Herrera Beutler backs VA bill, Obama suit

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, joined the majority of the House on Wednesday in approving reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“It’s time the federal government started treating our veterans with the respect they deserve. Recent revelations of VA misconduct shows that many are simply being allowed to slip through the cracks,” Herrera Beutler said in a statement. “This bipartisan agreement begins to address these issues by providing non-VA health care options for veterans who have been left waiting by the VA, or who live too far from a VA facility for regular visits to be realistic. Some veterans in Southwest Washington have to make a 150-mile round-trip to reach the nearest VA medical facility, and they need these alternate solutions.”

The measure gives Veterans Affairs the authority to fire employees who are not performing their duties and allows veterans the opportunity to seek treatment outside of the VA if they have waited longer than 30 days. The VA has come under fire recently after reports surfaced that employees had been lying about wait times.

Herrera Beutler also joined her party on Wednesday in passing a bill allowing them to sue President Barack Obama. The House voted, mainly along party lines, to authorize U.S. House Speaker John Boehner to take Obama to court for what they characterized as the president overstepping his authority.

The lawsuit alleges that Obama failed to enforce his health care law, in particular the law’s requirement that businesses of a certain size provide health insurance to their workers.

Boehner wrote on his website that the lawsuit is about defending the U.S. Constitution.

“I oppose the employer mandate in the president’s health care law,” Boehner wrote “The House of Representatives has voted to delay or eliminate it (and we will do so again if we prevail in court). But it is the letter of the law that was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama. He simply cannot unilaterally rewrite it.”