Coleman Campaign Desperate; False Attacks on Jackie’s Record

MISHAWAKA, Ind. – Walorski for Congress campaign manager Emily Daniels today released the following statement in response to the Coleman campaign’s desperate attempts to distort Congresswoman Jackie Walorski’s record of fighting for veterans:

“The latest misleading ad from Lynn Coleman’s campaign shows how desperate they really are. Instead of sharing his positions on the issues, he’s again distorting the truth. Jackie has taken on the VA bureaucracy to make it work for veterans, and she and her office have helped hundreds of Hoosier veterans get the benefits and care they deserve. Jackie remains focused on making sure our veterans have access to the very best care, keeping our nation safe, growing our economy, and fighting for 2nd District Hoosiers every day.”

False Claim #1: Walorski voted to underfund the VA.

The Truth: Jackie has voted repeatedly to increase veterans funding and has worked to fix the VA so it works for veterans.

The Coleman ad references a vote on the budget resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2016 (H.Con.Res. 27, Roll Call Vote #142, 3/25/15), a balanced budget that would have increased funding for veterans’ care, services, and benefits by five percent above the previous year’s funding levels.

As a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Jackie has been a leader in the fight to ensure veterans get the care they earned while serving their country and to hold the VA accountable when it fails to properly treat veterans.

The House has passed several bills Jackie authored to protect veterans, including legislation to prevent scheduling manipulations at VA facilities and improve safety and quality standards for disabled veterans’ mobility equipment.

In the wake of the nationwide VA wait time scandal, Walorski introduced legislation to prohibit the VA from waiving its scheduling guidelines. In June 2016, her legislation passed the House as part of a larger bill to fix the VA and protect veterans.

Jackie’s legislation to prevent the overprescription of powerful opioids to veterans at VA facilities was recently signed into law in 2016 as part of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, a bipartisan bill to combat the opioid epidemic.

False Claim #2: Walorski voted to cut healthcare benefits for veterans.

The Truth: Jackie has voted repeatedly to increase funding for veterans’ healthcare.

The Coleman ad references a vote on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill for FY2016 (H.R. 2029, Roll Call Vote #193, 4/30/15), a bipartisan bill with $4.6 billion more in funding than the previous year’s level – a 5.6 percent increase for the VA, including increases for veterans’ healthcare, benefits claims processing, and medical research.

Jackie has voted several times to increase funding for veterans care, including:

The FY2017 VA appropriations bill, which was signed into law in September 2016, that provided $74.36 billion in discretionary funding for the VA, a 4.1 percent increase above the previous year (H.R. 5325, Roll Call Vote #573, 9/28/16).
The FY2016 appropriations bill, which was signed into law in December 2015, that provided $71.41 billion in discretionary funding for the VA, a 9.8 percent increase above the previous year (H.R. 2029, Roll Call Vote #705, 12/18/15).

Jackie voted to allow veterans to seek private care outside of the VA if they are unable to get an appointment from the VA within 30 days, or if they live more than 40 miles away from a VA facility. She also voted to increase access to mental health for our veterans and give the VA secretary the authority to fire any employee for misconduct. (H.R. 3230,Roll Call Vote #516, 10/3/13; H.R. 1994,Roll Call Vote #489, 7/29/15; H.R. 203,Roll Call Vote #17, 1/12/15).

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