Business meeting to consider S.275, to improve the provision of care and services under the Veterans Community Care Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.506, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to coordinate, navigate, and manage care and benefits for veterans enrolled in both the Medicare program and the system of annual patient enrollment of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.607, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish an integrated project team to improve the process for scheduling appointments for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.610, to expand the VetSuccess on Campus program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.635, to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recognize nurse registries for purposes of the Veterans Community Care Program, S.654, to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an external provider scheduling program to assist the Department of Veterans Affairs in scheduling appointments for care and services under the Veterans Community Care Program, S.702, to require a study on the quality of care difference between mental health and addiction therapy care provided by health care providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs compared to non-Department providers, S.778, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require a lactation space in each medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.787, to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a commission to review operations at the Veterans Health Administration and submit to Congress reports with respect to that review, and for other programs, S.800, to modify the Precision Medicine for Veterans Initiative of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.827, to extend and modify the transportation grant program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.831, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve telephone communication by the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.879, to expand medical, employment, and other benefits for individuals serving as family caregivers for certain veterans, S.972, to amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs repays members of the Armed Forces for certain contributions made by such members towards Post-9/11 Educational Assistance, S.1139, to amend the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019 to modify and reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S.1245, to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand health care and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs for military sexual trauma, S.1318, to direct the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a program to identify American-Jewish servicemembers buried in United States military cemeteries overseas under markers that incorrectly represent their religion and heritage, S.1320, to direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to take certain steps regarding research related to menopause, perimenopause, or mid-life women's health, S.1383, to establish the Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access, S.1441, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award grants to nonprofit entities to assist such entities in carrying out programs to provide service dogs to eligible veterans, S.1533, to amend title 38, United States Code, to make permanent and codify the pilot program for use of contract physicians for disability examinations, S.1591, to amend title 38, United States Code, to reorganize the acquisition structure of the Department of Veterans Affairs and to establish the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation in the Department, S.2392, to increase, effective as of December 1, 2025, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, and S.2393, to authorize a major medical facility project for the Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2026 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
2025-07-30
Source: Congress.gov
Summary
No summary available.
Participants
Transcript
for the business that we're doing today. We'll need a quorum, but I think in support of everybody's capabilities of doing what they need to do at this time, I'm going to go ahead and have my opening statement and call on the ranking member, Senator Blumenthal. As specified in the notice that you all received, we have 24 pieces of pending legislation on our agenda today. I'm pleased that we're back in the stage of looking at policy and legislation and we're work hard to try to include every member's priorities in consideration by this committee. These bills, the ones we're taking up today, represent a number of bipartisan priorities, including expanding access to VA health care and benefits, preventing veterans' suicide, supporting caregivers, student veterans, women veterans, and survivors of military sexual trauma, advancing research into low-level blast injuries, and other topics as well. I'm grateful to all the sponsors of these bills for their work on these proposals. I'm grateful to the VA for providing technical assistance on the legislation under consideration and to our veteran service organizations and partners for working with us to improve and advance these bills. I'm grateful to the President's desk for signature. and in doing so, improving the services for veterans and their families, their caregivers, and their survivors. I do acknowledge that there is more work to be done on these bills before they pass the full Senate. That work includes making certain that mandatory costs associated with these proposals are fully offset in accordance with pay-go requirements after we receive the final cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. We debated a bit about whether we should advance these bills, but while we wait for a CBO score, I think it's a prudent to start the process, move the process further along. It will also include additional negotiations with our House counterparts, with VA leaders, and with the White House.
Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to you and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for a bipartisan package, which I think befits the work of this committee, whatever our differences may be on other issues. And whatever our complaints about the VA, as you know, I have more than a few. I think we have really sought to work together in a very bipartisan way And I think it's important for veterans and advocates to know that we're still capable of coming together in good faith to advance ideas and legislation on their behalf. And it's tough to operate business as usual, but we have an obligation still to serve our veterans. And today, I'm particularly proud to advance the Service Members and Veterans Empowerment and Support Act of 2025. This bipartisan legislation of mine with Senator Murkowski would eliminate bureaucratic hurdles for military sexual trauma victims and survivors who apply for VA disability benefits. And it would afford to those survivors a stronger voice in filing claims while also expanding access to the treatment that they need. care, and services, they should have access to every tool needed to heal from their sexual assault trauma. Other critical bills on today's agenda ensure that the VA is better serving disabled veterans, women veterans, and student veterans. Some support veterans' caregivers and extend and expand efforts to address the mental health needs of veterans and make care more accessible. Very, very important goals.
In addition to addressing costs, I recognize that some of these bills will need additional changes, both technical and substantive as they advance through the legislative process. The chairman and I have worked closely together for many years and will continue to do so. We continue to hear from VA clinicians and veterans across the country experiencing cuts and delays due to the Secretary's ongoing, frankly, haphazard, disastrous policies for VA employees and facilities. And in that connection, I'd like to put into the record a Article that appeared in Prospect for Organizational Healthcare entitled Privatizing Veterans Healthcare Will Be a Disaster. If there's no objection.
Thank you. After we convene, after recess, I plan to introduce legislation to safeguard and expand VA's capacity to provide high-quality, accessible care to all veterans with all kinds of needs. And I hope the Chairman and I can work together in that effort. And I look forward to continued discussions about ensuring community providers are held accountable for meeting basic requirements to provide high-quality care to veterans, and that includes returning medical records and ongoing training similar to what is required of VA providers. The first item on our agenda is one that I am going to support for purposes of the votes today, but it needs continued work. It's the Access Act. of 2025, Senate 275.
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