"President Owes the American People A Real, Long-term Plan To Fix The Veterans Administration"

"The president owes the American people a real,
long-term plan to fix the VA. Not a promise, or a
 pledge, or a rearranging of deck chairs –  a real
plan to clean up this mess." ~ Speaker Boehner

Today in Washington, D.C. - May 20, 2015
The House reconvened at 10 AM today.
Bills which may be considered:
H.R. 2262 - "To facilitate a pro-growth environment for the developing commercial space industry by encouraging private sector investment and creating more stable and predictable regulatory conditions, and for other purposes"
H.R. 880 - "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to simplify and make permanent the research credit; providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules; and providing for proceedings during the period from May 22, 2015, through May 29, 2015."
H.R. 1806 — "To provide for technological innovation through the prioritization of Federal investment in basic research, fundamental scientific discovery, and development to improve the competitiveness of the United States, and for other purposes."

Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 2250 (357-67) - "Making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016."
H.R. 2353 (387-35) - "To provide an extension of Federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes."
S. 178 (420-3) — "To provide justice for the victims of trafficking."
H.R. 874 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Department of Energy High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004 to improve the high-end computing research and development program of the Department of Energy, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1561 (Voice Vote) — "To improve the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather research through a focused program of investment on affordable and attainable advances in observational, computing, and modeling capabilities to support substantial improvement in weather forecasting and prediction of high impact weather events, to expand commercial opportunities for the provision of weather data, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1162 (Voice Vote) — "To make technical changes to provisions authorizing prize competitions under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980."
H.R. 1158 (Voice Vote) — "To improve management of the National Laboratories, enhance technology commercialization, facilitate public-private partnerships, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1156 (Voice Vote) — "To authorize the establishment of a body under the National Science and Technology Council to identify and coordinate international science and technology cooperation opportunities."
H.R. 1119 (Voice Vote) — "To improve the efficiency of Federal research and development, and for other purposes."

Yesterday, after House overwhelming passed Senate Bill 178, Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, Speaker Boehner said, "“Human trafficking crimes target the most vulnerable and innocent in our communities around the country. In my home state of Ohio, more than 1,000 children become victims of human trafficking every year. We must do all we can to stop the monsters who commit these crimes, but more importantly, we must ensure that victims of these despicable acts have the support and resources they need to heal and rebuild their lives. The bipartisan bill passed by Congress today is a big step toward that goal and will help protect our innocent youth, restore the lives of victims, and boost law enforcement resources to target criminals in the human trafficking trade. ... I look forward to the president signing this bill into law.”

Today, House Speaker John Boehner challenged President Obama to present a real, long-term plan to fix the VA, citing the department's ongoing scandals and its failure to improve care for America's veterans. “My colleagues, next week marks the one-year anniversary since General Eric Shinseki resigned as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. At the time, the president promised reform. He said, and I’ll quote, ‘the number one priority is making sure that problems get fixed.’

“But instead of a new day at the VA, the American people are still seeing more of the same. Last year, Congress gave the VA Secretary new authority to fire employees. But while some 110 VA facilities kept secret lists to hide wait times – just one person has been fired. One.

“What the hell happened to the rest of them? Well, some got to retire with benefits, some got transfers, some got paid leave, some got a slap on the wrist – and all of them go right on collecting checks from taxpayers. If only the VA did half as good a job taking care of our veterans as they do their own bureaucrats.

“In fact, Congress also gave the VA more than $16 billion to improve care and shorten wait times. And yet, the number of patients facing long waits is about the same. The number of patients waiting more than 90 days has nearly doubled. At this point, the VA can’t even build a hospital – just about every project ends up years behind schedule and hundreds of millions, if not billions, over budget.

“And just last week, the public learned that the VA is spending $6 billion a year illegally. An internal report exposed examples of overspending on conferences, improper gifts, inappropriate purchases, and promotional items. Again: if only VA bureaucrats did as good a job taking care of our veterans as they do themselves.

“The author of the report wrote that at the VA, ‘doors are swung wide open for fraud, waste and abuse,’ and that these actions ‘may potentially result in serious harm or death to America’s veterans.’ That’s their own expert saying this.

“This isn’t run-of-the-mill incompetence. It is arrogance – arrogance that allows our veterans to be lied to, ignored, and, frankly, left to die. . . .

“Congress will continue to pass legislation to hold the VA accountable, but only the administration can change the culture from within. The president owes the American people a real, long-term plan to fix the VA. Not a promise, or a pledge, or a rearranging of deck chairs – a real plan to clean up this mess. And I will keep coming back to this podium until the administration produces such a plan.”

The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of H.R. 1314, the vehicle for the Trade Promotion Authority bill.

Republicans have tried to work out an agreement to vote on amendments, but Democrats have objected to every proposal, despite a number of Democrats taking to the floor to ask for votes on their amendments. Faced with even more Democrat obstruction, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed for cloture on the Hatch-Wyden substitute amendment and the underlying bill. Republicans will keep trying to get votes on amendments to the bill up until the cloture vote.

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