Mark Takano

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 3908, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4908, as amended, the Native American PACT Act. The Federal Government has a legal and moral obligation to uphold its treaty obligations to Tribal nations, which include the provision of healthcare. Our responsibility to ensure care is compounded when American Indians and Alaska Natives serve this country in uniform. While largely provided by the Indian Health Service and Tribal Health Programs, the healthcare obligations of the United States do not start and stop with one agency. For decades, VA has not recognized the unique status of Native veterans and has charged them copays for care provided at VA. For far too many Native Americans, particularly those in rural areas, the copay burden is a barrier to care. These veterans, who may be unable to access specialty care from their Tribal health systems, are then unable to access VA due to cost. Eliminating the copay burden is a step toward upholding the treaties between the United States and Tribal nations while also bringing immediate relief to veterans unable to access care during these distressing times. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Gallego for his steadfast leadership on this issue. I encourage all of my colleagues to support H.R. 4908, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I too ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 4908, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6589) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and submit to Congress a plan to address the material weakness of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Lee and Dr. Roe for helping me bring this legislation to the floor. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in passing this very important piece of legislation, H.R. 6589. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3228, as amended, the VA Mission Telehealth Clarification Act. The John S. McCain III, Daniel K. Akaka, and Samuel R. Johnson VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018, or the VA MISSION Act, as it is more commonly known, expanded VA's ability to provide telehealth to veterans across State lines. The legislation before us builds on those enhancements by allowing healthcare professionals in training to provide tele-healthcare to veterans with clinical supervision. As we have seen over the course of this pandemic, tele-healthcare is becoming more and more a staple of Americans' healthcare experience. As this virus will be with us for some time to come, the value and reliance on telehealth will continue. It is critical that during this time, VA has the authorities necessary to keep veterans healthy and safe in their homes. This is particularly important for our rural and aging veterans whose access to in-person care was already a challenge. We need to do everything possible to ensure veterans' access to safe distant care whenever it is appropriate. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Carter for his dogged work to see veterans have what they need during this time. I encourage all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3228, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member for his comments about the VA really being a pioneer in this moment, that the expansion of tele-mental health, especially, has seen a logarithmic increase, and it has implications for Medicare and Medicaid. I am hearing from the civilian medical sector about the need to follow the VA's example. I am very proud of the work the VA has done to respond to this pandemic moment by making sure that our veterans, no matter where they live, have access to medical care through telehealth and tele-mental health, especially. I want to thank, again, the sponsor of this legislation, and I want to urge all of my colleagues to join me in passing this important legislation, H.R. 3228, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3228) to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize health professional trainees to provide treatment via telemedicine, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6092) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national clinical pathway for prostate cancer, access to life-saving extending precision clinical trials and research, and for other purposes.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 6092.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I also want to acknowledge the leadership of the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Cunningham), who worked with the subcommittee ranking member, Dr. Neal Dunn. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Cunningham), my good friend.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to withdraw my motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 6092.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6092) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national clinical pathway for prostate cancer, access to life-saving extending precision clinical trials and research, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 6092, as amended.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks, and to include extraneous material on H.R. 7795.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Veterans Benefits Fairness and Transparency Act of 2020 is legislation that was brought to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee as a result of a strong partnership between staff and the advocates that are out in the field, even through the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting our veterans in the disability benefits process. When a VA doctor evaluates a veteran's disability, they use a form known as a disability benefit questionnaire, or DBQ. These DBQs are what VA employees use to decide benefit claims and can be the deciding factor between a grant or a denial. During the height of the pandemic, VA made the decision to pull these DBQs off its public website, making them inaccessible to veterans and their representatives. The advocates told us this change was harmful for veterans because they could no longer get relevant medical information from their own treatment providers to support their claims. Now, even though VA oftentimes provides medical exams to veterans during the claims process, it is not always the same as getting that information from your own doctor. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7795 fixes this issue by requiring VA to publish DBQs on its website and to accept DBQs completed by a non-VA medical provider. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this moment to thank Representatives Barr and Luria for introducing this legislation, and also thank our VSO partners for bringing this issue to our attention. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Luria), the chairwoman of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, and also a cosponsor of H.R. 7795.

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAKANO

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6589, the CFO Authority and Collaboration Act of 2020, which addresses the sometimes arcane but also very important need for strong financial management and accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Madam Speaker, each year, VA spends billions of dollars in support of our Nation's veterans. Taxpayers deserve to know that each dollar is spent wisely and that each dollar is properly accounted for in order to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse. Madam Speaker, the VA inspector general has determined what is called a ``material weakness'' in how the Office of the Chief Financial Officer is structured. This was a topic examined during hearings and through oversight by our Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Mrs. Lee's legislation requires a small but important fix to ensure strong financial accountability. I thank Mrs. Lee for sponsoring this bipartisan legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6589. Madam Speaker, I wish to, at this point, withdraw the motion.

Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 6589.

Mr. TAKANO. I am checking. I do not have ``as amended.'' Madam Speaker, I stand by the motion that I made that we suspend the rules and pass H.R. 6589.