The House Veterans Affairs Committee May 8 passed a bill that would pave the way for a wholesale privatization of the VA.
H.R. 5476 passed the House VA Committee by a 20-2 margin, with Ranking Member Tim Walz and Vice Ranking Member Mark Takano voting against the measure. It will now go to the House Rules Committee and on to the House Floor for consideration.
AFGE opposes the bill because it would:
AFGE sent a letter to the committee prior to the markup voicing our opposition. We submitted seven recommendations, including holding private providers to the same standards for patient care as VA’s in-house providers, but they were rejected. The committee, however, agreed to require the VA to be more transparent about the number of unfilled positions.
“It is imperative that we not starve the VA for resources and kowtow to the Koch Brothers scheme to dismantle the crown jewel of the American health care system,” AFGE said in the May 7 letter.
We made phone calls and met them in person, and our hard work paid off. On May 15, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies rejected the Trump administration’s massive proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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Don’t be fooled by the political leadership’s propaganda about how the MISSION Act will help veterans. It won’t. It is instead tearing down the VA, the lifeline for those on the front lines.
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The Trump administration’s plan to move the headquarters of the Economic Research Service (ERS) out of Washington, D.C. hit a major snag as capital region lawmakers are pushing back against the relocation, which many sees as the administration’s attempt to politicize research and science.
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