Upholding Our Promise to Our Veterans

On Saturday, I joined the families and loved ones of our nation's fallen heroes to lay a wreath at each of the 610 grave sites of the veterans buried at the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery.

Prescription Drug Overdoses

This week, I worked with my colleagues to help our nation's veterans and ensure they receive the assistance and support they earned.

On Thursday, I joined Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) in introducing the "Servicemembers and Veterans Prescription Drug Safety Act," our bipartisan effort to prevent accidental drug overdoses among servicemembers and veterans through implementing prescription drug take-back programs.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) prescription rate for opioids rose by 287 percent between 1999 and 2012. This means that VA-enrolled veterans have an accidental drug overdose rate that's double that of the civilian population. More disturbingly, there is substantial evidence that prescription drug abuse is a major contributing factor in the deaths of numerous servicemembers and veterans.

Fortunately, there's an effective solution that addresses this serious issue. Drug take-back programs provide a safe, simple way of disposing unused prescription medication responsibly and have been found to substantially decrease accidental overdoses. However, despite this fact, current law only grants the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) the authority to implement drug take-back programs. Neither the DoD nor VA is permitted to conduct prescription drug take-back programs at their pharmacies. As it stands now, a service member or veteran is unable to return unused medications to the DoD or VA facility that prescribed the medications in the first place.

The measure we introduced this week will change that. Our bill would grant the VA and DoD the authority to enact drug take-back programs, providing our servicemembers with access to these life-saving programs. The "Servicemembers and Veterans Prescription Drug Safety Act" will give past and present military personnel the means to properly dispose unused prescription medications - potentially saving the lives of thousands of our nation's veterans. It's our duty to care for our veterans and to ensure proper safeguards are in place to defend them from prescription drug abuse and accidental overdose.

Making More VA Medical Facilities Available

We also acted in the House this week to provide assistance and support to the VA and veterans throughout the country. On Tuesday, we passed - with overwhelming support - two measures to fund VA medical facility leases and extend payment of monthly assistance to disabled veterans. H.R. 3521, the"Department of Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Lease Authorization Act,” authorizes the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs to enter into leases of twenty seven major medical facilities requested by the VA in their 2013 and 2014 budgets, therefore making it easier for our veterans to get the care they need and rightfully deserve (H.R. 3521 passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 346 – 1). H.R. 1402, the"VA Expiring Authorities Extension Act," provides funding for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make monthly assistance payments to disabled veterans who are training or competing in large-scale adaptive sports programs, like the Paralympics (H.R. 1402 unanimously passed the House with every Member voting in support).

The men and women who have served our country did not hesitate to defend our freedom. Therefore, we will not hesitate to defend our veterans.

It's our responsibility to ensure that those willing to risk their lives to protect our nation are given every opportunity and benefit that they were promised. The actions we took this week will fulfill that promise.