Hearing of the House Appropriations Committee - FY 2016 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations

Hearing

I thank Chairman Dent for yielding, and I congratulate him and Ranking Member Bishop on
working together to write a Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2016.

The members of this subcommittee have produced a balanced, bipartisan bill that addresses the
current and future needs of our Veterans, and funds critical construction priorities for the
Department of Defense.

This bill provides funding for essential services our servicemembers and their families depend on --
access to quality schools, hospitals and housing. It fulfills our commitment to these brave men and
women on active duty, and ensures that, after they have served honorably, our veterans have access
to the medical care, job training, education and other benefits that have been guaranteed to them by
their Government.

There is no question that the VA has struggled to meet this obligation in recent years, paying an
unacceptable disservice to our veterans and their families. This Committee has worked hard to
support the VA as it turns the tide to redress years of mismanagement, and this bill is another fine
example of our commitment in that respect. I am particularly pleased that the Committee has
continued to prioritize reducing the disability claims backlog. This bill provides an additional $163
million over FY15 funding levels for this initiative, including $141 million for the digital scanning
of health records. This funding will help speed up the claims process and get VA back on track. In
addition, the bill will ensure that VA is moving forward in improving its electronic health records
system and is working hand-in-hand with DoD on achieving an interoperable e-health platform.

This bill also increases information technology funding over FY15 levels, and will move the ball
forward on ensuring that all veterans, including those with disabilities, have access to Veterans
Affairs online services, wherever they may be. Finally, this bill exercises key oversight
mechanisms, ensuring that VA is held accountable for the gross mismanagement of pain medication
prescriptions that have led to rampant - and deadly - misuse of prescription opioids. This bill calls
on VA to end the cycle of abuse and mismanaged prescriptions, and ensure that our veterans receive
responsible pain management care under VA supervision.

This is legislation that we can all support, and I urge the subcommittee to promptly report this bill to
the full Committee. Thank you and I yield back.

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