Vet News: Miller Statement on Senate Confirmation of VA Inspector General

Following the Senate’s confirmation of Michael Missal to head the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Chairman Miller released the below statement:

“I’m glad that after a six-month wait the Senate has finally confirmed a permanent Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general. Now it’s time for Senators to focus on the 21 veterans-related bills that have passed the House and are now gathering dust in the Senate. These bills include vital measures that would address the department’s accountability crisis, help reduce veteran suicides and improve mental health care for those who have worn the uniform. It’s well past time for the Senate to give these important bills full and fair consideration.” – Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

House-Passed Veterans Bills That The Senate is Dithering Over

1.      H.R.3234 VA Medical Center Recovery Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to evaluate the ability of each medical center of the Department to provide quality health care to veterans, to ensure that the Secretary improves such medical centers that are underperforming, and for other purposes.

2.      H.R.3106 Construction Reform Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in the administration of Department medical facility construction projects.

3.      H.R.3016 Veterans Employment, Education, and Healthcare Improvement: To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to health care, educational assistance, and vocational rehabilitation, to establish the Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration, and for other purposes.

4.      H.R.2915 Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to identify mental health care and suicide prevention programs and metrics that are effective in treating women veterans as part of the evaluation of such programs by the Secretary, and for other purposes.

5.      H.R.2814 To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Sevierville, Tennessee, the Dannie A. Carr Veterans Outpatient Clinic

6.      H.R.2360 Career-Ready Student Veterans Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the approval of certain programs of education for purposes of educational assistance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

7.      H.R.2256 Veterans Information Modernization Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report on the Veterans Health Administration, to provide for the identification and tracking of biological implants used in Department of Veterans Affairs facilities, and for other purposes.

8.      H.R.1994 VA Accountability Act of 2015: To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the removal or demotion of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs based on performance or misconduct, and for other purposes.

9.      H.R.1607 Ruth Moore Act of 2015: To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the disability compensation evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans with mental health conditions related to military sexual trauma, and for other purposes.

10.  H.R.1384 Honor America’s Guard-Reserve Retirees Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to recognize the service in the reserve components of certain persons by honoring them with status as veterans under law.

11.  H.R.1382 BRAVE Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in awarding a contract for the procurement of goods or services, to give a preference to offerors that employ veterans.

12.  H.R.1338 Dignified Interment of Our Veterans Act of 2015: To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study on matters relating to the burial of unclaimed remains of veterans in national cemeteries, and for other purposes.

13.  H.R.1313 Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Relief Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the treatment of certain small business concerns for purposes of Department of Veterans Affairs contracting goals and preferences.

14.  H.R.1038 Ensuring VA Employee Accountability Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to retain a copy of any reprimand or admonishment received by an employee of the Department in the permanent record of the employee.

15.  H.R.677 American Heroes COLA Act of 2015: To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual cost-of-living adjustments to be made automatically by law each year in the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans, and for other purposes.

16.  H.R.675 Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2015: To increase, effective as of December 1, 2015, 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, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, to improve the processing of claims by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

17.  H.R.474 Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2015: To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a five-year extension to the homeless veterans reintegration programs and to provide clarification regarding eligibility for services under such programs.

18.  H.R.294 Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act: To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts and agreements for the placement of veterans in non-Department medical foster homes for certain veterans who are unable to live independently.

19.  H.R.280 To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recoup bonuses and awards paid to employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs: To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recoup bonuses and awards paid to employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

20.  H.R.216 Department of Veterans Affairs Budget Planning Reform Act of 2015: To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a Future-Years Veterans Program and a quadrennial veterans review, to establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs a Chief Strategy Officer, and for other purposes.

21.  H.R.4336 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the burial in Arlington National Cemetery of the cremated remains of certain persons whose service has been determined to be active service.