VA COST SAVINGS Enhancements Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5974) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use on-site regulated medical waste treatment systems at certain Department of Veterans Affairs facilities, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5974, as amended, the Department of Veterans Affairs Creation of On-Site Treatment Systems Affording Veterans Improvements and Numerous General Safety Enhancements, or, perhaps the most creative naming of a bill since I have been in Congress, the VA COST SAVINGS Enhancements Act.

This bill will require VA to identify facilities that could benefit from onsite medical waste management and, in those facilities, install and operate onsite medical waste treatment capabilities.

The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both consider onsite medical waste management to be a best practice. However, only a relatively small percentage of VA medical facilities have installed onsite sterilization equipment to date.

By considering which VA medical facilities could find value in onsite medical waste management and making a deliberate effort to transition those facilities away from off-site medical waste management arrangements, VA could achieve considerable savings of taxpayer dollars that could, in turn, be used to fund other VA initiatives. It would also result in more VA facilities utilizing a waste disposal method that is both safer and more environmentally friendly.

This bill is sponsored by Congressman Jeff Denham from California, and I thank him for bringing this issue to the committee's attention. I applaud the gentleman for his creativity in coming up with an acronym for a bill of this size.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Denham), who is my friend and a fellow veteran.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

At this time, I want to thank both minority and majority staffs for the hard work they have done on these eight bills. We once again have shown that we can work in a bipartisan way and close many loopholes that no one ever attempted in previous law or just common sense, like when a spouse has lost their loved one to be free to move along with a cable bill or a lease and other issues that we have dealt with here today.

I want to thank Mr. Takano, Mr. Walz, the staff on the minority side, and the staff on the majority side for the hard work that they have done on all of these bills. The committee will continue to move forward with other bills later in the year.

Mr. Speaker, I once again encourage all Members to support H.R. 5974, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and ranking member for their support of H.R. 5974, the VA COST SAVINGS Enhancements Act.

This bipartisan bill improves care for our veterans. It also ensures that the VA is using the latest cost-saving technology. It directs the VA to install onsite medical waste treatment systems in facilities where this will result in a cost savings within 5 years. Systemwide, this will save the VA millions of dollars each year and directly improve safety and healthcare for our veterans.

In addition to the significant cost savings, this technology is safer and increases crisis readiness. Safety is paramount when caring for our vets, and treating waste onsite prevents the spread of dangerous infections. Both the CDC and the World Health Organization recommend this technology, and this policy brings the VA in line with recommended practices for private medicine.

Likewise, in the event of an earthquake or a wildfire, which we saw in California, transportation infrastructure can be compromised and prevent hazardous waste from being trucked to a disposal site or through a city. We need to make sure that this is handled onsite. In a disaster scenario like this, treating waste is critical to preventing an outbreak and keeping the facility actually up and running without huge backloads of the waste.

Our veterans deserve the highest quality of care. This technology improves crisis-readiness and is safer, more efficient, more cost effective, and more environmentally friendly than traditional medical waste disposal. Installing these machines will immediately begin saving the VA millions of dollars per year and directly improve care for our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5974.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5974, as amended, the Department of Veterans Affairs Creation of On-Site Treatment Systems Affording Veterans Improvements and Numerous General Safety Enhancements Act, otherwise known as the VA COST SAVINGS Enhancements Act.

Mr. Speaker, the current funding issues currently surrounding VA are evidence of the need for creative cost savings measures. I must thank Representative Denham in identifying and championing one such creative solution.

The VA COST SAVINGS Enhancements Act simply asks VHA to review its current medical waste disposal system and determine whether hosting this disposal onsite would result in cost savings over the next 5 years. If so, then the facility is required to implement onsite disposal.

Onsite medical waste disposal is safer and far more efficient in most cases, and this bill would simply require VHA to ensure they are achieving the safest and most cost-effective method of medical waste disposal.

Again, I thank Representative Denham for his work on the bill, and I

urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the measure.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I ask my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 5974, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.