The
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is relieved that Congress finally
did what they were elected to do and passed an emergency funding bill at the
last minute to help the Department of Veterans Affairs overcome a nationwide
crisis in care and confidence. The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed
H.R. 3230, the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014,
by a vote of 420-5, and on Thursday, the Senate did likewise, by a vote of
91-3. The bill now heads to the president for his signature.
“This
legislation will help new VA Secretary Robert McDonald to fix what's broken,
hold people accountable, and restore the faith that veterans must have in their
VA,” said VFW National Commander John W. Stroud, of Hawthorne, Nev. “The VFW
salutes House VA Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), Senate VA Committee
Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), their staffs and supporters for making this
happen.”
The
$15 billion emergency funding bill expands access to non-VA health care
facilities for veterans experiencing excessive appointment waiting times, or
who reside 40 miles or more away from a VA medical facility; hires more
doctors, nurses and other health care practitioners; adds 27 new or expanded VA
outpatient clinics; enhances care for victims of Military Sexual Trauma and
those suffering from Traumatic Brain Injuries; and provides instate tuition
rates for all Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients, regardless of residency
requirements. The legislation also gives the VA secretary far more latitude in
firing senior executives who fail in their primary mission of taking care of
America’s veterans.
“Holding
people appropriately accountable is critical to mission accomplishment in both
the public and private sector, which is why that same rule must also apply to
the three senators and five congressmen who voted against H.R. 3230,” said
Stroud.
Voting
against the legislation were Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and Reps. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Jack Kingston
(R-Ga.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), and Steve Stockman
(R-Texas). The hypocrisy of their “no” votes, according to the VFW national
commander, is virtually all of them voted for hundreds of billions in
supplemental war funding with little concern about corresponding offsets or
oversight about how or where the money would be spent; and one was even the
governor of a state that experienced tremendous active, Guard and Reserve
deployments, as well as combat casualties.
“Our
nation is still at war and those eight members failed to stand with wounded,
ill and injured veterans,” said Stroud. “Failing to support America’s veterans
is as reprehensible as it is disgusting, and I hope all veterans, service
members, their families, and every voting constituent in every home district
and state remembers that. I guarantee that the VFW will do our best to remind
them.”