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Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released the following statement after the House of Representatives agreed to final passage of H.R. 3230, the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014:

“It is critically important that we provide high-quality, timely care for those who have sacrificed so much in service to our country,” said Rep. Foxx.  “There is more that must be done to reform the Veterans Administration, but this legislation is a good start.”

The conference report represents the agreement worked out between differing Veterans Administration (VA) reform packages passed by the House and Senate.  The final agreement provides $5 billion in mandatory funding for hiring new health care providers and $10 billion for a three year program to allow veterans to seek care from private providers if they live too far from a VA facility or cannot otherwise get an appointment within 14 days.  The legislation gives the VA Secretary the authority to fire senior executives for poor performance and requires a top to bottom study of the entire department be completed within one year of enactment.                                

The conference report passed the House on a 420-5 vote, the bill is expected to clear the Senate this week and be signed into law by the President.

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Congresswoman Virginia Foxx is currently in her fifth term as the Representative of North Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District and is the elected Republican Conference Secretary.  Dr. Foxx is the chair of the House Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and serves as Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee.