Date: 2006-12-08
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I also want to thank the gentlelady. Having visited her area. I understand the fast growth that she is experiencing with VA and her veterans. So I strongly support a new facility in her area. and will talk in a few minutes about the needs of the veterans in Central Florida for over 25 years. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the Veterans Benefit Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006. This bill. as its title suggests. authorizes new benefitsand health care programs for veterans. The bill authorizes needed construction of VA medical facilities and leases -for VA clinics across the Nation. The bill also addresses significant vulnerabilities in VAs information technology security. I am proud that working with the gentleman from Indiana. Mr. BUYER. the chairman of our committee. and our colleagues in the Senate. Chairman CRAIG and Ranking Member AKAKA. we have been able to draft a solid veterans bill before we recess. Mental health: I havrbeen a firm advocate that we must do more to help veterans with mental health concerns and their families. The legislation we consider today has many important mental health provisions which will expand VA capacities to address the mental health concerns of veterans. One example. the bill authorizes the VA to have marriage and family therapists and the other mental health professionals. Today we are sending a clear signal that we want to help the families of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder stay strong. stay resilient and stay together. This bill requires the VA to ensure that each communitybased outreach clinic has the capacity to provide mental health services. This bill requires the VA to increase the number of vet centers able to use telemedicine to provide counseling for veterans. This is especially important for veterans living in rural areas. This bill requires VA to increase the outreach service of vet centers. Passing this legislation is an important first step. but we must be vigilant to be sure that VA implements the law as we intended them. Longterm care: In just a few years. VA estimates that there will be 1.3 million veterans who will be 85 years old and older. Because of their age. these men and women will most likely need longterm nursing care or other assistance. This bill requires VA to develop and publish a comprehensive plan for the longterm care of veterans. . Since 1888. State veterans homes have played an important role to provide care for our Nations disabled veterans. This bill enhances this important Federal and State partnership by ensuring that medication is provided at no cost to veterans with a 50 percent or more serviceconnected disability. This bill also increases- veterans reimbursement for the cost of care for veterans with significant serviceconnected disabilities. Rural care: We all have heard of the frustration and challenges rural veterans face in trying to access medical care from the VA. This legislation helps focus VA efforts on addressing the needs of veterans in rural areas. The bill establishes a VA Office of Rural Health Care and requires the director of the new office to develop a plan to improve rural veterans access to VA care. Outreach to recent veterans. This bill also requires the VA to conduct an extensive outreach program to veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and have returned home to rural communities. This provision is proactive and presses VA to reach out to veterans and build on the strengths of our small towns and communities. Construction. This omnibus measure also authorizes VA major facility construction projects and leases. It has been some time now since Congress acted to address the health care infrastructure of the Department of Veterans Affairs. At this time. I want to mention the facility in Orlando. which has been in the pipeline and gone through the process for over 25 years. and that is one reason why I am extremely pleased that we are bringing this bill up today. The veterans in our area that have come from all over the country can no longer wait for a facility.. and I am very pleased that the facility in Orlando and the facility not just in Orlando but in Florida and all over the country. including New Orleans whose facility was destroyed. and other places will get the authorization that it needs to move forward. While I am proud that we are moving forward on important veterans legislation. I remain deeply frustrated and concerned that it still appears that we are still ending this congressional session leaving veterans without a funding bill. Even with a continuing resolution. we are undermining VAs health care system and shortchanging veterans. At the medical center level. a delay in the fiscal year 2007 funding translates into delays in hiring nurses and other hospital staff. It means staff work longer hours and are stretched thin. It means quality of care is put at risk. It means longer waiting lines for veterans. This failure to pass a budget is a clear illustration of the need for mandatory or assured funding of VA health care. and I firmly support it. In the next Congress. we need to look seriously at alternate ways to assure adequate funding for veterans health care. Needed action. This bill is a good bill. but even this hefty omnibus bill leaves some of our work incomplete. I believe that we owe it to our newest veterans to modernize the GI bill. especially including meaningful benefits for the Guard and Reserve. We must increase VAs capacity to meet the rehabilitation and longterm care needs of veterans with traumatic brain injuries. We must continue to monitor and strengthen VAs capacity to help veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and other mental health concerns. As we work to address the emerging issues of veterans returning.from Iraq and Afghanistan. we must also continue to press VA to meet the health care needs of veterans exposed to Agent Orange and veterans struggling with a range of Gulf War illnesses. Todays bill permanently authorizes VAs homeless grant and per diem program. which I think is very important because I know that we have all looked in our area and seen the homelessness. We know that onethird of those homeless are veterans. and so this bill helps homeless grants and per diem programs. This is a good program. We must help it grow to address more than a fraction of the homeless veterans on the streets. This is really unacceptable. We need to work together in the next Congress to acknowledge where there are problems in the VA system and fix them. Finally. I want to thank all of the VA staff on both the Republican and Democratic side for their dedication and hard work. and I know they have worked into the night for the last two nights to serve our Nations veterans. I personally appreciate the work that they have done. and I appreciate the work that the leadership has done. I think it is a good bill. It is a good start. and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.