[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12570-12571]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WORK BEFORE THE SENATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, earlier this week, I set out a number 
of items for the Senate to get done during this work period, both in 
terms of nominees and legislation.
  First on nominees, we had to confirm an FBI Director, and we have 
done that. We needed to make progress on a number of other nominations 
that have been held up for entirely too long. Slowly but surely, we 
are. We confirmed a well-qualified judicial nominee. We confirmed 
several officials who will be critical to advancing administration 
policy in the Defense Department. Yesterday afternoon, we confirmed a 
nominee to the National Labor Relations Board who will help to return 
it--after 8 years of habitually siding with union bosses over workers--
to its intended role as an impartial judge that calls balls and strikes 
in labor disputes.
  All of this is progress, but we still have nominees to confirm for 
positions across many agencies in both security and nonsecurity roles. 
Many Cabinet members still await the No. 2 officials for their 
departments. So we have more to do.
  The same is true of legislation. We had to pass the Veterans Choice 
legislation. We have. In fact, we passed some additional veterans 
legislation, as well.
  Under the last administration, we learned of a shocking scandal that 
spread through Veterans Affairs facilities across the Nation. We all 
agreed that our veterans deserved far better than that. Ever since, 
Congress has continued to work on a number of initiatives designed to 
bring more justice to veterans and more reform to the VA. Senator 
Isakson, the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, has been a 
tireless advocate for our Nation's veterans and a driving force on 
seeing these bills through committee and through the Senate. We passed 
a number of good reforms into law already. We continue to build on that 
progress today.
  Just a couple of months ago, we passed important VA reform 
legislation that is now law. The Department of Veterans Affairs 
Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act is helping to shore up 
accountability measures, improve transparency, and enhance the VA's 
ability to remove unsatisfactory employees, while also protecting those 
who speak up about wrongdoing within the VA.
  Just this week we passed through more veterans bills. One heads back 
to the House for final passage. The Veterans Appeals Improvement and 
Modernization Act will help address the delays that many veterans have 
experienced by modernizing the VA's antiquated claims appeals process. 
The other two bills now await the President's signature. The VA Choice 
and Quality Employment Act we passed earlier this week will provide 
additional resources to shore up the critical Veterans Choice Program 
so that veterans who face long wait and travel times at VA facilities 
will have the option of accessing private care instead. The Harry W. 
Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act we passed yesterday will 
expand access for veterans to GI bill benefits as they transition back 
to civilian life.
  I want to thank the President and his administration for working with 
Congress to improve healthcare for our Nation's veterans. I also want 
to thank again Senator Isakson for his unwavering leadership on 
veterans issues and VA reforms. He has never stopped working to 
strengthen the VA system for those who rely on it and to overcome the 
systemic problems that have left many veterans frustrated and hurting. 
These veterans bills can make a real impact in the lives of the people 
we represent.
  That is also true of the FDA legislation we need to pass during this 
work period as well. I am hopeful we will have the opportunity to do so 
today. This legislation, which was passed by the HELP Committee on a 
21-to-2 bipartisan vote, is more important than ever in light of 
lifesaving developments in immunotherapy. It has never been more 
relevant, given that personalized medicine is just over the horizon. 
Passing this legislation will help speed up the drug approval process 
for patients in need. It will help address the time and cost of 
bringing lifesaving drugs to market. It will allow the important work 
of ensuring our drugs and devices are safe and effective to move 
forward.
  I want to recognize the chairman of the HELP Committee, Senator 
Alexander, for helping to make this critical legislation a top priority 
and for working with colleagues to move it in a timely manner.
  We are making progress this week for the future of lifesaving 
medicine for our veterans and for the leadership of our country's most 
critical agencies. We know we still have more to do in all of these 
areas, but we are passing critical legislation. We are confirming 
nominees to important positions, and we are taking steps in the right 
direction.

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