Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to also thank the subcommittee chairman and ranking member for their work on this bill.
This is the first of the twelve spending bills that the House will consider for FY 2015. I am pleased that we are beginning the process with a bill, as reported out of committee, that includes reasonable spending levels and is devoid of controversial riders. I hope this is a sign of what is to follow.
Despite fiscal constraints, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill would meet the needs of service men and women and continue to support our veterans.
I am particularly pleased with the emphasis on the increased need for prosthetics for our female servicemembers.
Congress must continue to track and provide vigorous oversight on the VistA Evolution Electronic Health Record to ensure its capability and interoperability with whatever health records system the Department of Defense eventually selects. The overall increase above the FY 2014 enacted level to the IT account should help the VA move forward.
This bill also takes several steps to reduce the disgraceful veterans’ claims backlog. The committee has previously provided VA with additional resources, and this bill would:
· Provide $173.3 million for the Veterans Benefit Management System and an additional $20 million to the Veterans Benefit Administration for digital scanning of old paper files, the centralized mail initiative, and staff overtime;
· Withhold 75% of the VistA Evolution funds until VA provides information on the system, particularly regarding planned interoperability with DoD; and
· Continue to require the VA to provide monthly reports on claims processing and remediation efforts for underperforming regional offices.
While the VA has made progress in the last year, this bill provides the resources to end the claims backlog, and that is what we expect of the Secretary in 2015.
This is a good bill, and I hope that it is preserved as the House considers amendments.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I urge your support.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
