Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5882) to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for the termination by a spouse of a lessee of certain leases when the lessee dies while in military service, 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 as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5882, as amended, the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act.

The death of a servicemember can have a profound impact on their loved ones. Our government should take every measure necessary to help family members through such a time of need.

In recognition of that, the Gold Star Spouses Leasing Relief Act would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the SCRA, to allow a spouse of a servicemember who has died due to military service to break their residential lease without penalty within 1 year of the servicemember's death.

Mr. Speaker, paying fees for breaking a lease should be the last thing on someone's mind when they are confronting life without their spouse.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the sponsor of this bill, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos of Illinois, for her commonsense solution to this problem. I also want to thank Ranking Member Walz and his staff for their suggestion to improve the bill by including in it a provision that would extend protection to surviving spouses of members of the National Guard and Reserve whose death occurred while on Active-Duty orders.

We should recognize the service of all servicemembers on Active-Duty orders, and I am glad the amended version of this bill includes that provision.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup). He spoke a moment ago. He has previously served as chair of the Health Subcommittee of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, associate my comments with Mr. Takano.

I grew up in a military town, Clarksville, Tennessee, where, during the Vietnam war, I saw all too many families broken apart, had to move. I find it almost unimaginable that a landlord would insist that somebody not separate, not do this when they have lost a spouse.

That beautiful family that she showed, their lives are changed forever, and the last thing that young widow needed to worry about was that. She needed to take care of those children, to explain why their father was not coming home or, in another case, their mother might not be coming home.

Mr. Speaker, I can't think of any bill that deserves the support more than this one does, and I encourage all Members to support H.R. 5882, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5864) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish qualifications for the human resources positions within the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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. 5864, the VA Hospitals Establishing Leadership Performance Act, or the VA HELP Act.

The significant recruitment and retention challenges facing the VA healthcare system are nothing new. One of my priorities as chairman has been to help the VA address those challenges and attract high-quality clinicians and support staff to VA medical facilities. To that end, I have worked to see two major pieces of legislation--the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act, and the VA Mission Act--signed into law this Congress include extensive improvements to the VA's hiring authorities.

However, those improvements will not be nearly as effective as they could be if the HR professionals that are administering them aren't operating at the top of their game. Unfortunately, the committee has found several instances where it appeared that some HR staff working in VA medical facilities had substandard education and professional backgrounds, including one HR director at a VA medical center who lacked both a college degree and relevant work experience.

To prevent that, the VA HELP Act would require the VA to establish qualification standards and standardized performance metrics for HR within the VHA. To ensure transparency and to aid the committee in our ongoing oversight efforts, it would also require the VA to provide Congress with a copy of those qualification standards and performance metrics, as well as require the Government Accountability Office to conduct an assessment of them.

I wholeheartedly believe that this bill will result in better staffed VA medical facilities, and, therefore, a

more accessible VA healthcare system for our Nation's heroes.

I am grateful to the sponsor of the VA HELP Act, my colleague and friend, Congressman Mike Bost of Illinois. Mike is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, a tireless advocate for veterans and their families, and, I might add, a veteran himself.

Mr. Speaker, I thank him for his leadership on this bill. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), the chairman of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, who also is a Marine veteran who has drunk from the Devil Dog fountain at Belleau Wood.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 5864, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5938) to amend the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a vacancy and recruitment database to facilitate the recruitment of certain members of the Armed Forces to satisfy the occupational needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to establish and implement a training and certification program for intermediate care technicians in that Department, 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. 5938, as amended, the Veterans Serving Veterans Act. This bill is sponsored by my friend and fellow committee member, the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon).

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for her hard work and leadership on this bill on behalf of our Nation's veterans in Puerto Rico and across the country. The Veterans Serving Veterans Act contains two provisions that would help alleviate staffing shortages at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities and create employment opportunities for servicemembers separating from the Armed Forces.

First, it would expand VA's recruiting database to include information about soon-to-be separated servicemembers whose military training and experience match open positions within the VA healthcare system. It is common sense.

Second, it would expand an existing pilot program that recruits former medics to serve as intermediate care technicians in VA medical facilities. We all know that, all other things being equal, veterans prefer being seen and treated by their peers. This bill would create a pathway for that to happen more often, while addressing the serious recruitment issues that continue to hamper VA medical facilities coast to coast.

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

Mr. Speaker, before I yield to our next speaker, I want to tell Members about this young woman. She represents the island of Puerto Rico, and before one of the hurricanes hit, I called her on the phone just moments before the hurricane. I was amazed that I even got through.

Following that, we led a group. I came to visit the hospital and the island of Puerto Rico, and the passion that she shows for the people she represents, and the passion she shows for veterans, is second to none.

I wanted to pass that along. I saw something in this young woman down there that I had not seen before I visited her beautiful island.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), a member of the Veterans Affairs' Committee.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 5938, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time

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 move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 299) to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify presumptions relating to the exposure of certain veterans who served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 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. 299, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2018, which was introduced by Representative Valadao of California.

H.R. 299, as amended, would finally extend the presumption of exposure to Agent Orange to blue water Navy veterans. I am grateful to Mr. Valadao for introducing this long overdue bill, but I also thank my colleagues on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for working with us in a bipartisan manner to find an acceptable way to pay for this bill.

As many of you know, Agent Orange was used in Vietnam to defoliate areas in the jungle where enemy forces would come and ambush our troops. Unfortunately, many Vietnam veterans have developed diseases as a result of their exposure to Agent Orange.

Currently, VA only extends a presumption of exposure to Vietnam veterans who actually set foot in Vietnam or served in the inland waterways, or the brown water Navy, we call it. Blue water Navy veterans who served offshore of Vietnam were excluded from the presumption. VA denies these benefits because it claims there is not enough scientific information to determine whether blue water Navy veterans came into contact with herbicides in amounts meaningful to cause disease.

Mr. Speaker, I have read the science, and, unfortunately, we will never be able to prove whether blue water Navy veterans were harmed by herbicides. But I have said this before and I will say it again: When too many years have passed--over four decades, in this case--to meaningfully determine the science, the presumption should be heavily in favor of the veteran.

Moreover, I am pleased that the bill would help veterans who may have been harmed by exposure to herbicides while serving areas outside the Republic of Vietnam.

H.R. 299, as amended, incorporates a proposal authored by Representative Tom MacArthur, which would extend the presumption to veterans who served in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone beginning on September 1, 1967, which is the month when the military began testing herbicides in that area. The end date of the presumption period would remain the same as it is now, which is August 31, 1971.

This legislation would also require VA to identify U.S. military bases located in Thailand where Agent Orange was used and when it was used.

Additionally, this bill includes a proposal authored by Representative Westerman of Arkansas, which would require VA to provide benefits for children who were born with spina bifida if one or both parents may have been exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Thailand, just as VA does for children with spina bifida if their parents served in Vietnam or the Korean DMZ while Agent Orange was used.

The manager's amendment makes some technical changes to ensure that

all Vietnam naval veterans who served within 12 miles offshore of Vietnam during the war are eligible for the presumption. The manager's amendment also makes technical changes to clarify the intent of this bill, including ensuring surviving spouses are eligible for retroactive benefits and authorizes VA to start paying benefits before the final regulations are issued.

Additionally, H.R. 299, as amended, would include several improvements to the VA's home loan program, introduced by several Members, including changes to VA's home appraisal system, which was introduced by Representative Arrington; and expansion of the conforming loan limit, which would allow veterans to use their earned VA loan benefits in more expensive areas, if they qualify. This provision was introduced by Representative Zeldin.

Extension of the waiver of home loan funding fees to recipients of the Purple Heart who are still serving on Active Duty was introduced by Representative Herrera Beutler, and temporary increases to VA's home loan funding fees for nondisabled veterans, to offset the cost of this bill.

I want to thank all of our VSO partners for their support and for helping us craft a bill that finally addresses the plight of blue water Navy veterans. Specifically, I want to thank the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, the Disabled American Veterans, the American Legion, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Fleet Reserve Association, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Blue Water Vietnam Veteran Association, Military Veterans Advocacy, and the Military Officers Association of America.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 299, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the kind words from my friend Mr. Takano. We worked together closely on the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao), the lead sponsor of this bill, who has doggedly pursued this. This issue has been a problem for decades. Finally, tonight, on the House side, we are going to come to a conclusion.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), vice chair of the committee and one of the most ardent supporters of our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from American Samoa (Mrs. Radewagen), one of the senior members of our Veterans' Affairs Committee and an incredible support for our Nation's heroes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and a Vietnam veteran.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin), a former member of our committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon), an Air Force career officer.

Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers and am prepared to close, so I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support for H.R. 299 from the 10 veterans service organizations I mentioned earlier.

Veterans of Foreign Wars

of The United States,

Kansas City, MO, May 7, 2018.

Hon. Johnny Isakson,

Chairman, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Washington,

Mr. Speaker, the VA estimates that there are 6.6 million living Vietnam-era veterans; there are 58,220 who died in that war; and there only will be about 4.4 million remaining in just 10 short years. That means we will lose 2.2 million Vietnam-era veterans in the next 10 years, which is an average of about 523 Vietnam-era veterans per day.

We must now act because, if we don't, blue water Navy veterans may not be around to receive the benefits they and their loved ones have been waiting on for so long. We owe it to the brave men and women veterans who served offshore during the Vietnam era to cease waiting on perfect science and provide compensation benefits for conditions they may have developed because of exposure to Agent Orange.

I am not the only one who believes this. H.R. 299 has broad bipartisan support: 330 cosponsors. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that H.R. 299, as amended, does the right thing for our blue water Navy veterans.

Mr. Speaker, this is personal for our Vietnam-era veterans like myself. I served and walked the territory not long after in Korea, over 40 years ago.

We have done great work on the committee: We passed an accountability bill this year, a way to speed up disability claims. The Forever GI Bill funded the Veterans Choice Program. We just passed the VA MISSION Act, just a few of the things that our committee in a bipartisan way, has done.

But there is a little inconvenience out there that we have 90,000 blue water Navy veterans who are being left behind--not after today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the other side of the aisle. We worked hand in hand.

And I thank the staffs--I don't think they get enough credit--for the hard work that the staffs do behind the scenes. When we seem to find a blind alley and can't get to a conclusion, they continue to work in a bipartisan way to find a way to get to yes.

I also thank all of the outside groups that kept this issue in front of us for decades.

When I got the chairmanship a year and a half ago, I said one of the things that I will base my chairmanship on is if we can get this solved and do the right thing for our blue water Navy veterans. Today, we are going to do the right thing in this House and send it to the Senate, where they will do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 299, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

As a practicing physician for over 30 years, I have incredible respect for nurses and the work they do. I married a nurse. Some of the best employees I have worked with were nurses. I could not appreciate the job they do more, Mr. Chair, but care for patients is better directed with physician oversight.

Even with my training, we need fewer doctors like me writing these prescriptions and more physicians trained in pain management. The American Society of Addiction Medicine is establishing approved fellowships in training in addiction medicine today.

Expanding the scope of practice for nonphysician providers to dispense drugs like buprenorphine goes in the wrong direction, in my opinion.

There are many factors that contribute to the explosive growth in opioid use, but clearly a big factor was the lack of knowledge about opioids' addictive qualities. I would argue that we have a similar lack of knowledge about buprenorphine today, and allowing providers who have less training and less knowledge about these substances exponentially increases the chances of abuse in these substances.

If we remove the most highly-trained specialist from administration of buprenorphine, I fear that all the good we are trying to do in this bill could be negated.

There are plenty of provisions to support in this underlying bill. It is a good bill, but section 303 is not one of them.

I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2147) to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire additional Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists to provide treatment court services to justice-involved veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 2147, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2147, as amended, the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act of 2018.

This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, to hire at least 50 Veterans Justice Outreach specialists, also referred to as VJO specialists, to serve in a veterans treatment or other veteran-focused court.

VJO specialists provide direct outreach to and case management services for veterans who are involved in the local criminal justice system. They serve to protect some of our most vulnerable veterans from unnecessary criminalization and incarceration by working with law enforcement and the courts to identify service-related mental health or substance abuse issues that may be underlying criminal behavior among veterans, and to link veterans with treatment they need from the VA to recover and become fully functional and contributing members of society.

This bill is sponsored by Congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado. Mr. Coffman is a senior member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and a tireless advocate for service members, veterans, and their families.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership on this bill, and I urge all of our colleagues to join me in supporting this.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman), both an Army and Marine veteran, my good friend and the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 2147, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4635) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the number of peer-to-peer counselors providing counseling for women veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 4635, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4635, as amended. This bill would ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs existing volunteer peer support counseling program includes peer counselors for women veterans.

As the number of veterans who are enrolled in the VA healthcare system continues to grow, it is critical that the VA programs are prepared to meet their needs. The peer support counseling program recruits veterans to serve on a volunteer basis to assist their fellow veterans who are struggling with mental health or readjustment issues and to conduct outreach to inform veterans and their families of the benefits and services that are available to them through the VA healthcare system.

Peer support counselors are trained and overseen by VA and, as peers, are often able to communicate on a more personal and effective basis than nonveteran clinicians, particularly to veterans who may be hesitant to seek VA care due to stigma or other barriers.

This bill is sponsored by Congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado. I am grateful to Mike for his leadership on the committee and for sponsoring this bill to ensure that VA recruits a sufficient number of women veteran volunteers to support the need through the peer support counseling program.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4635, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman), my good friend and a senior member of the Veterans Affairs' Committee. He is also both an Army and Marine veteran.

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

Mr. Speaker, I, too, encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I want to thank both sides of the aisle for bringing this forward.

As a physician and a veteran, I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that peer-to-peer counseling is the way to go. This legislation will help our female veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2772) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for requirements relating to the reassignment of Department of Veterans Affairs senior executive employees, with the Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 4687) to designate the health care center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Tallahassee, Florida, as the Sergeant Ernest I. ``Boots'' Thomas VA Clinic, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Yes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans Affairs be discharged from further consideration of the bill (S. 2246) to designate the health care center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Tallahassee, Florida, as the Sergeant Ernest I. ``Boots'' Thomas VA Clinic, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Burgess.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 204, the Right to Try Act.

I am a physician and scientist with almost 40 years of experience in treating patients, and far too many of them, Mr. Speaker, have been diagnosed with cancer.

A little over 3 years ago, my beloved wife, Pam Roe, who was a nurse, died of stage IV colon cancer, 5 weeks to the day after she was operated on. Pam would have liked the right to try.

Less than 2 months after that, one of the best friends I will ever have in my life, Phil Street, a Vietnam veteran, Air Force veteran, died of cancer related to Agent Orange. Phil would have liked to have had the right to try.

My senior partner in medical practice, a year later, good friend, Dr. Bill Bone, was diagnosed with brain cancer. Bill died. He would have liked to have had the right to try.

Shortly after that, Linda Baines, a scrub nurse that I operated with hundreds of times in my medical practice, was diagnosed with brain cancer and died shortly after that. Linda would have liked to have had the right to try.

Currently, I have three friends at this moment who are being treated with stage IV cancer. If those treatments don't work, they would like to have the right to try.

Mr. Speaker, my first pediatric rotation in medical school was at St. Jude Children's Hospital, where, at that time, 80 percent of children died of their disease. I can still see many of those children's faces today, and that was almost 50 years ago. Those children, today, have an 80 percent chance of living, but, as was stated, 16,000 parents have to face that this year.

I have had the misfortune of having to look patients in the eye and say: Your life is not in my hands anymore;

it is in God's hands. In that moment, I will tell you this: all that these patients want and deserve is a right to try.

Please support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5215) to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prohibit employees found to have knowingly misused Department of Veterans Affairs purchase cards from serving as purchase card holders or approving officials.

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 into the record on H.R. 5215.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5215, the Veterans Affairs Purchase Card Misuse Mitigation Act.

This legislation is sponsored by my Veterans' Affairs Committee colleagues Jack Bergman, Kathleen Rice, Mike Bost, Dr. Neal Dunn, and Mike Coffman.

H.R. 5215 would implement an additional safeguard in VA's multibillion-dollar government purchase card program, which has too often lacked adequate controls and has periodically been abused. The legislation directs the Secretary to revoke the purchase card from any employee who is found to have intentionally misused it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5215, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chair.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5215, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5418) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program using multiple prime vendors, 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 into the Record on H.R. 5418, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5418, as amended, the Veterans Affairs Medical-Surgical Purchasing Stabilization Act. This legislation was introduced by General Bergman and is cosponsored by Representatives Peters, Banks, Dunn, and Kuster.

VA's medical-surgical prime vendor program is an ambitious effort to save money by establishing a medical-surgical formulary in leveraging the Department's massive buying power. Unfortunately, the results have fallen far short of expectations.

I held a hearing on this subject last December and continue to monitor it closely.

The formulary was originally created with little clinical input, and it does not contain what clinicians need.

Over the past year, physicians, surgeons, and nurses have been organized into teams to reevaluate the formulary. At one point, a group of clinicians was essentially put in a room for a week to concentrate on the task, but the formulary remains troubled.

Now, VA is restructuring the program to put the prime vendors in charge of negotiating the supplier contracts, but it remains crucial that VA get the formulary right. This is a matter of safety as well as finances.

H.R. 5418, as amended, would put clinicians with appropriate expertise back in charge of the formulary, which is the first step toward stabilizing the Medical-Surgical Prime Vendor Program.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5418, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee chairman.

Mr. Speaker, it is hard for me to believe we are going to pass a piece of legislation that has this much common sense in it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5418, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4958) to increase, effective as of December 1, 2018, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4958.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4958, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2018.

This bill was introduced by the subcommittee chairman, Mike Bost of Illinois, and I appreciate his leadership on this issue.

VA provides compensation to help fulfill our obligation to take care of the brave men and women who have been injured during their service to our Nation.

This money can be a lifeline for veterans who have service-connected disabilities that may affect their earning ability.

These veterans often have families to support, and they should not be worried about how they are going to pay their bills when prices go up.

This bill will help ensure that the value of veterans' benefits are not eroded by inflation by giving veterans a cost-of-living increase if Social Security recipients receive one this year.

The amount of the increase will be determined by the consumer price index, which establishes the COLA for Social Security beneficiaries.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost), our Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the subcommittee chairman and Marine veteran, Mike Bost, for bringing this up. It is a great piece of legislation. I encourage all Members to support H.R. 4958, and I yield back the balance of my time.