Doug Collins, the president’s nominee to head the Veterans Affairs Department, vowed to uphold the central mission of the VA and improve on its services during his confirmation hearing Tuesday. “Veterans will always be able to use the health care system, the issue is how we make it better,” he told the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “We don’t do the same things 40 years ago that we do today. Our newer veterans deserve every access to finding care where they can.” The nominee pledged to defend a program introduced during the first Trump administration that gives veterans the option to seek health care outside the VA. The program allows vets who have to travel long distances to a VA facility to receive primary care and mental health services outside the agency’s system. “The VA does not exist in and of itself. It exists for the veteran,” he said. “Delivering timely access to care and benefits for every eligible veteran is job one at VA.” He also said he would seek to get back on track the department’s electronic health records overhaul, a 10-year, $16 billion project has been stalled for more than a year. “This has become the new normal for federal projects, to appropriate millions of dollars and see no results in six or eight years,” he told senators. “It’s time to get this done.” Mr. Collins, an Iraq War veteran, represented Georgia in the House from 2013 to 2021, and was the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and vice chair of the House Republican Conference. He highlighted how he worked across the aisle as a lawmaker and told senators he appreciated the bipartisan nature of the committee. Watch more at c-span.org
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