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Today, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the subcommittee’s legislative hearing to discuss potential legislation to ensure veterans get the care they need no matter where they live, keep senior veterans’ priorities at the forefront of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policymaking, and more. A full list of bills on today’s agenda can be found here.

Good afternoon.

This legislative hearing of the Subcommittee on Health will now come to order. Without objection, the Chair may declare a recess at any time.

I would like to welcome all the members and witnesses to today’s hearing.

We have 12 important legislative proposals to consider here today. It is important to note that not all of the proposals will move forward in the legislative process. 

Congress is responsible for ensuring V.A. stewards its resources effectively. Many of my colleagues’ bills would optimize V.A.’s funding, talent, and capital. Other bills reinforce V.A.’s mission to care for veterans’ mental and physical health.

I am grateful to Representative Hamadeh for introducing the Health Professionals Scholarship Program Improvement Act. One of the greatest resource drains at V.A. is the broken student-to-employee pipeline.

V.A. loses untold investments in student clinicians by offering scholarships in exchange for employment commitments—only for V.A. to not keep its end of the deal. Students are consistently unemployed for months before V.A. gives them a position.

These students have been driven to the point where they cut their losses with V.A. and seek jobs elsewhere, at a great financial cost to them, and opportunity cost to V.A.

Representative Hamadeh’s bill would help end this unacceptable dilemma.

The Representing Our Seniors at V.A. Act by Representative Kiggans would improve the Geriatric and Gerontology Advisory Committee.

Under current law, there is no requirement for input from state veterans homes, even though these homes are key partners in serving aging veterans. Representative Kiggans’ bill would fix this oversight by making sure these homes have a seat at the Committee table.

The Veterans Patient Advocacy Act by Representative Moolenar would increase the rural footprint for V.A. patient advocates. I know all too well how veterans in rural areas struggle to obtain care from V.A. I firmly support the bill’s goal to have patient advocates accessible to rural veterans. I think we can all agree that we can always do more to ensure that V.A.’s resources must keep evolving to reach veterans where they live.

The TRAVEL Act by Representative King-Hinds would also help our veterans living in remote areas. This bill would require a one-year “billet” for V.A. physicians at U.S. territories like the Northern Mariana Islands. Health care is not easy to come by in these remote parts of the world. This bill would place V.A. practitioners in the right places at the right time.

Representative McGuire’s bill, the V.A. Data Transparency and Trust Act, tackles the unending reporting requirements at V.A. and replaces them with a comprehensive and unified report on outcomes and metrics to improve V.A. programs. The laws today incentivize a system where consultants can create a cottage industry to broker reports, which diverts precious time and money away from V.A.’s mission and only makes oversight more difficult.

Congress has gained little from the manner in which it has received information from the numerous current V.A. reporting requirements. Representative McGuire’s bill would pull in the reigns and improve outcomes for veterans.

My bill, the Fisher House Availability Act, would make lodging in Fisher Houses more accessible for servicemembers and their families. Fisher House Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to providing lodging for veterans and servicemembers in need. V.A. owns most Fisher Houses. We know that servicemembers and their families can stay at Fisher Houses whenever they get care from V.A.

However, a recent agency interpretation prohibits them from using V.A.-owned Fisher Houses when receiving non-V.A. care, even though we know there is more than enough room to house them.

This bill does not displace veterans or veterans’ families. It would simply ensure that service members have access to available lodging. I am thankful to the Fisher House Foundation for supporting this bill and am proud to sponsor it.

Representative Luttrell’s bill, the SAVES Act, picks up where the popular PAWS Act left off. This bill covers costs for service dogs that provide veterans mental and physical assistance. The therapeutic benefits of service dogs are well established.

I thank Representative Luttrell for his efforts to improve the availability of service dogs for veterans in need.

Representative Dunn’s bill would align non-smoking policies at V.H.A. with most medical facilities in America. Currently, there is no protection in law against smoking at V.H.A. facilities.

As a physician, I know how important it is to make sure that patients breathe clean air when they receive care at a V.H.A. facility. This bill would ensure that.

Finally, a bill introduced by Dr. Murphy would create a pilot program to build on existing research into PTSD-related inflammation and cellular stress. The continued prevalence of PTSD in our veteran population requires us to continue finding new and innovative ways of screening and diagnosing PTSD. The research from this pilot program could help equip V.A. with the tools for preventative rather than reactive care for PTSD.

Again, these bills optimize V.A. and reinforce its mission to care for veterans’ mental and physical health in exchange for their service in uniform.

I now yield to Ranking Member Brownley for any opening remarks she may have.