Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Chairman, I will start off by saying thank you to Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Bishop for their hard work on this appropriations bill.

I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 2029, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2016. This amendment is for the brave men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country, our veterans.

California is home to almost 2 million veterans, and I am proud to represent more than 54,000 veterans in my district alone. There are 40,000 veterans expected to return to California every year for the next several years, including the fastest growing group of returning veterans, women.

As our troops come home and assimilate back into civilian life, it is critical that we do not abandon our veterans when they put down their weapons; instead, we must ensure they have timely access to the critical benefits they have earned and deserve.

Unconscionably, thousands of veterans who have sacrificed for our country are struggling to access benefits they have already earned. Due to the lingering claims backlog at the Veterans Health Administration, veterans across our Nation are waiting for pensions, prescription drugs, and even lifesaving medical care.

Veterans are still waiting for the VA to process 448,000 benefit claims, and 176,000 of those veterans have been waiting longer than 125 days for a decision. Our work to clear this harmful backlog is not finished, and we owe it to these courageous men and women to do so as soon as possible.

These figures are staggering, but the people this is affecting are not mere statistics. They are men and women like retired Air Force Master Sergeant Andrew Walker and his family from Beaumont, California.

Mr. Walker and his family waited years on end without receiving the critical health care he was promised, earned, and desperately needed. While I am heartened that I was able to help resolve Mr. Walker's claim, the backlog remains an enduring nightmare for too many veterans across the country.

Reduced to a claim number and a seemingly endless line, veterans experience pain, frustration, hopelessness, and despair. Although the backlog has shrunk since Congress last passed a similar appropriations bill, we must not lose sight of the importance of getting veterans like Andrew Walker their hard-earned benefits as soon as possible.

As a member of the VA Committee, I am fighting to change the culture at the VA from the inside out. By focusing on veteran-centered care and ensuring that the VA continues working to eliminate this backlog, we can take much-needed steps in keeping faith with our veterans and getting them the benefits they have earned.

That is why I am offering this amendment to advocate for an additional $5 million to fund the digital scanning of health and benefits files to reduce the backlog by redirecting funding within the general operating expenses account of the Veterans Benefits Administration.

This amendment simply directs funds toward the digital scanning of health and benefit files that will reduce the claims backlog without any new spending.

As an emergency medicine physician, I understand the importance of efficiency in health care, and I know how dangerous such tribulations can be for a person with PTSD or depression.

By committing resources to digitizing health and benefits files, we will further increase VA's capacity to tackle the claims backlog, ensuring veterans receive the benefits they have earned in a timely manner.

Let us continue to bear in mind that these men and women have served this country and they have put their lives on the line. We must service them by making certain that Congress focuses on eliminating the claims backlog for good.

I encourage my colleagues to stand up for veterans and support my pragmatic amendment to reduce veterans claims processing times.

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