July 24, 2014

Ranking Member Michaud Statement on the Status of VA Conference Negotiations

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mike Michaud (D-ME), Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, released the following statement on the current status of conference negotiations related to VA reform legislation:

“Within the past few hours, we have learned more about the individual proposals from Senator Sanders and Representative Miller related to our VA conference committee efforts. While we must continue our discussions over some aspects of the bill, I remain encouraged by what we all already agree on – basic tenets like expanding access to care for veterans and increasing accountability within the VA. Most importantly, I’m confident that we all share the same goal of improving outcomes for our veterans. At the end of the day, I believe that commitment to our veterans will trump politics.

“Earlier today, my colleague Chairman Miller held a conference committee meeting to unveil his proposal. This meeting occurred at the same time that we were hearing testimony from VA Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson and representatives from a number of our Veteran Service Organizations. I value all we have learned from our many oversight hearings these past few months, and I appreciate Acting Secretary Gibson and the VSOs taking the time to meet with us today. This was an important hearing, and I believe we received valuable feedback from both Mr. Gibson and the VSOs today.”