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With the support of Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge), the House of Representatives passed important legislation which continues the fight to provide our military veterans with better customer service, health care, training, and other earned benefits. The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 4974), which passed the House with strong bipartisan support, also increases the VA’s transparency and accountability to improve the quality of service at VA facilities.

“It’s important for Washington to do all it can to ensure that our military veterans get the quality care and customer experience they deserve,” said Congressman Posey. “This legislation will add greater transparency and more accountability to the VA while also making more resources available to process disability claims and improve services.”

Specifically, H.R. 4974 increase funding for veterans programs by 3 percent over last year’s levels to $73.5 billion, which will enable care for 7 million patients next year. The House plan contains funding to modernize the VA electronic health records system, tackle the disability claims processing backlog, and centralize mail correspondence. It also provides funding to hire more personnel to process claims appeals so veterans receive responses faster.

Furthermore, the legislation strengthens VA accountability by requiring rigorous reporting requirements to track each regional office’s performances on claims processing, stops taxpayer funded rewards to bad employees, and prohibits raises for all senior managers.