House Veterans’ Chair vows tight oversight on budget as VA eyes efficiency

Back to the Access Act here, because I know that's a major focus of what you put

And you mentioned the criticism already from the other side that this is a step towards privatization

this is a step towards moving more care out of VA. So right now about 40% of all VA appointments are in community care or private sector appointments

Is this an effort to push that number up higher, or is this an effort to make it easier to get those kind of appointments

It is an effort to make sure that the veteran receives the care that they need

when they need it, where they need it, as soon as possible

and as the doctor and the patient both agree to. So the increase of community care has a whole lot to do with the fact that you..

And that's quite often, the big critics quite often are, One, they're wanting to protect the bureaucracy of the VA, okay

Don't worry. The VA is going to be the VA, okay? But the reality is that not everybody has a VA within 20 miles of the house

We have a whole lot of what people around here refer to as flyover country

that it can be a long way for that person to get to the VA

And it might be that that VA doesn't necessarily provide the necessary services

at that particular VA that's closest to them that can be provided just down the street

We're going to make sure that this is done. That's why we did it. Remember, as I said, there's been three

this is a third bite at the apple with the asset act because we originally had the choice

The choice had to be replaced. We used the Mission Act. The Mission Act, if implemented correctly, is the right step

Unfortunately, the administration at the VA, through our vizins, one vizin gets it right, another one chooses to not

When we have one of the chief administrators of the previous administration sends out an email that says

don make it where you can press the easy button No no I guess that that speaks to some of the things because even with the obstruction that you talking about there

there's still quite a bit of use of community care. There's still a lot going out there

So is the goal of the Access Act then to see if

or I shouldn't say the goal, do you think the Access Act will lead to more folks using community care

or do you think it's just a matter of it'll be easier to access? It's easier

I think that there have been certain people who have been denied community care

and we know that based on the previous administration. I believe that the access, it's going to send a clear message

and that's the idea and intent. I don't think, because I'm going to tell you

when I deal with my veterans either here in D.C. or at home

they either love the VA or they hate the VA. Okay? And quite often, if it's a bad experience they've had at the VA

and it isn't always on the medical side. Sometimes it's on that, you know, trying to get a GI bill and it wasn't good

It's all those other things. And it can be, you know, the problems, and you know about my bill

that is making sure that our veterans don't lose their Second Amendment right

There are those veterans that don't go to the VA because of that. But this is the idea and intent is to get more veterans to come

use the VA and use the VA services, even if it is a community care service or at the VA itself

Do you, and I know you've got several bills that are all related to that idea of how do we get those

veterans, those communities that aren't engaged with VA back in some way, either community care

or with the Second Amendment rights. Do you feel like VA is still oriented in that sort of outreach

way? Or is this focus on the taxpayer, the efficiency, some of the cuts here, is that

sending a message out that VA is now looking to downsize or find ways to just do the minimum

rather than to keep that outreach going on? No, I don't think that at all. I think that the VA

is sending a message like other agencies Now some agencies are going to cut but VA is set to provide the services that we provide for our veterans We going to provide because we passed the PACT Act The PACT Act makes sure that those people who maybe haven had their rating yet

can still receive those health care benefits that they should based on toxic exposure

And obviously that sends a clear message that the VA is not going anywhere

but it needs to be more veteran-oriented and less bureaucratic-oriented. And that is vitally important

And as I said, your veterans are taxpayers too. So they want to know, look, they fought for our freedom

They fought for our freedom. If we continue to go down this path of wasting money and not spending it wisely

that freedom can be taken by the people we owe a debt to. And that's a very dangerous situation

And all the things that they fought for could be lost. But we're not going to shut down the VA

we're going to make sure that the VA operates to do and provide each of them with the benefits they deserve

And we're going to fight for them. There is no doubt. Matter of fact, I've said over and over in committee

when people have said this and all this is being laid off, if you have someone and you don't want to go to your congressman

come to us and say, hey, we feel that this person was let go

or I'm not getting the proper services. That's what, look, let me tell you this

This is what the, remember, the secretary was a member of Congress

He said this, even though we will do our job as Congress

if you come to me, we're going to argue on your behalf. He said, I want the VA to never have to have a person go to their member of Congress

and say I didn't get the right services. We want the veteran to know that they're the reason why we do what we do

And that's what he said. And so I think you're going to see it continue to be well

So along that line, you're the point person for veteran policy here, for the Republicans who control the House

Can you push through major legislation on veterans issues with all this other noise with everything I mean there quite a few distractions in Congress right now Right I mean

We're focused on some of the budget and reconciliation issues for the next few weeks here

But do you think that later this summer, later this year? Well, we're already moving forward

We had a markup. We've had several markups already. We actually have had

But that's your committee. Your committee has been working very hard. once it's out of this committee, can you convince the folks in leadership to act on these

Sure. I mean, earlier, a week or so ago, we actually had the night on the floor where we

moved several pieces of legislation. We're going to continue to do that because there's certain

changes all the time that you realize, oh man, maybe we ought to do that better. Maybe you ought

to do this better. If we had a law, do that. And working in a bipartisan manner, we've been able

to move several pieces of legislation, and we'll continue to do that. Okay. What about the VA budget

I know you're not an appropriator, but do you think that the money is going to be there to keep supporting this

VA has seen some very significant increases in past years, and I know there's been some criticism about, you know

does this become an unlimited check? We've heard that from Secretary Collins, hey, I'm not looking to just get unlimited money, but I do need resources

Correct. Do you think that since that falls outside of the defense area, there is going to be more of a fight and more scrutiny

with some of the veteran spending? Let me tell you that the intent of Congress is to provide for our veterans

And so the appropriator, Judge Carter, he and I are in communication on a regular basis

We do want to make sure that we provide. However, remember last year during the last administration

we have discovered in an AG report. They lied to us about the money they needed

So our job is still oversight, and we want to make sure that we provide them the money they need

but we're not going to take the taxpayer dollars and throw money at a problem

and throw money just because they say so. We're going to check, why are you asking for it

Because now that we've been lied to, It kind of wakes you up to the fact and you're going to monitor it very closely