Lowey statement at full committee markup of 2016 Military Construction-VA Appropriations bill

Thank you, Chairman Dent, Ranking Member Bishop, and Chairman Rogers.

This week we begin our committee’s responsibility to vote on all twelve subcommittee allocations.  As my colleagues are aware, the House Majority’s budget resolution, which gives this committee its overall budget, was opposed by every Member on my side of the aisle.  Quite simply, it was inadequate, and we much preferred the approach taken by the President calling for an end to the sequester and more reasonable and realistic budgeting that will grow our economy and give hardworking Americans opportunity to succeed.

The Republican budget resolution has consequences that will be profoundly illustrated as each appropriations bill is unveiled.  Chairman Dent has worked in a collegial, collective and cooperative way, but he faced extremely difficult funding levels that seem to have led to choices no one should be forced to make on the important services we provide our veterans.

The Chairman should be commended on several aspects of this bill, namely the continued commitment to the VISTA Evolution Electronic Heath Records System and continued work to ensure interoperability with the Department of Defense future Electronic Health Care Records System. 

I also want to thank him for prioritizing resources to expand access to outside medical facilities, increasing the number of qualified medical personnel, and improving healthcare services and record keeping under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act.  

The subcommittee bill also provides funds for VA claims processing.  Unfortunately, though progress has been made, the VA still reports a backlog of 177,000 claims that are more than 125 days old.  I know they continue to make progress and have committed to us to have those cases completed by the end of this calendar year – and we will be watching to make sure that happens.

But there are also difficult shortfalls caused by the inadequate allocation. Even with a modest increase over the enacted level, the bill is $2.7 billion below the President’s request, including:

• $754 million less for military construction
• $155 million less for medical services
• $70 million less for medical support and compliance
• $105 million less for medical facilities
• $18 million less for medical and prosthetic research, and
• $582 million less for VA construction projects

I know not everything requested by the President is sacrosanct, and I respect and support this committee’s ability to evaluate each and every line item in a budget proposal.  But I hope we can all recognize that many accounts are legitimately underfunded and will need to be addressed.

Again, I wish to thank Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Bishop for their work, and I look forward to consideration of this bill on the floor.