On August 20, 2014 the Cumberland Times-News published an op-ed by Congressman John K. Delaney on the recent bipartisan effort to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Bipartisan VA reform effort good for our veterans

When our armed service members put on their uniform, they’re making a promise to their country, a vow to defend our home.

They protect us even if it means leaving their families and risking their lives: it doesn’t get more powerful than that. America has always been grateful, which is why there’s a national consensus that our veterans deserve world class health care.

Over the last year, the American people have been outraged by chronic treatment delays at Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities and improper bookkeeping by VA staff. Republicans and Democrats worked together to tackle the problem, passing legislation to improve accountability at the VA and help solve the wait time crisis.

Late last month, the president signed the bill into law. The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act does three key things to help veterans.

First, it funds a new program which allows veterans experiencing long wait times (over 30 days) or who live more than 40 miles from a VA facility to receive care at a non-VA facility.

Second, it provides emergency funding to hire new medical personnel at the VA and open 27 new VA clinics. Third, the legislation authorizes the immediate demotion or firing of poorly performing employees.

I was proud to vote for this legislation. John Stroud, the National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) called the bill a “huge win for veterans.” I also voted for individual bills that allowed veterans to seek non-VA care and provisions to hold employees accountable.

This legislation doesn’t mean we should be done improving the VA. The Baltimore VA, which processes claims for most Maryland veterans, has among the worst wait times in the country.

The average wait time for disability claims in Baltimore is one year and thousands of case files have been mishandled. My office hears every week from veterans who have had problems with the Baltimore office.

The secretary of the VA should meet with the entire Maryland delegation, face to face, and explain what’s gone wrong there and what they’re doing to fix it.

Coming from the private sector, I believe that VA leadership needs to have an aggressive response to poor service. If not, new people need to take over and get the job done.

I believe that when it comes to veteran and active duty health care, we need to do more to support military families.

Each of the last two years, I’ve introduced a measure to increase funding for Fisher House, a non-profit that provides free lodging near hospitals for military families. Fisher Houses help thousands already, but the need has grown after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

No military family should have to choose between paying the bills and being at their loved one’s side while they receive care. With proper attention to detail, we can support worthy causes like Fisher House without requiring new spending: each year my Fisher House initiative has been fully offset by reducing other accounts. Keeping families together should be a priority.

It’s encouraging that Democrats and Republicans worked together to do the right thing. It needs to happen more often.

We’ve still got work to do to reduce our deficit, protect important programs like Social Security, and enact pro-growth policies that create jobs and help businesses grow. I’m committed to working with my Republican colleagues to build a better America.

Let’s build on the momentum of VA Reform, not go back to the old partisan bickering.