Sen. Moran Leads Hearing on VA Research, Addresses Importance of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) - chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs - yesterday led a committee hearing to examine the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) research program and evaluate how VA is prepared to sustain, strengthen and modernize its research enterprise to meet the evolving needs of veterans.

Sen. Moran recently introduced the Precision Oncology Program for Cancer of the Prostate (POPCaP) Authorization Act which would codify VA's precision oncology prostate cancer program and create seven additional centers of excellence in the VA healthcare system to increase access to care for veterans battling prostate cancer.

"I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass my legislation that would codify VA's Precision Oncology Program for Cancer of the Prostate," said Sen. Moran. "Congress has the opportunity to safeguard this program's funding, protect its infrastructure and make certain that veterans battling prostate cancer continue receiving access to the world-class, specialty tailored care they have earned and deserved."

During the hearing, Sen. Moran also highlighted the importance of passing the Take Care of America's Veterans Act and addressed statements from Ranking Member Blumenthal regarding an alternate offset. You can view their exchange here.

The Take Care of America's Veterans Act includes more than 60 pieces of bipartisan legislation, including the Major Richard Star Act, the Love Lives On Act and the Veterans' ACCESS Act. This bill would benefit millions of veterans, families, caregivers and survivors across the country and is endorsed by a diverse group of more than 20 military and veteran service organizations. The legislation is paid for by reinvesting savings from a rule that VA proposed in 2022.

"I look forward to finding that path that not only takes care of the Major Richard Star Act, but this broad array, widely supported by VSOs and veterans across the country, [of] pieces of legislation," said Sen. Moran. "We asked CBO again today, the Congressional Budget Office, if the pay-for that [Sen. Blumenthal is] suggesting is something that counts as a pay-for under the PAYGO Act passed by Congress years ago, and the answer was no."

"I worry that we are [on] this same path of having the conversation of 'let's do this and get it done,' and we end up in the same position we have been in for a long time," concluded Sen. Moran. "We'll continue to work to see if there is a way to satisfy the needs of the law, but results in an outcome, as compared to words that say we are for something, but again ends up with no result. I want an outcome, and we are working to achieve that."

You can watch Sen. Moran's opening statement can be found here, and his questioning of the witnesses can be found here and here.