Isakson Statement on Comprehensive VA Reform Legislation

Statement

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, today issued the following statement regarding the bipartisan, comprehensive legislative package he is drafting in the Senate to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA):

"As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, comprehensive reform of the VA has always been and remains my highest priority. I have been working for weeks to craft bipartisan legislation that I believe can pass the Senate that would require significant improvements in the way the VA treats our veterans and holds its employees accountable.

"While we are still finalizing the details of the legislation, it will include strong provisions to:

Hold all VA employees accountable for mismanagement and misconduct;
Provide caregiving benefits to veterans of all generations;
Address the crisis of opioid over-prescription among veterans;
Expand availability of orthotic and prosthetic care for veterans;
Help reduce the VA's appeals backlog; and
Implement strict rules to ensure community physicians providing care to our veterans receive prompter payment for that care.

"I am sincerely appreciative of the bipartisan, bicameral collaboration that has helped pave the way for this sweeping reform legislation. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues and with the House to pass these significant and meaningful reforms for our nation's veterans.

"We in Congress must now put veterans first and get a bill to the president's desk. Anything less than that is failing those who served us."

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