September 11, 2008

House Approves Three Bipartisan Veterans’ Bills

For more information, contact: Brian Lawrence, (202) 225-3527

Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, the House of Representatives unanimously approved two bipartisan measures to improve benefits and services for veterans. The following bills now await action by the U.S. Senate:

H.R. 1527, as amended, the Rural Veterans Access to Care Act, which passed the House by a vote of 417-0, would establish a pilot program to allow veterans in four highly rural areas to receive health care through providers other than the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Representative Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced the bill to help ease the challenges many rural veterans face in utilizing VA health care.  

“I want to thank my colleague, Jerry Moran, for his efforts on this very important bill he introduced to improve access for veterans living in highly rural areas,” said Committee Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-Ind.). “Veterans in rural areas are challenged by long commutes to VA facilities, and the limited number of providers in rural areas.”

About thirty-nine percent of veterans enrolled in the VA health care system live in rural areas,” Moran said. “The district I represent in Kansas has veterans who must travel up to five hours for VA health care, or as is too often the case, they forego care altogether. This pilot will explore a practical solution to the problem, and give those who live the furthest from VA facilities the choice to receive care closer to home.”  

S. 2617, as amended, the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Act of 2008, which passed the House by a vote of 418-0, would, effective December 1, 2008, increase the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans.

“This legislation will provide our veterans an increase in their wartime disability compensation, additional compensation for benefits, clothing allowance, dependency and indemnity compensation to surviving spouses, and dependency and indemnity compensation to children.  This is an important “must pass” bill, which will ensure our veterans receive the increase to their benefits on time,” Buyer said.

H.R. 6832, the Veterans’ Construction and Extensions Act of 2008, which passed the House today by unanimous consent, would authorize major VA medical facility projects and leases for fiscal year 2009, and extend certain VA authorities that are set to expire.

“This past February, I had the pleasure of visiting the Audie Murphy VA Medical Center in San Antonio for a briefing on the new project, which will provide state-of-the-art care to our severely injured heroes.  The VA Polytrauma Centers are designed provide comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation services for individuals with complex, severe and disabling traumas.  By creating a fifth Polytrauma Center in San Antonio, our commitment to veterans and servicemembers is reinforced by expanding access to the south-western ,” Buyer said.

“I urge our Senate colleagues to take up H.R. 6832 promptly so that we may complete action on these legislative items that are of great importance to veterans,” Moran said.
 

For more news from House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Republicans, please go to:

http://republicans.veterans.house.gov/

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