VA system

[LukeinNE]

 

 

House poised to kill VA reform. (Love the troops. Love em.)

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/veterans-affairs-va-overhaul-legislation-collapse-109337.html?hp=l1

 

That article looks like the House and Senate are equally responsible.

 

How do you figure? The Senate has passed a bill. 93-3 IIRC.

 

 

So did the House.....421-0.

[carlfense]

 

 

 

House poised to kill VA reform. (Love the troops. Love em.)

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/veterans-affairs-va-overhaul-legislation-collapse-109337.html?hp=l1

 

That article looks like the House and Senate are equally responsible.

 

How do you figure? The Senate has passed a bill. 93-3 IIRC.

 

 

So did the House.....421-0.

 

"Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said it was “shameful” that Senate Democrats refused to negotiate with the House. He was referring to a decision by Senate Democrats to boycott a hastily called meeting Thursday of the House-Senate conference committee charged with finalizing a bill." July 24, 2014.

 

I assume you're equating actual VA reform with the unnumbered bill that didn't reform the VA but provided for outside care for people on wait lists. It was around 12 pages long. Serious reforms, indeed.

[LukeinNE]

 

"Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said it was “shameful” that Senate Democrats refused to negotiate with the House. He was referring to a decision by Senate Democrats to boycott a hastily called meeting Thursday of the House-Senate conference committee charged with finalizing a bill." July 24, 2014.

 

 

I assume you're equating actual VA reform with the unnumbered bill that didn't reform the VA but provided for outside care for people on wait lists. It was around 12 pages long. Serious reforms, indeed.

 

 

I've got to admit I haven't looked at any of the bills, so I can't tell for sure, but here's a paragraph about the Senate bill you were referencing:

 

But on Wednesday all 100 senators quickly agreed to allow a speedy Wednesday afternoon vote on the bill. The vote was held open for more than an hour so that nearly every member of the Senate could register their approval for the popular legislation, which required only a simple majority to pass. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was the last senator to cast his vote. Leaders held the vote open specifically for him as he returned home from his primary win.

With the House unanimously passing veterans’ health care and accountability legislation that senators say is extraordinarily close to the version crafted by Sanders and John McCain (R-Ariz.), lawmakers across the Capitol are increasingly confident that the president will have a new veterans’ health law on his desk by the end of the month.

 

So unless I'm completely mixed up by all of this (wouldn't be the first time), the House and Senate have both passed, nearly unanimously, very similar bills that they are currently trying to reconcile in a conference committee between the two houses of Congress. Those negotiations have now broken down.

 

[carlfense]

 

 

"Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said it was “shameful” that Senate Democrats refused to negotiate with the House. He was referring to a decision by Senate Democrats to boycott a hastily called meeting Thursday of the House-Senate conference committee charged with finalizing a bill." July 24, 2014.

 

 

I assume you're equating actual VA reform with the unnumbered bill that didn't reform the VA but provided for outside care for people on wait lists. It was around 12 pages long. Serious reforms, indeed.

 

 

I've got to admit I haven't looked at any of the bills, so I can't tell for sure, but here's a paragraph about the Senate bill you were referencing:

 

But on Wednesday all 100 senators quickly agreed to allow a speedy Wednesday afternoon vote on the bill. The vote was held open for more than an hour so that nearly every member of the Senate could register their approval for the popular legislation, which required only a simple majority to pass. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was the last senator to cast his vote. Leaders held the vote open specifically for him as he returned home from his primary win.

With the House unanimously passing veterans’ health care and accountability legislation that senators say is extraordinarily close to the version crafted by Sanders and John McCain (R-Ariz.), lawmakers across the Capitol are increasingly confident that the president will have a new veterans’ health law on his desk by the end of the month.

 

So unless I'm completely mixed up by all of this (wouldn't be the first time), the House and Senate have both passed, nearly unanimously, very similar bills that they are currently trying to reconcile in a conference committee between the two houses of Congress. Those negotiations have now broken down.

 

 

Here's the Senate bill: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/sanders-veterans-access-to-care?inline=file

 

Here's the House bill (I think) that you referenced: http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20140609/BILLS-113hrVetAccessv2-SUS.pdf

 

 

One of those looks close to finalized and the other reads like an initial proposal.

[carlfense]

. . . but you're right. The House did pass a bill. Sort of.