House Passes Appropriations Measure that Reaffirms Commitment to Service Members, Improves Quality of Veterans Medical Care

Press Release

Yesterday Congressman Scott Rigell (VA-2) voted for, and the House passed, H.R. 4486, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2015. H.R. 4486 protects important services, supplies, and training programs for our active duty and veteran service members, and ensures they have the quality medical care, job training, and other benefits they have earned for their service.

"Our nation's service members truly know the meaning of the word "duty' and we as a nation have a deep obligation to honor our duty to them," said Rigell, who represents the congressional district with the highest concentration of men and women in uniform in the United States. "We made a promise to provide for our veterans and their families, give them opportunities to find jobs after they have served, and firmly protect their health. The House honored that promise last night."

This appropriations bill takes into consideration the extraordinary backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). According to the most recent report from the VA, 596,061 veterans' claims remain pending with the VA, including 319,363 that have been pending for more than 125 days. The bill increases support for the general operating expenses of the Veterans Benefits Administration and takes significant steps to resolve this growing issue.

Highlights of the bill:

Improves Veterans Programs

- Increases discretionary funding for important veterans programs
- Supports VA medical services allowing for 6.7M patients to be treated in FY15
- Includes funding for mental health care, suicide prevention, traumatic brain injury treatment, homeless veterans programs, and rural health initiatives

Increases Accountability and Efficiency for our Veterans

- Continues efforts to end the disability claims processing backlog by increasing support for the paperless claims process system, including: scanning of health records, centralized mail, and overtime to end the backlog by 2015
- Increases oversight of taxpayer dollars at the VA by requiring reports on construction expenditures and savings

Protects Our Active Duty Service Members

- Ensures that our warfighters have support systems and infrastructure that promote and preserve a sound quality of life and provide for the construction of military family housing, military medical facilities, Department of Defense education facilities, and Guard and Reserve facilities.

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