Veterans
Our commitment to the men and women who served in our armed forces must not end when they return home from the battlefield. I am dedicated to providing our heroes with unrivaled healthcare and ensuring the promises we made to them are upheld just as they have upheld their commitments to our country.
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.
Walberg Action
The lack of patient-centered healthcare throughout the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) is continuously hindering veterans from receiving the quality care they need and deserve. The problem has been reported by veterans' service organizations, VA employees, and most importantly, veterans. These are systemic problems in VA culture and bogged down by a bureaucratic system that is unsure of the services it provides, leaving veterans to fend for themselves when it comes to their own health care choices.
Far too many veterans also experience extreme waits when requesting their own records from the VA, sometimes months on end. That is why I joined 112 colleagues a letter to theDirector of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in requesting a briefing on the National Personnel Records Center’s (NPRC) plan to remediate the backlog of veterans’ record requests. We owe our veterans better service.
Earlier this Congress, the House passed a series of bills, which included a bill I cosponsored, H.R.5754, Patient Advocate Tracker Act. This commonsense, bipartisan legislation would help modernize the Office of Patient Advocacy and establish an online portal where veterans can track the status of formal complaints they file through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The bill has since been signed into law.
I was also proud to stand with other members of the Michigan Congressional delegation in a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough regarding the Biden Administration’s recent report outlining the recommendations to the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission, which include the recommended closure of the Battle Creek VA facility. I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure veterans in our communities have access to the highest quality care and access to it in a timely manner.
An estimated 3.5 million service members were exposed to burn pits and other dangerous substances in their service to our nation since 9/11. In July 2022, I was proud to vote for the House Amendment to S. 3373, SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act. This comprehensive legislation connects toxic-exposed veterans and their survivors with the healthcare and benefits they have earned. This bipartisan legislation expands health care and benefits to toxic-exposed veterans, and equips the VA to take better care of them and their families. The bill has since been signed into law.
While veterans can now submit claims, the Veterans Administration (VA) is unable to process the claims until January 2023. This has left veterans vulnerable to scammers promising to expedite their claims. On September 22, I joined 59 of my colleagues in sending a letter to VA Secretary McDonough regarding the increased fraudulent activity. To learn more about our work ensuring veterans receive the entirety of the benefits they have earned, read more here.
Since 2005, the Honor Flight Network has honored hundreds of thousands of veterans by bringing them to Washington to visit the memorials honoring their service to our country. On April 11, 2022, I was proud to join over 70 of my colleagues in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland requesting that the Department resume providing the Honor Flight Network with the National Park Service’s United States Park Police (USPP) vehicular escort for Honor Flights traveling to Washington, DC. so our veterans can continue to visit our nation’s capital.
On September 14, 2022, I voted for the passage of H.R.7846, legislation to increase the rates of compensation for veterans, or Cost-of-Living Adjustment, with service-connected disabilities and military survivors. It is imperative we ensure veterans’ benefits are keeping pace with the skyrocketing inflation plaguing our economy.
House Action
The bureaucratic culture in the VA has led to long wait times and subpar healthcare for our nation’s veterans. In order to overhaul the bureaucratic culture and ensure VA employees are held accountable for their actions, the House has passed The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act in June 2018 and H.R. 27, The Ensuring VA Employee Accountability Act in January 2017. The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 provides the Secretary of the VA with increased flexibility to remove, demote or suspend any VA employee for performance or misconduct while H.R. 27 ensures that all reprimands and admonishments given to VA employees remain in their files as long as they are employed by the VA.
These are just some of the many issues Congress is working on to ensure we keep the promises we made to the selfless men and women in uniform.
You can follow additional actions by Congress here. For more information on what resources are available to veterans, please visit the Veterans section of my Constituent Services page.
Related Items
2021 Edition of the Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors
PACT Act and Gulf War, Post 9/11 Era Veterans Info Sheet
PACT Act VA Health Care Eligibility
PACT Act – Understanding Health Care and Benefits
PACT Act – Vietnam and Cold War Era Veterans
COSPONSORED LEGISLATION
03/01/2022 - H.R.5754 - Patient Advocate Tracker Act
02/07/2022 - H.R.4702 - Military Spouse Tax Act
12/07/2021 - H.R.5755 - Veterans Patient Advocacy Act
10/20/2021 - H.R.4624 - Guaranteeing Healthcare Access to Personnel Who Served Act
07/20/2021 - H.R.1273 - Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act
03/01/2021 - H.R.1448 - PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act
08/11/2020 - H.R.7347, To designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
VIDEOS/ARTICLES
More on Veterans
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) — Members of Congress from Michigan and Texas renewed their calls Thursday for Russia to release prisoners Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, directing a bipartisan message to Vladimir Putin that the men are a priority and the U.S. won't give up its demands.
"This is entirely unacceptable and will never stand in the United States of America," said U.S. Rep Haley Stevens, the Rochester Hills Democrat who represents Whelan in Congress. "We believe and we continue to envision, and pray and push for their return home."
