{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2006-12-27-pt1-PgS11854", "2006-12-27", 109, 2, null, null, "VETERANS BENEFITS, HEALTHCARE, AND INFORMATION ACT OF 2006", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S11854", "S11855", "[{\"name\": \"Daniel K. Akaka\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"716\"}, {\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"716\"}, {\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"1537\"}, {\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"2659\"}, {\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"2753\"}, {\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"2762\"}, {\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3421\"}, {\"congress\": \"109\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3421\"}]", "152 Cong. Rec. S11854", "Congressional Record, Volume 152 Issue 136 (Wednesday, December 27, 2006)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 136 (Wednesday, December 27, 2006)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S11854-S11855]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n       VETERANS BENEFITS, HEALTHCARE, AND INFORMATION ACT OF 2006\n\n Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, as ranking member of the Committee\non Veterans' Affairs, I urge my colleagues to support our veterans,\ncurrent servicemembers, and their families by supporting S. 3421, an\nomnibus veterans measure entitled Veterans Benefits, Healthcare, and\nInformation Technology Act of 2006.\n  This measure is a compromise agreement between the House Committee on\nVeterans' Affairs and the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and is\nbased on several pieces of legislation. Like all compromises, no one\ngot all he or she wanted, but in the end, I believe that it represents\na good package of provisions. This legislation would improve and expand\na wide variety of services to our veterans, and includes provisions\nrelating to veterans benefits, health care, and information technology\nmatters for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Of particular\nimportance are provisions to enhance mental health and readjustment\nservices for veterans returning to civilian life, to improve long-term\ncare services for aging veterans, and to modify the State veterans'\nhome program.\n  At the outset, I note my dissatisfaction with the undue haste with\nwhich the legislative package, the bill itself and the accompanying\nexplanatory statement that my colleague, the committee chairman,\nSenator Craig, will include at the end of his remarks, was assembled.\n  Because of the way this legislation was negotiated, we were not able\nto reach final agreement on its contents until Wednesday morning, just\ntwo days ago. At that time, the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs\nCommittee for the first time agreed to negotiate on a particular\nprovision passed by the House relating to a construction project in\nSouth Carolina. As a consequence of his belated agreement to enter into\ndiscussions, we were able to arrive at a compromise, a result that we\ncould have achieved in September.\n  Because the final agreement was reached so late in the session, staff\nof the two committees and from the two Offices of Legislative Counsel,\nworked many long hours trying to accomplish the nearly impossible task\nof assembling the bill, which is over 160 pages, and then drafting an\nexplanatory statement on the legislation.\n  In the best of times, such a process can easily take a week or more.\nWe were forced to try to do it all in just 2 days. It is near certainty\nthat this haste has led to the inclusion of errors in both the\nlegislation and the explanatory statement, errors which could have been\ncaught and remedied had there been sufficient time. This is certainly\nno way to do our business and, to the extent it will be in our power,\nwe will not legislate this way in the future.\n  That said, the bill is now before the Senate, and I will touch on\nsome of the key provisions.\n  The Department of Veterans Affairs has been tasked with meeting the\nneeds of those who serve in the military, with a particular emphasis on\nthose injured during their service. A number of provisions in the\ncompromise agreement are intended to help VA fulfill that obligation.\n  Often, the types of injuries endured in combat are invisible in\nnature. We must make sure that returning servicemembers receive the\nreadjustment and mental health care services they need for a seamless\nreintegration to civilian life. Provisions in the compromise agreement\nseek to do just that by establishing VA systemwide guidelines for\nscreening primary care patients for potential mental health issues, as\nwell as appropriately training clinicians to carry out mental health\nconsultations. Identifying the need for assistance is the first step;\nthis measure also provides for the next step by ensuring that VA has\nthe capacity to furnish mental health services at every VA community-\nbased outpatient clinic.\n  Because veterans often seek readjustment counseling and other mental\nhealth care in their own communities, it is imperative that VA's\nveterans centers are able to provide needed services. The compromise\nagreement contains provisions, derived from S. 716, legislation I\nintroduced which cleared the Senate nearly a year ago, which would\nauthorize resources needed by\n\n[[Page S11855]]\n\nveterans centers to carry out their long standing mission of helping\nveterans. These provisions would also help ensure that VA has\nsufficiently trained outreach workers to encourage veterans to seek\nassistance. Veterans centers provide veterans with a safe place to turn\nfor readjustment counseling or assistance; they make over 100,000\nreferrals a year for benefits and VA medical services. In addition to\nproviding counseling services to veterans, family members too can find\nsolace at veterans centers. This legislation would clarify that parents\nof those servicemembers who have died would be eligible to receive\nbereavement counseling at veterans centers.\n  The compromise agreement also addresses the goal of encouraging and\nsupporting alternatives to institutional long-term care. It includes\nprovisions derived from S. 2753, a bill I introduced, that was designed\nto promote assistance to those who look after veterans, especially in\nnoninstitutional, home-based settings. The relevant provision in the\ncompromise agreement would authorize VA to carry out a pilot program to\nassist family members who care for their disabled loved ones.\nCaregivers, particularly those who live in rural and geographically\nremote areas, would receive a helping hand through services such as\nadult day care and respite care.\n  Furthermore, the compromise agreement seeks to ensure more\nappropriate payment for the cost of long-term care provided to certain\nseriously disabled veterans who are receiving care in State veterans'\nhomes. In January 2006, the committee held field hearings in my home\nState of Hawaii. Tom Driskill, the president and CEO of Hawaii Health\nSystems Corporation, testified about the soon-to-be-built State home in\nHilo. He said, ``The synergy of a combined Federal and State funding of\nthe home has been the catalyst for making this dream a reality.'' The\nadjustments this legislation would make to the current cost-sharing\narrangement between VA and the States, which are derived from S. 2762,\nlegislation I introduced, will help ensure high quality care in State\nhomes not only in Hawaii, but across the entire Nation.\n\n  Currently, care is provided at no cost to the veteran when VA\nprovides institutional, long-term care services to those with service-\nconnected disabilities rated 70 percent or higher in a VA nursing home\nor a private nursing care facility with which VA contracts. However,\nwhen the care is provided in a State veterans' home, VA pays only a per\ndiem to the State, which then may bill the veteran for the remaining\ncosts. This measure would provide for the same payment to State\nveterans' homes that is provided to community nursing homes.\n  This compromise agreement also includes a provision from a bill I\nintroduced, S. 1537, that would authorize VA to designate at least two\nMultiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence and six Parkinson's Disease\nResearch, Education and Clinical Centers. VA centers of excellence have\nbeen the model of innovation in the delivery of highly specialized\nhealth care and research for chronic disease in the veteran population.\nProviding a statutory basis for these centers will ensure continued\nresearch and development of progressive treatments to help reduce\nsymptoms and improve the quality of life for veterans battling with\nthese neurological diseases. This provision is especially significant\nas it will be part of Congressman Lane Evans' legislative legacy, as\nranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. It is\nfitting that we pay tribute to his service through this measure. I\nthank my good friend and colleague for his leadership on this issue and\nfor his service to our great Nation, as a marine and in Congress.\n  The compromise agreement includes a provision that would allow VA to\nextend its State Cemetery Grants Program to tribal organizations. This\nchange, derived from my bill, S. 2659, would allow for the\nestablishment, expansion, and improvement of veterans cemeteries on\ntrust lands. If enacted, it will enable veterans living on trust lands\nto have an option for burial much closer to their family members and\nother loved ones.\n  Another provision in the compromise would authorize VA to provide\nhome loan guarantees to veterans who want to use their home loan\neligibility to purchase stock in a cooperative housing corporation.\nUnder current law, VA is authorized to guarantee loans for eligible\nveterans and their survivors to build or buy a home, including\nresidential condominiums. In many large cities, housing cooperatives\nmake up a large percentage of available affordable housing. This\nprovision, derived originally from legislation introduced by Senator\nSchumer, would give veterans greater housing choice by allowing them to\nuse their hard-earned benefits to buy shares in a housing cooperative.\n  In response to the concerns of some individuals, the provisions in\nthe compromise agreement related to allowing veterans and other\nclaimants to hire attorneys to represent them before VA have been\nmodified from what originally passed the Senate earlier this year, so\nas to allow individuals to hire attorneys only after a notice of\ndisagreement has been filed in a case. This change should result in\nthere being no impact on the claims adjudication system until after VA\nrenders its first final decision. Currently, veterans are prohibited\nfrom retaining counsel until after the Board of Veterans' Appeals\nrenders a final decision.\n  Additionally, I am pleased that we were able to reach a compromise on\ninformation security matters. I remain committed to ensuring that VA\ntakes aggressive action to protect our veterans' personal information,\nand in the event of a data breach, that they provide the affected\nveterans with appropriate identity and credit protection services.\n  I also express my satisfaction at our success in maintaining the\nprovisions in current law which prohibit the use of appropriated VA\nhealth care funds for conducting public and private cost comparison\nstudies. This prohibition protects veterans by precluding the use of\nscarce health care dollars for other purposes and protects VA employees\nfrom efforts to privatize their duties.\n  This legislation is appropriate and needed at a time when our\nservice-members are in harm's way. We must always remember the\nsacrifices that our servicemembers, both past and present, have made on\nbehalf of this great Nation, and we must do our part to respond to\ntheir service by remaining strong in our support of veterans services.\n  I am proud that our committee continues its tradition of\nbipartisanship. The effort that produced the final version of this\nlegislation, vital to the continued provision of quality health care\nand benefits to our Nation's veterans, is just the latest example of\nthat spirit. I thank Senator Craig for his leadership and for his\ncooperation and assistance. I also thank the staff of the majority,\nespecially Bill Cahill, Jon Towers, Amanda Meredith, Helen Walker, and\nLupe Wissel, as well as those on the Democratic staff, Kim Lipsky,\nAlexandra Sardegna, Dahlia Melendrez, Ted Pusey, Michelle Moreno, and\nBill Brew for their hard work on this legislation.\n  At this time, Mr. President, I would like to take the opportunity to\nwish my warmest aloha to Senator Jim Jeffords, who is retiring after 32\nyears in Congress. The Committee on Veterans' Affairs will be losing\none of its finest and most esteemed members. A veteran himself, Senator\nJeffords has been a strong voice and advocate for veterans. I thank\nSenator Jeffords for his service. He will truly be missed.\n  I urge my colleagues to support this compromise agreement on behalf\nof America's veterans and their families.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2006-12-27-pt1-PgS11854"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 23.37452000938356, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}