Edward Randall Royce is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1993 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,Royce served as Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as a member of the California Senate from 1982 to 1993.
Alexander Mann "Ander" Crenshaw is an American banker,attorney,and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 4th congressional district from 2001 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. Crenshaw retired from Congress when his term ended on January 3,2017.
William Franklin Shuster is an American politician and lobbyist who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district from 2001 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party,and is a son of former Congressman Bud Shuster.
The United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction,Veterans Affairs,and Related Agencies is a standing committee of the U.S. House subcommittees and is within the United States House Committee on Appropriations. The United States House Committee on Appropriations has joint jurisdiction with the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations over all appropriations bills in the United States Congress. Each committee has 12 matching subcommittees,each of which is tasked with working on one of the twelve annual regular appropriations bills. This subcommittee has jurisdiction over the budget for Military Construction and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Mark Eugene Amodei is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 2nd congressional district since 2011. The only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation since 2019,Amodei served in the Nevada Assembly from 1997 to 1999 and in the Nevada Senate,representing the Capital District,from 1999 to 2011.
Derek Christian Kilmer is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 2005 to 2007 and the Washington State Senate from 2007 to 2012.
Gregory Livingston Harper is a former American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Mississippi's 3rd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes the wealthier portions of the state capital,Jackson,along with most of that city's suburbs. Other cities in the district include Meridian,Natchez,Starkville,and Brookhaven.
Gerald Edward Connolly is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district,first elected in 2008. The district is anchored in Fairfax County,an affluent suburban county west of Washington,D.C. It includes all of Fairfax City and part of Prince William County. Connolly is a Democrat.
David Phillip Roe is an American politician and physician who was the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 1st congressional district,serving from 2009 to 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party. From 2017 to 2019,Roe was chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
William Blaine Luetkemeyer is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 3rd congressional district since 2013,having represented Missouri's 9th congressional district from 2009 to 2013. A member of the Republican Party,Luetkemeyer formerly served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. On January 4,2024,he announced he would not run for reelection in 2024.
William Steve Southerland II is an American businessman,lobbyist and former Republican Party politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 2nd congressional district from 2011 to 2015. The district includes most of the eastern Florida Panhandle,from Panama City to the state capital,Tallahassee. He was narrowly defeated for re-election in 2014 by Democrat Gwen Graham,becoming one of only two incumbent House Republicans to lose a general election that year,along with Lee Terry of Nebraska.
H.R. 2189 is a bill creating a task force in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs that would be responsible for evaluating the backlog of veterans' disability claims. The task force would look at the current method of processing them,the appeals process,and related laws and regulations,then make their own recommendations on how to improve the process. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs would be required to either implement all or some of their recommendations and justify any not implemented to Congress. The bill was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress.
The Veterans Economic Opportunity Act of 2013,which was introduced as Veterans G.I. Bill Enrollment Clarification Act of 2013,is a bill that would make changes to several economic programs involving veterans. One provision would change how veterans' education benefits are processed. Another provision would increase funding on a program that helps homeless veterans. The bill was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress.
The G.I. Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013 is a bill that would require colleges to charge veterans the in-state tuition rates regardless of whether they meet the residency requirement. The bill also makes several other changes related to veterans benefits,such as extending the time period during which veterans are eligible for job training. The bill passed the House of Representatives on February 4,2014 during the 113th United States Congress.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014 is a bill that would give the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs the authority to remove or demote any individual from the Senior Executive Service upon determining that such individual's performance warrants removal or demotion. The bill was written in response to a scandal indicating that some VA hospitals were keeping secret waiting lists for care,the length of which may have led to the deaths of some veterans.
The bill H.R. 2942 is a bill that would reestablish the Professional Certification and Licensure Advisory Committee of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs which had previously ended in 2009. The Committee was involved in making recommendations regarding matching military certifications and equivalent civilian certifications so that veterans can smoothly shift into civilian life.
The 2014 Veterans Health Administration controversy is a reported pattern of negligence in the treatment of United States military veterans. Critics charged that patients at the VHA hospitals had not met the target of getting an appointment within 14 days. In some hospitals,the staff falsified appointment records to appear to meet the 14-day target. Some patients died while they were on the waiting list. Defenders agreed that it was unacceptable to falsify data,but the 14-day target was unrealistic in understaffed facilities like Phoenix,and most private insurers did not meet a 14-day target either. By most measures,the VHA system provides "excellent care at low cost," wrote Paul Krugman,who believes that the attacks on the VHA system are motivated by conservatives who want to discredit a government program that works well. Conservative legislators have proposed privatizing the VHA,and legislative reforms that will make it easier for veterans to go to private doctors.
The Veteran Access to Care Act of 2014 is a bill that would allow United States veterans to receive their healthcare from non-VA facilities under certain conditions. The bill is a response to the Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014,in which it was discovered that there was systematic lying about the wait times veterans experienced waiting to be seen by doctors. By June 5,2014,Veterans Affairs internal investigations had identified a total of 35 veterans who had died while waiting for care in the Phoenix VHA system. Another audit determined that "more than 57,000 veterans waited at least 90 days to see a doctor,while another 63,000 over the last decade never received an initial appointment."
The Veterans' Access to Care through Choice,Accountability,and Transparency Act of 2014,also known as the Veterans Choice Act,is a United States public law that is intended to address the ongoing Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014. The law expanded the number of options veterans have for receiving care and granted the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs more power to fire senior executives. The Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014 began with the discovery that there was on-going systematic lying by the Veterans Health Administration about the wait times veterans experienced waiting to be seen by doctors. By June 5,2014,Veterans Affairs internal investigations had identified a total of 35 veterans who had died while waiting for care in the Phoenix VHA system. Another audit determined that "more than 57,000 veterans waited at least 90 days to see a doctor,while another 63,000 over the last decade never received an initial appointment."
Michael George Glen Waltz is an American politician,businessman,author,and colonel in the United States Army who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 6th congressional district since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party and is the first "Green Beret" to be elected to the United States Congress.
