Schilling Veterans Bill Signed Into Law

Schilling: "monumental step forward for veterans"

EAST MOLINE, Ill.?Bobby Schilling's veterans bill has been signed into law by President Obama.

Schilling's bill, which allows veterans the ability to use their own doctors in their own hometowns when VA waitlists prevent veterans from getting immediate access to care, did not become law overnight. Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) initially introduced the Enhanced Veterans Health Care Experience Act in 2011 and worked throughout his term to pass the bill through committee. Unfortunately, he faced gridlock and significant partisan opposition to reforming the Veterans Administration.

However, once the media firestorm surrounding the VA scandal took place, Congress finally got to work for our veterans. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Florida) picked up Schilling's bill, made a few tweaks, and introduced the Veterans Access to Care Act. Miller continued Schilling's critical work, pushed the bill through committee, and got it passed it through the House of Representatives unanimously.

For more information on Bobby Schilling's bill and the initial work he did to move it forward in Congress, click here.

The Senate passed a similar version of the bill 93-3 and proceeded to conference with the House to draft a compromise bill. The new compromise veterans legislation passed both chambers and was signed into law by President Obama last Thursday.

Bobby Schilling released the following statement:

"While there is still much work to do, this bill?now law?is a monumental step forward for veterans in this country who have been needlessly burdened with waitlists and backlogs from the VA for far too long. Now veterans have the right to use their own doctors in their own hometowns, rather than wait extended periods of time for the VA when they need care immediately.

"There are still additional reforms we need to pass to improve our veterans access to health care, but this is a monumental first step and I'm pleased to see this bill signed into law. Working on this veterans issue was a passion of mine while serving in Congress, and it's great to see our work pay off to help our heroes."

Bobby Schilling was a leader on this important issue and recognized the problems in the Veterans Administration three years ago. After the problems his own father had with the Veterans Administration, Schilling analyzed the problem and designed a creative way to help solve it without expanding government bureaucracy. He was ahead of his time in introducing his bill and was very pleased to see it signed into law. Still, there is more work to be done to serve veterans, and Bobby Schilling is seeking to once again represent the people of the 17th Congressional District to put his problem-solving skills back to work for the middle class, the working poor, and especially our veterans in need of quality, accessible health care.

Bobby Schilling was born and raised in Rock Island, Illinois. He has been married to his wife, Christie for 28 years and together they have 10 children. Schilling represented the Illinois 17th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011-2012, serving on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Agriculture Committee, and the House Small Business Committee. Schilling is seeking another term and is running against incumbent liberal Congresswoman Cheri Bustos.