Phil Roe

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I have determined it necessary to include in the Record the following views on H.R. 4920, the Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act in the absence of a committee report.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, there is no question that prescription drug prices in this country are too high and that too many Americans cannot afford the lifesaving medications that they need, and I wish the bill we were debating today would solve that problem. Sadly, it does not. The premise of this amendment is that the VA should be able to lower drug costs if the savings predicted materialize. But make no mistake about it, a bill that stops cures from coming to market and discourages innovation is bad for veterans and bad for America, regardless of the effects of this amendment. Further, with this amendment, we would be putting the brave men and women who have served our Armed Forces and are seeking care from the Department of VA at risk. Congressman Cunningham's amendment would expand the scope of this bill to include the prescription drugs provided by VA. As well intentioned as Congressman Cunningham's amendment might be, this is the wrong thing for veterans. Mr. Chairman, let me reminisce a little bit. When I graduated from medical school, there was a disease out there we did not know the name of. We didn't even know the name of it. We later discovered it was hepatitis C. We have gone from not even knowing the name of this disease to being able to cure it in 8 to 12 weeks. Let me tell you what this incredible innovation has done for our Nation's veterans. The VA has cured more than 100,000 veterans of hepatitis C since 2014, remarkable, cutting the death rate by 50 percent. That is innovation that has done that. Because of this treatment, veterans cured are estimated to have a 72 percent less likely chance of developing cancer of the liver. Fewer than 25,000 veterans out there are now untested that are at risk, and the VA is to be applauded for this. Let me digress to my first pediatric rotation in medical school in Memphis many years ago. My first inpatient rotation was St. Jude Children's Hospital. At that time when I saw those children, 80 percent of them, Mr. Chairman, died of their disease. Because of innovation and research, and doctors and nurses and others who went in every day and saw these children die, today, 80 percent of those children live. If we don't stifle innovation, my prayer is that 100 percent of these children live. My concern with this bill, H.R. 3, is not what it will do. It is what will be left undone when we don't have these cures. I know that is not the intent of my friend. We serve on the committee together, and I know that is not his intent. My concern is that is exactly what will happen. I submit for the Record this list of drugs right now that the VA does not have on its formulary because it is closed. Top Medicare Part B Drugs NOT Covered by the VA (excluding vaccines) Brand Name/Generic Name Remodulin/Treprostinil Sodium Provenge/Sipuleucel-T/Lactated Ringers Soliris/Eculizumab Synvisc/Hylan G-F 20 Tyvaso/Treprostinil Abraxane/Paclitaxel Protein-Bound Actemra/Tocilizumab Advate/Antihemophil.FVIII, full Length Aloxi/Palonosetron HCL Brovana/Arformoterol Tartrate Budesonide/Budesonide Entyvio/Vedolizumab Erbitux/Cetuximab Faslodex/Fulvestrant Injectafer/Ferric Carboxymaltose Kadcyla/Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine Neulasta/Pegfilgrastim NPlate/Romiplostim Orencia/Abatacept Prolia/Denosumab Remicade/Infliximab Simponi Aria/Golimumab Xolair/Omalizumab Yervoy/Ipilimumab

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, further with this amendment, we have a system now that works, and I would encourage my colleagues to not support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I agree with my colleagues that we should do everything possible to lower prescription drug costs, but I can tell you that H.R. 3 will not do it. One of the problems I have with this bill is to stifle the incredible innovation that I have seen in my career. Let me give another example before I close, Mr. Chairman. I had a professor in medical school, Dr. Lemuel Diggs, my hematology professor. He spent his entire career trying to cure sickle-cell anemia. I have sat by the bedside of pregnant women and done exchange transfusions on women nearing term who have sickle-cell disease so they can deliver a baby that is well and the mother would be healthy. I have done that. Dr. Diggs passed before we found out incredible research that has been done, that we can do alterations of the HIV virus, an attenuated virus it is called, and place the right code in the genetic code and potentially cure sickle-cell disease for African Americans. We do not want to stifle this innovation. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4625, as amended, the Protect the GI Bill Act. Earlier this year, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the original World War II GI Bill that helped launch the modern middle class. In the past 75 years, the GI Bill has helped millions of transitioning servicemembers get the training and education they need to be successful and help grow our economy. I used the GI Bill myself when I got out of the military. Part of our role on the Veterans' Affairs Committee is to protect the GI Bill's important legacy and ensure that the incredible benefit the GI Bill provides remains available for veterans for generations to come. The Protect the GI Bill Act would advance that goal by putting important protections in place to help student veterans make the right choice when using their GI Bill benefits by helping regulators flag and, if necessary, remove bad schools and programs from being eligible for the GI Bill. This bill would also double down on our support for student veterans whose school has closed before they finish their program by restoring their GI Bill entitlement if the student is unable to transfer their credits to another institution. I thank my friend and fellow long-term committee member, Congressman Gus Bilirakis from Florida, for his hard work on this bill. Gus is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, and this bill includes the text of his bill, H.R. 4085, the Student Veteran Empowerment Act, and builds off his work in the 113th Congress to create the GI Bill Comparison Tool. I would also like to thank Student Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and, especially, Veterans Education Success for their help in crafting this legislation. Their expert advice and counsel are critical to ensuring that we preserve the legacy of the GI Bill for another 75 years and beyond. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), my good friend, a tireless working member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I know of no one on our committee who works harder for veterans, whether it is on PTSD or the benefits they have earned, than Gus Bilirakis.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I, too, am ready to close. I yield myself the balance of my time. I do want to say that this bill is indicative of how, when we work together, we can solve problems. You heard various issues from both sides of the aisle that were brought to bear and worked in the subcommittee and committee to solve these problems for constituents all across the country. Madam Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 4477, as amended, the Reducing High Risk to Veterans and Veterans Services Act. This bill was introduced by Congressman Chris Pappas from New Hampshire and my good friend, Congressman Jack Bergman from Michigan, the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. Every 2 years, the Government Accountability Office, the GAO, publishes its High-Risk List identifying those activities that are considered high risk due to their vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or that need transformation. GAO added managing risks and improving Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare to its High-Risk List in 2015, and it remains there today. Last Congress, the committee held a roundtable discussion with representatives from VA and GAO to address VA's progress towards addressing GAO's concerns. While it takes an agency, on average, 7 years to be removed from the list, VA has demonstrated little progress. Additionally, GAO added that VA Acquisition Management to its 2019 list. H.R. 4477, as amended, would require VA to develop a plan of action to address deficiencies in acquisition management and healthcare that led GAO to place VA on their High-Risk List in 2015 and again in 2017 and again in 2019. It would also incorporate a provision under H.R. 698, a bill introduced by Representative Jim Banks of Indiana, to direct VA to report on its efforts to address GAO's priority recommendations and GAO's top 30 open recommendations. Our Nation's veterans and taxpayers deserve a VA that is high performing and that acts quickly to address areas of concern as they arise. This help will help ensure that they get it done. I am grateful to Congressman Pappas and General Bergman for sponsoring this bill, which has my full support, but I would be remiss if I did not point out that this is another bill that did not go through regular order. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), a lieutenant general--and for those of you all who don't know what that is, it is three stars; I only made it to a major--to describe his bill.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I encourage all Members to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4771, as amended, the Department of Veterans Affairs Tele-Hearing Modernization Act. This bill would expand the Board of Veterans' Appeals hearing options to include tele-hearings. I appreciate my colleagues, Chairman Isakson, Chairman Takano, and Ranking Member Tester, for working with me on this bill to ensure that the virtual hearing concept included in this bill represents the input of all four corners of Congress. Madam Speaker, we all depend on and use our smartphones for just about everything we do these days. This legislation would allow veterans to use their personal device for a VA hearing. I am happy that we are moving this legislation to make hearings more accessible to veterans, especially those in rural areas where I live or for whom travel might be physically challenging. This bill was amended in committee to include additional reporting requirements that will help Congress monitor the implementation of this program. Specifically, the Board would be required to report on its outreach to veterans and stakeholders on the option for a tele-hearing, including the advantages and potential technological challenges of a tele-hearing, the IT modifications needed to conduct tele-hearings, and the partnership between the Board and the Veterans Health Administration, VHA, to share lessons learned from their respective programs since the tele-hearing program is modeled after the telehealth program that VA uses to increase access to care for veteran patients. The amended bill would also require VA to collaborate with veteran service organizations and other stakeholders to ensure that those who represent veterans at these hearings will have input into how the program is developed so that it can best meet the needs of our veterans. Madam Speaker, this bill has my full support, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I also am prepared to close. Madam Speaker, I encourage everyone to support this. This is obviously, in rural America, how we are going to have access to healthcare in the future. It absolutely makes sense. This technology is available to almost everyone. It makes no sense to make an infirm veteran or other patients go miles and miles and hours. This just makes sense. We have the technology to do it today, and I strongly support this and encourage my colleagues to do the same. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4360, the VA Overpayment Accountability Act. Veterans receive overpayments for many reasons. For example, a veteran may erroneously receive drill pay and disability compensation at the same time. A veteran may reduce their course load after their GI Bill payment has been sent from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the school, or a veterans' marital status may have changed, but they continue to receive additional compensation for dependents. As a result, VA creates a debt that the veteran must pay back. In some instances, the veteran may be aware that he or she had been overpaid and that VA will most likely ask them to return the money, but in other circumstances, they may not. I am concerned that many overpayments are caused by VA's negligence, not the veterans. Unexpectedly receiving a debt notification letter can create big problems for veterans and their families, especially if they can't afford to pay VA back; therefore, it is critical that the VA has the tools it needs to effectively prevent overpayments, and that if certain types of overpayments are unavoidable, VA's recoupment process is fair and considerate for veterans. This bill is sponsored by Congressman Andy Kim from New Jersey and is intended to ensure that veterans are not unduly harmed by VA's debt collection process. Madam Speaker, I appreciate his leadership on this issue, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4360. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my good friend. He is incredibly committed to our veterans. I have toured two different veterans' medical centers in his home State of Arkansas.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I don't know about New Jersey and California, but a crack operation where we are is a good one, so I think I would take that as a compliment. I thank Mr. Kim and my good friend Mr. Hill for their work on this. It does create, as the chairman said, tremendous anxiety and problems for our veterans. It is needless. Many times, it is just a bureaucratic mistake. I think all of us have suffered those with the IRS or whomever, so this is a way to correct that. I thank these Members for bringing it up. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this bill, and I urge Members to. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4356, as amended, the Protecting Families of Fallen Servicemembers Act. Mr. Speaker, this bill would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to give a spouse or dependent of a servicemember who experiences a catastrophic injury or who dies while in military service the ability to terminate telephone, multichannel video programming, or internet service contracts. This bill would also extend SCRA protections to members of the National Guard and Reserve who are executing Active Duty orders or performing inactive duty training. These are worthwhile protections for our servicemembers and are worthy of our support. This bill is sponsored by Congressman Josh Harder from California, and I appreciate his work. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup), my good friend. Dr. Colonel Brad Wenstrup is a combat veteran of Iraq who is still on Reserve duty and has served at both Fort Belvoir Hospital and Walter Reed Hospital.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in closing, this is commonsense legislation--I talk about this a lot when I go home--about a grieving spouse, a husband or wife, who has lost a family member in combat in service to our country. I saw many of those this past weekend, as many of us did, as we attended veterans events. I can't think of anything worse than being a spouse who is in a city that is unfamiliar to them, away from family, and to have these contractual obligations through our catastrophically injured veteran or a deceased veteran. It is the right thing to do. Everywhere I go and talk about this throughout the country, our fellow Americans want this done. Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this much- needed legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4162, as amended, the GI Bill Planning Act of 2019. Mr. Speaker, in order to be eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill, servicemembers automatically have $100 a month deducted from their paycheck for the first 12 months of their service for a total of $1,200. Currently, servicemembers have to elect to opt out of these payments just a few short days into their basic training or boot camp. From personal experience, I can say that is not the time to be making such an important decision. This bill would extend the time the servicemember has to elect out of the Montgomery GI Bill to a 90-day period beginning 180 days after the date the servicemember enters training. It gives them 6 months to kind of think about it a little bit and then some time. By delaying the decision to elect out of that Montgomery GI Bill, servicemembers will have more of an opportunity to research which GI Bill, the Post-9/11 GI Bill, or the Montgomery GI Bill is best suited to meet their educational needs in the future outside of the pressure and constraints of boot camp. In addition, this bill would responsibly sunset the Montgomery GI Bill benefit for new enlistees in 2029. This would mean that current servicemembers or anyone who chooses this benefit before 2029, would not be impacted. While the legacy of the Montgomery GI Bill benefit has helped thousands, it only makes sense to move to the more generous Post-9/11 GI Bill. This change would help ease confusion among student veterans and make things easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to administer the benefit. I am also glad that the text of my bill, H.R. 3608, which would extend in-state tuition benefits to veterans is also included in this bill. The 2014 CHOICE Act required that public schools charge veterans who are within 3 years of their discharge in-state tuition rates regardless of whether they meet the State's residency requirements in order to be eligible for GI Bill programs. That requirement was waivable, but to date, all States and public schools are complying with it. Last Congress I was proud to coauthor the Forever GI Bill, which, among other improvements to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, eliminated the requirement that a veteran's 36 months of GI Bill benefits expire 15 years after their last discharge from Active Duty. Now that this change has become law, it makes no sense to require that the veteran be within 3 years of their discharge to receive in- state tuition rates if they have their entire lives to use their GI Bill benefits. I want to thank my good friend and colleague Congressman Jack Bergman from Michigan for all of his hard work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support the GI Bill Planning Act of 2019. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), to debate his bill. General Bergman served as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in the 115th Congress, and he is now the ranking member. Mr. Speaker, I didn't get a chance to wish the gentleman a belated happy Veterans Day.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I, too, wish the Marine Corps a happy birthday, but as usual, they are behind the Army. Their birthday is later than the U.S. Army which is older than the Marine Corps. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I, too, have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I recommend that all of my colleagues support this very commonsense legislation, the GI Bill. I used the GI Bill in 1975-1976, when I got out of the Army. It was an amazing piece of legislation. It helped me then. I am appreciative to this day that my country invested $300 a month in me for 2 years, and that I got to use that. It really helped me a lot. This bill that we have now, the Forever GI Bill, is a phenomenal benefit for young people. We know the GI Bill helped transform a generation after World War II. I believe this Forever GI Bill will transform this generation, and I wholeheartedly encourage my colleagues to support it. I yield back the balance of my time.