Bill Text: TX SCR52 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Urging Congress to pass S.2896, the Care Veterans Deserve Act of 2016.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 13-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-23 - Signed by the Governor [SCR52 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SCR52-Enrolled.html
S.C.R. No. 52 |
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WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is charged | ||
with ensuring the health and well-being of the nation's veterans, | ||
but in recent years, its failure to adequately perform its mission | ||
has been the source of scandal; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 2014, the United States Congress responded to | ||
unconscionable delays and denials of care at VA facilities by | ||
passing the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, which | ||
allows access to private medical care providers for veterans who | ||
have been waiting more than 30 days for an appointment or who live | ||
more than 40 miles from a VA facility; this law is set to expire in | ||
2017; and | ||
WHEREAS, By expanding the reforms of the Veterans Choice Act, | ||
Congress can improve the VA system, broadening access to timely | ||
health care while offering greater choice and flexibility to every | ||
eligible veteran; experts have proposed allowing access to walk-in | ||
clinics without preauthorization or copayment, expanding VA | ||
pharmacy hours and telemedicine, and extending the Veterans Choice | ||
Card program to permit all qualified veterans to see the doctor of | ||
their choice; in addition, those who have studied the system | ||
carefully encourage best-practices peer review for VA facilities; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, Our nation's veterans have made enormous sacrifices | ||
to guarantee our freedoms, and although the nation can never fully | ||
repay its debt of gratitude, it can and should ensure timely access | ||
to the highest quality of medical care; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to enact | ||
legislation to ensure that all veterans receive in a timely manner | ||
the level of medical care that they have earned and that they so | ||
richly deserve; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 52 was adopted by the Senate | ||
on May 3, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 52 was adopted by the House | ||
on May 12, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, one | ||
present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |