Jeff Miller

Mr. MILLER of Florida

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), who has been at the forefront of the investigation on this scandal.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks H.R. 4810.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4810) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts for the provision of hospital care and medical services at non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for Department of Veterans Affairs patients with extended waiting times for appointments at Department facilities, and for other purposes.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the First District of Tennessee, Dr. Roe, a veteran himself.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, many Members have been very involved in this issue. Certainly the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health has been at the forefront. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan, Dr. Benishek.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers at this time so we are prepared to close.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today amidst a growing crisis amongst America's veterans. Just over 2 months ago, at a committee oversight hearing, we disclosed that the committee investigation had in fact uncovered evidence suggesting that at least 40 veterans had died while waiting for care at the Phoenix Department of Veterans Affairs health care system. We now know, and VA has in fact confirmed, that almost 60 veterans have died while facing delays in care at Phoenix and other locations, and that the data manipulation efforts that the committee has uncovered are in fact systemic throughout the entire Department. I cannot state it strongly enough, Mr. Speaker, this is a national disgrace. For our veterans, it is something more. It is a national emergency. An internal audit that was released just yesterday found that more than 57,000 veterans had been waiting for care, for their first medical appointment, and an additional 64,000 veterans who have enrolled in the health care system over the last 10 years never received the appointment that they requested. Now, correcting the many failures of the VA health care system is going to take diligent and focused work for a long time to come. This committee, both Republicans and Democrats, is committed to seeing this through. However, our first priority must be making sure that those 121,000 veterans--and the thousands more I fear that are out there that have yet to be identified--receive the long overdue care that they need without any further delay. This is why we have introduced H.R. 4810, the Veteran Access to Care Act. This bill would require VA to provide non-VA care authorization to any enrolled veteran who resides more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility and has waited longer than VA's stated wait time goals for a medical appointment, or has been notified by the Department of Veterans Affairs that an appointment is not available within the stated wait time goals. Now, to ensure continuity of care, the bill would require VA to utilize existing contracts to the greatest extent possible. It would also ensure that the non-VA care authorization encompasses the entire episode of care needed by the veteran during a 60-day period. To ensure providers are willing to accept veteran patients, the bill requires the Department to reimburse non-VA providers at the greater of the following rates: the rate of reimbursement under VA, the rate of reimbursement under Medicare, or the rate of reimbursement under TRICARE. These authorities would remain in place for 2 years. To ensure that we are addressing both the short-term access challenges facing our veterans as well as the long-term need for a proactive solution, H.R. 4810 would further require the VA to enter into a contract with an independent entity or entities to conduct an assessment of the health care provided by the VA medical facilities and to submit its findings and recommendations of the assessment as well as an action plan and a timeline for full implementation to the Congress. Importantly, the bill would also eliminate bonuses and performance awards for all VA employees for fiscal years 2014 through 2016 and require the Office of Management and Budget to transmit to Congress an estimate of the authority's budgetary effects, to include any transfer authority needed to utilize savings and, if necessary, a request for additional budgetary resources. Our latest estimate suggests that a temporary elimination of bonuses and other incentives will free up roughly $400 million per year that can be immediately utilized for the expanded patient choice options under this bill. VA has a well-established authority to send veterans outside of the VA health care system to receive care through non-VA providers. However, right now, the decision of if and when a veteran is sent to non-VA care lies with a VA bureaucrat. H.R. 4810 would require that the VA use the authority the Department has been given to assure that veterans waiting for an appointment or residing far from VA medical facilities are left in the control of their own care and able to choose for themselves where, when, and how they receive the care that the veteran themselves need. This authority would ensure that no veteran waiting for an appointment today would receive what one veteran, during a recent committee hearing, determined ``a death sentence.'' Mr. Barry Coates is a gulf war era veteran who waited almost a year in increasing pain to receive a colonoscopy from the Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina. That colonoscopy revealed that Mr. Coates had stage IV colon cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and his liver. Members, he is terminally ill today. Mr. Coates called his experience attempting to access care through the Department long, painful, emotional, and unnecessary. He testified: I am here to speak for those to come so that they might be spared the pain I have already endured and know that I have yet to face. Mr. Speaker, the problems the Department of Veterans Affairs is now facing represents failure on at least two fronts: failure of accountability and failure of access. Over the last several weeks, the House has addressed VA's lack of accountability through the passage of two pieces of legislation: H.R. 4031, the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act, and H.R. 2072, the Demanding Accountability for Veterans Act. Today, with the passage of H.R. 4810, we will address the Department's access failures for Barry Coates and, as he so eloquently said, for all those veterans still yet to come. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Huelskamp).

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I understand Ms. Brownley's concern, and I have heard that from Members on our side of the aisle as well. At this point, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the vice chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, a stalwart supporter of our veterans.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, without a doubt there are thousands of veterans across this country that are waiting for care that VA should be providing for them today. That is a national disgrace. It is a national crisis when veterans die, as VA has already admitted: 23 preventable deaths due to delayed care, and maybe more on the way. Let me assure the Members of this body, this will not end here. There are problems, systemic problems, throughout the entire Department of Veterans Affairs. We will work day and night, as we did last night, going until 11:30 p.m., making sure that VA tells this Congress, a coequal branch of this Federal Government, the truth. With that, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4810, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. MILLER of Florida

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, I am humbled to recognize Sergeant Chris Huffman upon the occasion of his retirement from the Pensacola Police Department on May 31, 2014. For more than three decades, Sergeant Huffman dedicated his life to protecting and defending the lives of those around him, and I join citizens throughout Florida's Gulf Coast and across the Nation in extending my deepest appreciation for his faithful service. The proud son of a father who was Chief of Police of the Piqua Police Department in Piqua, Ohio, Sergeant Huffman followed in his father's footsteps in pursuit of a law enforcement career. Sergeant Huffman served as a police officer in Troy, Ohio, from 1979 until 1984 when he joined the Pensacola Police Department. Sergeant Huffman performed various roles while at the Pensacola Police Department, including Community Relations; SWAT; K-9 Unit with his partner Isia; TAC, Uniform Patrol; and DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Officer at N.B. Cook and Scenic Heights elementary schools, Episcopal Day School, Montessori, and Sacred Heart schools. In 1999, he was promoted to sergeant, and in 2002, he was honored as the Florida DARE Officer of the Year. Throughout the course of his career, Sergeant Huffman was an inspiration to our Nation's youth and his fellow officers. There is no question that he made a significant impact in the lives of many, and the Northwest Florida community was blessed by his unwavering commitment to service. While Sergeant Huffman's retirement will signal the end of his career with the Pensacola Police Department, it is merely the beginning of the lasting legacy that he leaves behind. On June 1, Sergeant Huffman will kick off his retirement and embark on his next journey with a 60 day, 3,785 mile bike ride to help raise awareness and support for multiple sclerosis research. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress, it gives me great honor to recognize Police Sergeant Chris Huffman for his years of service and his passion for bettering the lives of others. My wife Vicki joins me in thanking Sergeant Chris Huffman for his dedication to the Northwest Florida community and wishing him; his wife of 32 years, Darla; and their two daughters, Courtney and Kelsey, all the best.

Mr. MILLER of Florida

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentlelady for her fine work, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 2942. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2942) to amend title 38, United States Code, to reestablish the Professional Certification and Licensure Advisory Committee of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members would have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 2942.

Mr. MILLER of Florida

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2527) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide veterans with counseling and treatment for sexual trauma that occurred during inactive duty training.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 2527, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, so I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4261) to improve the research of Gulf War Illness, the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, and for other purposes.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, we paused to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this great Nation, but it is also important to remember those who are still suffering as a result of their service. It has been estimated that as many as 250,000 veterans have some form of Gulf War illness. Despite millions of dollars in government funding and years of research, it is clear that more has got to be done to better understand this disease, so we can properly care for and compensate these veterans. The bill before us today reaffirms the essential role of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses and provides the committee with the independence that it needs, so that it can continue its vital work. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 4261. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members would have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 4261.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. I yield the gentleman an additional 1\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, there has been a gentleman who chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations who has been at the forefront of making sure that health care is provided in a timely fashion to our veterans, somebody who himself is a combat veteran. I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman).