December 07, 2022
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Chairman Takano: “Now that the hard work of passing [the Honoring our PACT Act] into law is over, the hard work of implementing it begins.”
Press Contact
Miguel Salazar (202) 779-1486
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (HVAC) Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) delivered opening remarks at the full Committee's hearing on his Honoring our PACT Act, entitled, "Fulfilling our PACT: Ensuring Effective Implementation of Toxic Exposure Legislation."
Chairman Takano’s remarks as prepared:
Once again, good morning to everyone joining us today for this important hearing on “Fulfilling our PACT: Ensuring Effective Implementation of Toxic Exposure Legislation.” I greatly appreciate all our panelists being here today, and likewise thank you to all of those in the audience and listening online.
The passage and signing into law of my Honoring our PACT Act earlier this year was the culmination of years of hard work among Members of Congress; our staffs; the VA; VSOs; and the veterans, families, and loved ones of those tragically impacted by the effects of toxic exposure. But this effort also represented a monumental sea change in how our nation treats our toxic-exposed veterans.
Congress and the public now recognize toxic exposure as a cost of war. No longer will these veterans have to fight their own government to obtain the healthcare and benefits they have earned and deserve. No longer will they be forced to prove their illness is tied to their service. Instead, these veterans’ illnesses will be presumed to be service connected, streamlining access to care and benefits for over 3.5 million veterans.
Moreover, this bill changes the old paradigm of pitting one veterans’ program against another, or against other domestic spending programs. It also changes the way VA is to approach future presumptive illnesses, so that hopefully veterans will no longer have to wait years or decades, or for an act of Congress, to receive recognition for their illnesses.
But now that the hard work of passing this legislation into law is over, the hard work of implementing it begins. And make no mistake, it will be hard work. The Honoring our PACT Act is as massive as it is significant.
And given its transformative nature it WILL, by definition, present implementation challenges and concerns. Which is why we find ourselves here today, to speak with VA regarding the barriers and opportunities we face with this legislation.
The first hurdle of course is ensuring that veterans know of and understand the benefits that are available to them as a result of this legislation. I know VA has dedicated a lot of time and effort to this issue, and I am sure we will hear more about that during this hearing.
The second biggest challenge of course will be the large and rapid expansion of new entrants into the VA healthcare system. The PACT Act necessarily expands healthcare access to millions of veterans, and in order to cope with that the bill also provides greater resources and authority to VA to hire healthcare workers and allows VA to open or expand dozens of new healthcare facilities.
So, I look forward to hearing from VA more about how they intend to use these new authorities.
The PACT Act also introduces countless new disability claims to the system, nearly 165,000 at last count. So, a robust discussion on VA’s plan to deal with those claims, without adding to an already large claims backlog, will be necessary. I’m also looking forward to hearing from VA today on its plans for IT upgrades and use of automation to address PACT Act claims.
With that said, and in the interest of time, I will stop and say that there are a great many issues we need to dig into today, and many we will not have the time to get to. So, to the VA and to our veterans I will say, that as the author of the PACT Act, as current Chairman of this Committee and Ranking Member next year, I will continue to ensure this bill is implemented successfully, and that every single veteran who is eligible receives their due benefits.
And I will guard stridently against any attempts to water the bill down or diminish its effectiveness. It is the promise we made to our veterans, and the least we can do for those who have done so much for us.
Once again, good morning to everyone joining us today for this important hearing on “Fulfilling our PACT: Ensuring Effective Implementation of Toxic Exposure Legislation.” I greatly appreciate all our panelists being here today, and likewise thank you to all of those in the audience and listening online.
The passage and signing into law of my Honoring our PACT Act earlier this year was the culmination of years of hard work among Members of Congress; our staffs; the VA; VSOs; and the veterans, families, and loved ones of those tragically impacted by the effects of toxic exposure. But this effort also represented a monumental sea change in how our nation treats our toxic-exposed veterans.
Congress and the public now recognize toxic exposure as a cost of war. No longer will these veterans have to fight their own government to obtain the healthcare and benefits they have earned and deserve. No longer will they be forced to prove their illness is tied to their service. Instead, these veterans’ illnesses will be presumed to be service connected, streamlining access to care and benefits for over 3.5 million veterans.
Moreover, this bill changes the old paradigm of pitting one veterans’ program against another, or against other domestic spending programs. It also changes the way VA is to approach future presumptive illnesses, so that hopefully veterans will no longer have to wait years or decades, or for an act of Congress, to receive recognition for their illnesses.
But now that the hard work of passing this legislation into law is over, the hard work of implementing it begins. And make no mistake, it will be hard work. The Honoring our PACT Act is as massive as it is significant.
And given its transformative nature it WILL, by definition, present implementation challenges and concerns. Which is why we find ourselves here today, to speak with VA regarding the barriers and opportunities we face with this legislation.
The first hurdle of course is ensuring that veterans know of and understand the benefits that are available to them as a result of this legislation. I know VA has dedicated a lot of time and effort to this issue, and I am sure we will hear more about that during this hearing.
The second biggest challenge of course will be the large and rapid expansion of new entrants into the VA healthcare system. The PACT Act necessarily expands healthcare access to millions of veterans, and in order to cope with that the bill also provides greater resources and authority to VA to hire healthcare workers and allows VA to open or expand dozens of new healthcare facilities.
So, I look forward to hearing from VA more about how they intend to use these new authorities.
The PACT Act also introduces countless new disability claims to the system, nearly 165,000 at last count. So, a robust discussion on VA’s plan to deal with those claims, without adding to an already large claims backlog, will be necessary. I’m also looking forward to hearing from VA today on its plans for IT upgrades and use of automation to address PACT Act claims.
With that said, and in the interest of time, I will stop and say that there are a great many issues we need to dig into today, and many we will not have the time to get to. So, to the VA and to our veterans I will say, that as the author of the PACT Act, as current Chairman of this Committee and Ranking Member next year, I will continue to ensure this bill is implemented successfully, and that every single veteran who is eligible receives their due benefits.
And I will guard stridently against any attempts to water the bill down or diminish its effectiveness. It is the promise we made to our veterans, and the least we can do for those who have done so much for us.
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