House Passes Two of Pappas’s Bipartisan Bills to Strengthen Veterans’ Health Care

Washington D.C.- Last night the House passed two pieces of bipartisan legislation introduced by Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH), who serves as the Chair of Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, to improve the quality of care our veterans receive at the VA.

The first piece of legislation, theReducing High Risk to Veterans Services Act, introduced with General Jack Bergman (R-MI) seeks to improve management and better the quality of care within the Veterans Health Administration in order to remove it from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) "High Risk List" of federal government programs that are most susceptible to fraud, waste, or mismanagement.

The Reducing High Risk to Veterans Services Act would require greater accountability and transparency by requiring the VA to establish a plan to get off the high-risk list and provide semi-annual updates to Congress on their progress.

The second piece of legislation Pappas introduced, along with Elise Stefanik (R-NY), seeks to ensure female veterans have access to prosthetic items that were made specifically for women at VA facilities. Their legislation passed the House as part of the Deborah Sampson Act, which is a package of 15 bipartisan bills that will improve equity of care for women veterans.

You can click here to watch Congressman Pappas speak about these bills on the House floor.