House okays vets clinic study

We took an important step forward Wednesday when the House approved the VA MISSION ACT, including a feasibility study for a Department of Veterans Affairs-operated medical clinic in the Marianas. I successfully added the study to the MISSION Act, when it was reported out of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee last week. Now the bill goes to the Senate. “Study” is sometime equated with delay. But as with the AAFES troop store—the study I put in the National Defense Authorization Act justified the cost of the store expansion—the clinic study is necessary to justify the initial expense of a building and the ongoing costs of staffing and operation. And the VA is required to finish within 180 days, so we could have it by the end of this year. Armed with that justification I will be able to argue forcefully to fund the Marianas Veterans Clinic.