Providing For Concurrence By House With Amendment In Senate Amendment To H.R. 1016, Veterans Health Care Budget Reform And Transparency Act Of 2009
Floor Speech
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Mrs. HALVORSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I rise in support of passage of H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009, which was introduced under the leadership of Chairman Filner. I want to thank Mr. Filner and the Subcommittee on Health chairman, Mr. Michaud, for their great leadership on this issue. This is an urgent issue for our country's veterans.
Almost 5.5 million people received care in VA health care facilities in 2008, and the VA's outpatient clinics registered over 60 million visits. This is one of the largest health care providers in the country. However, in fiscal 2009, for only one of the third or fourth times in the past 20 years, the VA received its budget prior to the start of the new fiscal year. So it isn't reasonable to expect that one of the largest and fastest-growing health care providers in the country can operate in the most efficient and effective manner if they don't even know what their budget is going to be. So this situation harms the VA's ability to plan services and deliver quality health care.
As we saw again this year, the VA will be forced to defer planning until Congress can complete its budget and appropriations work for the year. Medical staff cannot be hired, equipment cannot be procured, waiting times increase, and the quality of care suffers. So H.R. 1016 will solve many of these problems by funding the VA 1 year in advance. This bill will help the VA spend taxpayer money more efficiently while at the same time providing better and more comprehensive care for our veterans. H.R. 1016 will make sure that the VA has the resources that it needs to provide quality care in a timely manner without having to question what funds will be available next month.
So I'm here today in an attempt to serve our veterans' best interests and to fight to make sure that they receive the best care possible. I urge my colleagues to join me in accomplishing these goals by voting ``yes'' on H.R. 1016, as amended.
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