Veterans

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Our commitment to the men and women who serve in our armed forces must not end when they return home from the battlefield. With thousands of new Veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan, many coming home to Michigan’s 7th District, I am dedicated to providing our heroes with:

Unrivaled Care
Congress has an obligation to care for America’s wounded heroes when they return home from the battlefield. It is the least we can do to provide the highest quality medical care to the brave men and women of our armed forces when they are injured defending the freedoms we enjoy. I am fighting in Congress to improve Veterans care and make sure our heroes receive medical care that is thorough, meets world-class standards and is patient-centered. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs operates the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, and I believe we must maximize and improve this great resource.

In August 2014, the President signed a House and Senate Conference report to address problems at the VA and ensure our veterans receive timely care. H.R. 3230, the Veterans Access to Care through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act, provides the VA Secretary with the power to bypass procedural hurdles and fire senior officials of the agency for poor performance. Moreover, the legislation grants expanded access to private sector health providers for veterans who have been waiting long periods of time for care. Finally, the bill provides additional funds to hire more physicians and healthcare workers to treat our veterans.

House Actions
This Congress, the House has passed bills to improve veterans’ health, hold the VA accountable, and increase veterans’ employment and housing. The House has passed 19 bills focused on helping our veterans and four have been signed into law.

January 6, 2015 – House passes bill to promote veteran employment (H.R. 22)

February 12, 2015 – President signs into law a bill to help prevent veterans from committing suicide. (H.R. 203)

March 3, 2015 – House passes bill to recoup bonuses paid to VA employees. (H.R. 280)

March 25, 2015 – House passes bill to reform VA budgeting. (H.R. 216)

May 22, 2015 – President signs into law a bill to improve VA construction projects. (H.R. 2496)

July 15, 2015 – House passes bill to help veterans purchase homes. (H.R. 251)

July 20, 2015 – President signs into law a bill provide ID cards for all veterans. (H.R. 91)

July 28, 2015 – President signs into law a bill to promote veteran owned small businesses. (H.R. 2499)

July 29, 2015 – House passes bill to increase the cost of living adjustment for veterans. (H.R. 675)

July 29, 2015 – President signs transportation bill to prevent the closure of VA hospitals around the country and expand access and choice to veterans (H.R. 3236)

July 30, 2015 – House passes bill to allow for VA employees to be fired for poor performance. (H.R. 1994)

September 25, 2015 – President signs bill to require the Department of Homeland Security to consider expedited hiring of members of the Armed Forces who are separating from military service. (H.R. 2835)

February 9, 2016 – House passes bill to to evaluate the ability of each medical center of the Department to provide quality health care to veterans. (H.R. 3234)

February 9, 2016 – House passes bill identify mental health care and suicide prevention programs and metrics that are effective in treating women veterans. (H.R. 2915)

February 9, 2016 – House passes bill to provides for annual cost-of-living adjustments to be made automatically for disability compensation rates for veterans. (H.R. 677)

May 19, 2016 – House passes bill to fund Department of Veterans Affairs (H.R. 4974)

July 11, 2016 – House passes bill to update the rates of veterans' disability compensation (H.R. 5588)

Walberg Action

In order to assist members of the armed forces in their transition into civilian life, in November 2013, I introduced H.R.3493, the Servicemembers Transition Improvement Act. This legislation will strengthen the connection between new veterans and state and county veterans service organizations by requiring the Department of Defense to provide the contact information for separating service members to state veteran’s affairs departments. This legislation passed as an amendment to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which provides the funding, authorities and pay for the Armed Forces.

In recognition of past, present and future Congressional Medal of Honor winners, I introduced, H.R.272, the Medal of Honor Priority Care. This bill elevates the Priority Group for Medal of Honor recipients at the Veteran’s Health Administration from Group 3 to Group 1. The 76 living Medal of Honor recipients have gone above and beyond the call of duty and distinguished themselves for gallantry and valor. They have received the highest award within the Armed Services and it is fitting that these brave soldiers be allotted first Priority Status when enrolling for their VA health care benefits. H.R.272 was included as part of a larger Veterans Health Care and Benefits bill, which passed the House on December 6, 2016 and was signed into law by the President on December 16, 2016.

Also, during the debate on H.R. 2029, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY2016, I offered an amendment to increase funding for programs that help veterans transition to the workforce. This amendment was adopted by the full House and inserted into the final bill, which also passed the full House in April, 2015.

For more information on what resources are available to veterans, please visit the Veterans section of my Constituent Services page.

COSPONSORED LEGISLATION:

May 13, 2015 – H.R. 1475, the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act of 2015

May 21, 2015 – H.R. 2551, the Veterans' Entry to Apprenticeship Act

July 23, 2015 – H.R. 1769, the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015

March 10, 2016 – H.R. 4336 Women Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment Restoration Act

May 13, 2016 – H.R. 5228 To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Traverse City, Michigan, as the "Colonel Demas T. Craw VA Clinic"

May 26, 2016 – H.R. 5166 WINGMAN Act

May 26, 2016 – H.R. 5343 VA Transparency Enhancement Act of 2016