Veterans' Access to Child Care Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 840, the Veterans' Access to Child Care Act.

As a former national security official, as the wife of a retired Army officer, and a stepmom to a new Army lieutenant, I strongly support H.R. 840, the Veterans' Access to Child Care Act, and any legislation that helps our veterans access and use VA healthcare that they have earned and to which they are entitled.

My amendment would take a simple but important step toward better serving military families and veterans. Specifically, it would authorize the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs to consult with the Secretary of Defense in implementing this legislation.

The need for better DOD-VA coordination on every front is not new. From education to job training and healthcare, Congress has taken many steps to encourage, to prod, to require, and, in some cases, to demand that DOD and the VA work together and better coordinate the services they provide to military families and veterans.

And as I can tell you from very personal experience, you do not have to spend much time with veterans in my district to know the stories of faulty connections, gaps in communication, and mismatched systems that confound our ability to serve military families and veterans evenly.

I am standing here today because I believe we should take every opportunity to encourage the kind of coordination that eases these connections. Childcare is an area in which DOD and the VA can and should collaborate more closely, especially as the two departments work to better coordinate the provision of healthcare benefits to millions of retirees and their families.

The Veterans' Access to Child Care Act would add valuable childcare services to VA patients to help them keep vital medical appointments that they might otherwise have missed in the absence of childcare options.

Simultaneously, the Department of Defense has been working to expand childcare options for military families, addressing an urgent need for services that don't just care for families, but contribute to military readiness.

Both of these efforts are vitally important, which means that the Department of Defense and VA should look for any opportunity to work together and expand childcare options for the families they serve. What's more, thousands of military members on Active Duty and in the Reserve component are married to veterans. Thousands of dual military families today will eventually become military and veteran families tomorrow, and my stepdaughter is married to a military officer, so this one is particularly personal.

This is just another reason that coordination between the Department of Defense and VA childcare programs can help us better serve these populations.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to push for stronger coordination between the VA and the Department of Defense.

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Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).

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

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