Motion to Discharge

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I come to the floor this Monday afternoon to speak about the importance of our committee, a committee that the Presiding Officer serves on, and the importance of passing toxic exposure legislation to deliver the right care and the right benefits to the right veterans in the most veteran-friendly way possible--to deliver the right benefits to the right veterans in the most veteran-friendly way possible.

Our military men and women are willing to sacrifice much for our country. We must match that level of commitment by crafting thoughtful and effective solutions to make certain we provide the best outcomes, care and treatment, and benefits for those who have served our Nation.

In the past 2 years, I have heard testimony from nearly every veteran service organization emphasizing the importance of fixing the process the VA uses to provide healthcare and benefits to toxic-exposed veterans and the need to grow our knowledge to help care for the toxic wounds of war.

There have been calls for Congress to act more quickly, and I respect those calls. Our committee hears those calls. We are in lockstep on the challenge here and the need for a solution that is veteran centric. There is bipartisan consensus on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs that a phased approach--delivering healthcare now and reforming the benefits system next, in fact, as we go now--is the most effective pathway forward.

The Senate has already acted on the first step, and we are actively participating and partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs on the second.

Senator Tester, the chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and I have been working together to craft a fair and transparent process for toxic-exposed veterans, beginning with the Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act, which unanimously passed the Senate and was sent to the House in February. This bill remains the quickest way to make certain that sick veterans who are suffering from the effects of exposure to toxic substances are immediately eligible for lifesaving healthcare.

For 6 weeks--for 6 weeks--this bill has sat in the House of Representatives rather than being sent to the President's desk to start making an impact on those sick and ailing veterans.

President Biden has called in March--I think it is March 12--called for the House to pass this legislation and is committed to signing it into law.

This legislation was cosponsored by every single member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and each of my Senate colleagues showed their support of this legislation by voting yes. This legislation was crafted by the efforts between Senator Tester and I and members of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. The VA Secretary has stated this bill would deliver outcomes that he cannot achieve without congressional action.

Again, the President called for this bill to be sent to his desk, so he can sign it, and last week, at a hearing before our committee, Secretary McDonough reiterated both of these facts, underscoring the need for action. However, the House has yet to take up this important piece of legislation and, rather, sent us the PACT Act. While the PACT Act includes the critical Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act, signaling broad support--again, signaling broad support in the House for this legislation, it also includes late additions that lack adequate review and provisions that will stretch the VA beyond its operational capacity, making it uncertain that veterans will be able to quickly access the benefits.

The PACT Act needs to be amended. Secretary McDonough said as much before our committee last week. During that testimony, I learned about ways the PACT Act needed to be amended, and I heard about the importance of incorporating the results of the VA's ongoing pilot model, designed to determine how to better address the healthcare needs and benefits of our veterans.

If Congress acts too hastily and legislates prematurely--again, it is hard to envision a Congress ever acting too hastily. We are slow in what we do, and I again understand the need for quick action, but if we do legislate prematurely, we could end up with a situation similar to what veteran caregivers are now experiencing.

In the MISSION Act, we passed legislation giving veteran caregivers greater opportunities to care for those family members, but that system, as we saw in a hearing just a few weeks ago, is not working for veterans, and witness testimony before our committee is among the most compelling that we have ever had about the faults of the way that legislation is being implemented by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

A caregiver of a post-9/11 Army vet stated about the Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers program.

The program should have been a blessing. However, the program has become unpredictable, stressful, and, frankly, dehumanizing.

I invite those who did not view this hearing to find it and watch to see a glimpse of the future we are seeking to avoid by making certain we get this right.

The VA developed its pilot model last year to evaluate and implement presumptions for service-connection resulting in the establishment of 12 presumptions for respiratory ailments thus far. The Secretary has cited the collaboration among the best scientists to devise and execute this model.

Its potential has been demonstrated, and we should continue to review it in its entirety and allow for the process to conclude, which is to happen very shortly. The legislation we pass should not fail to take into account the work that is going on at the Department of Veterans Affairs utilizing input from veterans and the science and medical expertise of others.

The VA concluded this pilot last week, and I look forward to examining this pilot in depth to help improve legislation while mitigating disruptions to the VA's work in caring for all of our veterans. Whether statutory or regulatory, reform must establish a consistent threshold of scientific evidence, and the decision-making process must be transparent for all who were involved in the care of veterans.

Veterans who are sick and suffering have waited long enough, and they should be able to access healthcare without further delay. And when the Department completes its ongoing work, Congress can then meet the needs of veterans with the benefits they deserve.

When our men and women suffer the consequences of military service, it is our responsibility--it is our responsibility--to see that they receive the healthcare and benefits they earned. It is the right thing to do, and it is the cost of going to war. We have no option.

I highlight this for my colleagues, ask the House to proceed in passage of the legislation we sent them with unanimous consent, and I look forward to an expeditious resolution of the process the Department of Veterans Affairs is going through to make sure we know all the facts so that the legislation is right and we avoid pitfalls we have seen in other circumstances.

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