Joyce Votes for Bipartisan Bill to Assist Veterans

Statement

U.S. Congressman Dave Joyce (OH-14) released the following statement today after voting in favor of the conference report on the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act (H.R. 3230).

"Making sure our veterans have access to the high-quality care they deserve is a bipartisan issue that everyone should be able to get behind," Joyce said. "I'm pleased that the House and Senate conferees came together to finalize this bill and bring it to a vote.

"Veterans who have been suffering long wait times or live too far from a VA facility will now have the ability to see private sector doctors. In an area like Northeast Ohio, where we have some of the top medical facilities in the nation, this is a common sense solution that we can implement right now. The bill also makes needed fixes to the VA itself, such as cutting through red tape that keeps poor-performing senior staff from being disciplined or fired.

"While VA medical centers are seeing 700,000 more unique patients because of Iraq and Afghanistan, there are hundreds of VA doctor vacancies that have gone unfilled. This bill provides needed resources to hire more doctors and medical staff to make sure all of our servicemen and women coming home receive the care they need and deserve."

The Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act passed the House in a 420--5 vote.

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