Veterans Affairs

The debt our nation owes to the men and women of the Armed Forces can never be fully repaid. Every day, these brave heroes make innumerable sacrifices to keep our families safe. That is why the Congressman continues to advocate a Veterans-First Agenda.

Veterans and active duty families rely on the discounted groceries and dry goods of the Pentagon’s commissary network to make ends meet. With over 160,000 servicemen and veterans in Western Pennsylvania, a new commissary has been a top priority for the local Congressional delegation. In 2008, Congressman Murphy helped to secure the $12 million needed for a new 40,000 square foot store in Moon Township.

In response to disturbing reports that emerged from Phoenix and other VA hospitals around the nation, Rep. Murphy and Rep. Mike Doyle (PA-14) requested a that the VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) review rumors of a similar waitlist at the Pittsburgh VA Hospital. Click here to watch Murphy's interview about the request on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.

These revelations come on the heels of the investigations into the 2012 outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease in the Pittsburgh VA healthcare system. Five veterans died, and 21 fell ill over an 18-month period. At the request of Rep. Murphy, the VA OIG and the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) conducted  investigations, both of which revealed top VA officials knew about troubling levels of the waterborne bacteria in the hospital’s system, but did not take action to remediate the problem.

The OIG report found the hospital failed to follow its own internal Legionella controls. To prevent a breakdown in reporting so quick remediation can take place, Rep. Murphy joined with Rep. Mike Doyle (PA-14) in introducing the Veterans Administration Disease Reporting and Oversight Act. States require hospitals to report infectious diseases to local and public health agencies but these laws don’t apply to federal VA hospitals. Under the proposed bill, a VA facility would have to report these cases or face fines and civil lawsuits for failure to comply. Mr. Murphy is also cosponsoring a similar bill called the Infectious Disease Reporting Act (HR 1792). HR 1792 passed the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight in June 2013. Meanwhile, an investigation into allegations of criminal behavior behind the outbreak at the Pittsburgh VA is ongoing.

Mental Health

As many as 320,000 troops — or nearly 20 percent of soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan — sustained a traumatic brain injury, which can lead to long-term problems like depression, seizures, and Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Rep. Murphy, who serves as a Lt. Commander in the Navy Reserve Medical Service Corps, authored the Invisible Wounds of War Amendment to expand veterans’ access to top behavioral health professionals. Murphy’s legislation, which became law in 2012, directed the Surgeons’ General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to report to Congress on military mental health staffing needs and make recommendations on how to recruit additional medical specialty and behavioral health professionals with existing clinical experience.

Murphy's proposed a veterans mental health amendment that was included in the FY15 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, which passed the House on June 19th, 2014. The amendment provides $10 million in new funding to hire more mental health professionals to help address the soldier suicide crisis. On average, 22 military service members and veterans take their own lives each day. Read the Congressman's statement on the amendment's passage here. 
 

Congressman Murphy is committed to fulfilling the promise of health care to our nation’s veterans, which is why he cosponsored Honor Our Commitment to Veterans Act. This bill would lift the administrative freeze on the enrollment into the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Murphy is also pushing the Administration to help eliminate the claims backlog. 

In April 2013, Rep. Murphy joined a bipartisan group of 25 House lawmakers seeking cooperation from the President in delivering the highest quality care and to improve the benefit delivery system for vets.
 

Fighting For the Honor of Combat Veterans

After months of controversy surrounding the announcement of the Distinguished Warfare Medal for drone operators and cyber warriors, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced via memorandum in April 2013 the Pentagon's decision to reverse course. The decision came after pressure from House lawmakers. In February, Congressman Murphy, a U.S. Navy Reservist, joined with his colleagues Duncan Hunter (R-CA), a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Tom Rooney (R-FL), a veteran of the U.S. Army, to introduce H.R. 833, prohibiting the Department of Defense from rating the Distinguished Warfare Medal equal to or higher than the Purple Heart.