Letters

Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the Committee’s oversight hearing entitled, “Restoring Focus: Putting Veterans First in Community Care,” to discuss the importance of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) community-based healthcare program – created by the bipartisan MISSION Act – for veterans and their families across the country.

Good afternoon.

Thank you all for being here.

Welcome to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs’ first oversight hearing for the 119th Congress.

Before we start, I want to recognize and thank my colleague, and friend, Chairwoman Miller-Meeks, for her leadership.

Chairwoman Miller-Meeks originally proposed this hearing topic to be held in her subcommittee.

But ultimately, I decided this important community care discussion requires the full committee’s attention.

As Chairman, I am deeply committed to our shared mission of improving the delivery of care and services to our nation's veterans.

I look forward to working alongside my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to fulfill this mission.

Last Congress, this Committee did meaningful work towards that mission by passing the Dole Act.

This Committee also performed critical oversight of the Biden Administration’s V.A. to find the shortfalls.

Today, we turn our focus to V.A.’s Community Care program, which as we know it today was enacted in the V.A. MISSION Act.

The V.A. MISSION Act, passed in 2018 with overwhelming bipartisan support.

It was a promise to veterans.

A promise to ensure they would never again face delays in accessing the healthcare they have earned.

It was a solution born from necessity and on the shoulders of the Choice Act.

It was designed to eliminate barriers to care and expand access for veterans nationwide.

It was not a solution to privatize V.A. healthcare.

Anyone who suggests otherwise should step outside the beltway and talk to a veteran who lives three hours from a V.A. medical center.

Community Care is that veteran’s lifeline.

Healthcare decisions are deeply personal, and they should be made by veterans themselves.

They know where and when they need care to fix their needs.

However, under the Biden-Harris administration, this program has been hijacked.

The Biden-Harris administration has prioritized bureaucratic limitation and control of community care over veterans’ needs.

Scheduling practices have been manipulated to distort wait times.

Appointments have been canceled or rescheduled without veterans’ consent.

Internal V.A. guidance has actively discouraged veterans from seeking care outside the V.A. system.

That’s dead wrong – and like every other law that is enacted it is not optional.

When V.A. inserts itself as the sole decision maker and plays politics with veterans’ health, people get hurt.

These actions have real-life consequences.

We’re going to hear about some of those consequences today from actual veterans – not bureaucrats.

Make no mistake: Community Care is V.A. care.

It is not a substitute but an essential extension of V.A.’s mission to serve veterans where and when they need it – without delay.

With the Trump administration in place, we have an opportunity to ensure V.A. adheres to the MISSION Act and returns healthcare decisions to the hands of the only authority that matters—the Veteran.

Today, we will hear from witnesses who have experienced these barriers firsthand.

Their stories will remind us that the decisions made here in Washington have far-reaching impacts on the lives of veterans and their families.

To our witnesses, thank you for your courage in sharing your experiences.

Your experiences matter, and we are here to listen.

With that, I now recognize Ranking Member Takano for his opening comments.