Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, in 2017, the VTP program transported a total of 557,331 veterans, of which 103,704 were disabled veterans.

The VTP office is the authoritative source for all veteran-related travel initiatives. Its core mission is to assist in the improvements of access to care and assist veterans in overcoming transportation barriers to accessing VHA services.

VTS has established a network of transportation options for veterans through joint efforts with VA's Office of Rural Health and veterans service organizations.

This is a valuable program that has clearly been recognized and highlighted by the gentleman from California, that helps veterans who are visually impaired, elderly, or immobilized due to disease or disability, and particularly those living in remote and rural areas, to get to their medical appointments.

At a time with the VA where we are struggling to make sure both in terms of time that veterans have to wait to get an appointment and the difficulty in getting through a long distance to get that service, this is an important amendment.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the gentleman from California's contribution and I strongly support it.

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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chair, just to reiterate, we shouldn't be taking any method that gives us an opportunity to be fiscally responsible and save money off the table.

Our friends on the other side of the aisle consistently talk a good game about being fiscally responsible, blow holes in the deficit by passing massive tax scam legislation of a $1.5 trillion deficit expansion, and include amendments like this one that prevent the military, who have asked repeatedly to be able to at least engage in a discussion about another BRAC round, to save millions of dollars and close facilities that are no longer needed. Yet, the last several years, the majority has refused to make the tough decisions and at least have a discussion about this.

It is not responsible. Certainly not fiscally responsible. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I support the efforts by the gentleman from Massachusetts to combat opioid abuse, which really has been a scourge in every region of this country and has left almost no region in this Nation untouched.

The rates of prescription opioid misuse and overdose continue to increase sharply, and prescription opioids are now a leading cause of death in the United States. In fact, Mr. Chairman, we are about to reach the third year in a row that life expectancy in the United States will have gone down. That is the first time that has happened since all the way back to World War I, and it can be directly attributed to opioid abuse and the resulting deaths that has caused.

So I agree with my friend from Massachusetts that the VA should have a toolkit similar to the mental health toolkit and that it could save lives. I support the amendment.

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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Chairman, pain management education for the prescription of opioids in the VA could help with opioid abuse; that is clear. The VA already has guidelines regarding the management of opioid therapy for chronic pain and provides clear and comprehensive, evidence-based recommendations incorporating current information and practices for practitioners throughout the DOD and the VA healthcare systems.

Mr. Chairman, these guidelines are provided to minimize harm and increase patient safety in patients who require opioid therapy, but these guidelines only work if the prescriber is adequately trained. And that is why the gentleman from Massachusetts' amendment would be so helpful, because we all know that the key to making sure that we can reach people and maximize the effectiveness of the program is to ensure that the appropriate and significant training is done so that we can achieve those goals. So I support this amendment.

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