Improving Confidence in Veterans' Care Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLOUD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 3530, the Improving Confidence in Veterans' Care Act.

This bill is presented in the spirit of those who have come before us, from George Washington, one of our Nation's first veterans advocates, to those who have worked through generations to ensure the men and women who serve in uniform are not forgotten.

A report released in February outlines several cases of doctors and healthcare workers who were treating veterans at VA facilities despite having had their medical licenses suspended or completely terminated. These cases ranged from those needing to complete educational courses to very serious instances of malpractice and patient neglect.

A similar problem was found with the Drug Enforcement Administration's registrations. Some doctors were prescribing drugs without being legally registered by the DEA to do so.

One of the reasons the VA seemingly overlooked this problem was because they did not know about the resources available to check the status of these licenses. Had the VA checked with State licensing boards or online records, they could have discovered that these doctors were unqualified, before allowing them to treat our veterans.

This legislation ensures that the VA hires only licensed doctors to provide care for our veterans and that the VA regularly checks licenses to make sure care providers do not fall out of compliance. Regular audits are common practice in medical facilities across this country, and our veterans deserve nothing less.

Finally, to ensure accountability, this legislation would require the VA to report their progress to Congress.

In the last few years, we turned a corner in improving care for our veterans, but there is still so much work to be done.

The liberty we enjoy in the United States is not without cost. Our Nation's servicemembers paid for it, many with their lives and many more with the scars brought back from war. Our Nation owes it to our veterans to deliver on the promises we have made to them.

I thank Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Roe, and their staffs for their work to strengthen this bill and ensure that veterans receive a high standard of care from qualified workers.

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