{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=3B1FE7D0-AC3B-44A2-92A2-6DEC347DACF8", "Boozman-Backed Legislation to Support Veterans Passes Committee", "2025-07-30", "2025", "2025-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), a senior member of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, applauded the advancement of four bipartisan legislative initiatives he championed that earned the overwhelming support of his Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee colleagues.\n\n\u201cWe must continue to honor those who have sacrificed for our country, and advancing these bills helps fulfill the promise we made to them,\u201d said Boozman. \u201cI am especially pleased that we passed my bipartisan effort to address a scheduling need at the VA by giving veterans the ability to easily make appointments for specialty care through one scheduling system.\"\n\nThe Improving Veteran Access to Care Act, co-led by Boozman and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), passed out of committee. This bill would create a centralized platform that streamlines the VA scheduling system by allowing multiple visits and appointments to be scheduled at once, ultimately improving and simplifying the health care scheduling process for those who have served.\n\nAdditional approved measures championed by Boozman include legislation to expand the External Provider Scheduling Program (EPS) to reduce the time necessary for veterans to find and create medical appointments, the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act to identify and ensure American-Jewish servicemembers\u2019 headstones correctly reflect their religious affiliation, and the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025 that would raise compensation and benefits rates so they keep pace with inflation.\n\nThe panel also passed legislation to expand and reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, which Boozman and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) designed to provide essential funding for mental health outreach in veteran communities. The senators have been working to extend and enhance the program before it expires at the end of the year.\n\n\u201cThis program was created out of a dire need to improve community-based resources to address the veteran suicide crisis,\u201d said Boozman. \u201cI am pleased we are making progress on reauthorizing this important initiative to support the great work it is producing.\u201d\n\nThe bills now head to the full Senate for consideration.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:48:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=3B1FE7D0-AC3B-44A2-92A2-6DEC347DACF8"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.3778800386935472, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}