Funding bills are not just numbers on paper; they are people. They are 
our veterans. They are our friends and neighbors, our fathers and 
mothers, our sons and daughters. They represent the priorities of our 
Nation.
  There are other things in the appropriations bills that are equally 
important. We passed out historic investments in NIH and community 
health centers. We passed out critical infrastructure improvements from 
expanding broadband access to trying to help with the drug epidemic. 
You cannot measure the impact of programs like the National Guard 
Counterdrug Program, which is helping to combat the spread of illegal 
drugs in our State, or the work of the Appalachian Regional Commission 
which helps to improve the lives of so many. Endless continuing 
resolutions are not the most effective ways to meet these needs and can 
be proved wasteful in both time and dollars. Our bills provide critical 
funding, but they also provide direction on significant policy matters 
that are facing this Nation.
  When we operate from one short-term funding patch to the other, we as 
Members of Congress are forfeiting our responsibility to hold the 
executive branch accountable. Advancing appropriations bills through 
regular order is a vital check on wasteful spending and overreach in 
our government agencies.
  We need to work together. We can start that today, and I hope we will 
later this afternoon. These are broad goals, and the goals are shown in 
those bills. As the Senate begins consideration of funding for Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs, we should remember this: Governing 
is about setting priorities and bringing fiscal responsibility to the 
Federal Government, while ensuring that we provide for the necessary 
investments and services. Supporting our veterans is not only 
necessary, it is about the men and women who put their lives on the 
line for us so we can enjoy the freedoms we have here today. West 
Virginia is a very patriotic State, with one of the highest percentages 
of military veterans. I want to see that they are cared for properly. I 
am going to make that vote today. I hope my colleagues--the ones who 
are on the Appropriations Committee who have already voted in favor of 
this bill--will convince their colleagues on the other side that 
gridlock and obstructionism is not the way to go in the Senate. It is 
time to work across the aisle to pass this bill and support our 
veterans. Doing so will strengthen our Nation.
  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. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Capito). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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