Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 4974, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2017.

My amendment will help reduce the VA's claims backlog and help improve the lives of our veterans. California is home to 2 million veterans, and I am proud to represent more than 54,000 veterans in my district alone.

There are 40,000 veterans expected to return to California every year for the next several years, including the fastest growing group of returning veterans--women.

We must ensure that our veterans have timely access to the critical benefits they have earned and deserve. Unconscionably, thousands of veterans who have sacrificed for our country are struggling to access benefits they have already earned.

Due to the lingering claims backlog at the Veterans Affairs Administration, veterans across our Nation are waiting for pensions, prescription drugs, and even lifesaving medical care.

Veterans are still waiting for the VA to process 351,676 benefit claims, and 74,589 of those veterans have been waiting longer than 125 days for a decision.

We owe it to our courageous men and women to clear this harmful backlog as soon as possible. Reduced to a claim number in a seemingly endless line, our veterans experience pain, frustration, hopelessness, and despair. Although the backlog has shrunk since Congress last passed a similar appropriations bill, we must not lose sight of the importance of getting veterans their hard-earned benefits as soon as possible.

That is why I am offering this amendment to advocate for an additional $5 million to fund the digital scanning of health and benefits files to reduce the backlog by redirecting funding within the General Operating Expenses account of the Veterans Benefits Administration. This amendment simply directs funds towards the digital scanning of health and benefits files that will reduce the claims backlog without any new spending.

As an emergency medicine physician, I understand the importance of efficiency in health care, and I know how dangerous continued bureaucratic rejection can be for a person with PTSD or depression. By committing resources to digitizing health and benefits files, we will further increase VA's capacity to tackle the claims backlog, ultimately ensuring veterans receive the benefits they have earned in a timely manner. We must serve our veterans by making certain that Congress focuses on eliminating the claims backlog for good.

I encourage my colleagues to stand up for veterans and support my pragmatic amendment to reduce the veterans' claims processing time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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